The soundtrack to our Friday is the brand new single from Fräulein: ‘Big Cool’.
Fräulein released their first EP A Small Taste digitally a year ago this very week, with a much delayed vinyl release last November that was beyond their control. Their second EP Pedestal will physically arrive on 30 June on the excellent Submarine Cat label (home to our other faves ARXX and, rumour has it, the marvellous pop trio Ski Lift). The duo has been shipping singles from it for the past few months, with the sublime ‘Pet’ and ‘Brand New’ now being joined this week by another helping of typically magnificent Fräulinery in the blockbusting (and self-describing) ‘Big Cool’.
Fräulein’s recordings present a totally accurate representation of what you get when you go to see them live. Karsten’s big and clever beats underpin Joni’s even bigger guitar rumble and vocals that go from sensual whispers to feral screams in a nanosecond – always recorded in a way that brings the live Fräulein experience to tape exactly as its sounds on stage. Additional pre-recorded instrumentation and vocals are definitely not where these two are at, and that’s what keeps their music as compelling and honest as it hopefully always will be.
‘Big Cool’ is a dirty great dollop of audio excitement that ticks every box, full of unbridled power and musical adrenaline that kicks in as soon as the track starts and holds the listener willingly captive for every second of its 3-and-a-half minute running time. Joni says its pithy, Bob Dylanesque lyrical putdowns are “not to be taken seriously” but you wouldn’t want to be the person to upset Joni’s applecart, and become the subject of her next song. Being the third single to ship from the EP, you might mistakenly assume it will be in any way inferior to the first two. You would be wrong to do so, I assure you.
This is Fräulein at their finest with another no-punches-pulled banger that will consolidate their ever-growing reputation as one of the best and biggest small musical units on our scene, and that brings them one step closer to the mainstream commercial acceptance that they richly deserve.
It’s Big. It’s Cool. It’s Fräulein. If you don’t know, get to know…
I love to review any Fräulein single, and whenever the opportunity to do so presents itself I like to grab it a) quickly, and b) with both hands. I have a long term admiration of the music of Karsten Van Der Tol and Joni Samuels that began in Bristol in early 2021 and that has survived Covid, potentially fatal car crashes and goodness knows what else as I have traversed the UK watching their career progress. They are two of the nicest people working in music today, and they really do deserve every single one of the good things that continue to come their way as word continues to get around about Fräulein.
‘Big Cool’ is available now on Bandcamp. You can hear Fräulein play it live in London on 3 June in support of ARXX at Hoxton’s Courtyard Theatre or, if you are lucky enough to have a ticket – it’s sold out – in support of English Teacher at Brixton’s Windmill pub on 14 June.
LOUD WOMEN 