The Dutch rock trio and Purple Turtle favourites drop their expansive second album. Out 29th of May, vinyl available directly from the bands website.
Brothers Meryn Bevelander (guitars & lead vocals) and Florian Bevelander (drums & vocals) are joined by Kevin Clerence (bass & backing vocals) to form the dynamic power-rock trio Sonic Whip. Not to be confused with the Dutch festival of the same name. They first came to Reading in 2024 and have been back to the Purple Turtle two times since. The last was a spectacular live show back in January. Reading is becoming a second home for the band and they will be joining us again over the Summer on the 30th June.
They dropped their first album back in 2021 and released an EP in 2024. There was quite a bit of progress made between these and the new album shows a continuation of that curve. The self titled second album is a very solid effort with a couple of brilliant singles. This is much closer to capturing the energy and performance present in their brilliant live shows. If they can continue that curve, the next album should be a very special treat as they are undoubtedly a thrilling live band.
The band mention Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Audioslave and Soundgarden as influences and there are touches of those band’s sound in the album. ‘Water’s Rising’ would definitely pass for Foo Fighters if Dave Grohl was singing the verses. There are slightly heavier moments. The vocals though have much more lightness about them, that pulls it back from being a very heavy listen. The contrast between the heaviness and the lightness makes for a real sense of rock fun.
‘Survive’ was the first single for the album, is the first track of the album and is without doubt the utter highlight of it. This is one of the successes where they do capture that relentless high energy of their live shows. We need more like this. It is perfect for shouting along to in a sweaty, busy live music venue. ‘Get Me Away’ has peaks of that energy as well. ‘Breathing Out’ somehow reminds me of about ten different 90s indie bands all at the same time. It shows a different side, a slower side to their range. They could definitely pursue this angle more in their songwriting. It has a proper impressive hero guitar solo of the old-school variety.
‘Better Than That’ threatens to be the heaviest track of the lot, but that peters out after eight seconds into a more funkier, groove based offering. The track keeps shifting, hinting at great versatility. That second outstanding single is ‘Invincible,’ another key moment from their powerhouse live set. I’m not sure I am entirely sold on the Shakesperian interlude but I appreciate the intent of it. The final four tracks continue the feeling of extremely solid work.
If you haven’t seen Sonic Whip live you absolutely need to seek them out. The peaks of this album are sensational. The rest of it is a perfectly good listen. It is a touch old-fashioned in a late 90s kind of way. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just doesn’t feel as fresh as other albums we have covered this year. If you thought the peak of alt-rock music happened in the late 1990s then you might well want to give this album an extra half a star.
Essential Tracks: ‘Survive,’ ‘Waters Rising’ ‘Invincible.’
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