Travoltas are back (to the city) baby! While I personally became aware of them around their most recent full length “Until We Hit Shore”, which was released in 2017, this band was formed about three decades ago and have more than earned their stripes as pop-punk veterans. I can only imagine how many people they’ve introduced to the Dutch scene, or the genre in general! It should come as no surprise that I was very excited to dive into their latest EP “Back To The City”, which was released on June 25th on White Russian Records. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling this is the closest I’ll ever get to feeling patriotic. Travoltas has a sound I know isn’t surf rock, but can’t help but envision scenes of 60s cool kids having a blast at the beach while I listen to them. If you have no idea what I’m talking about (I don’t judge!) their sound is often described as The Beach Boys but punk-rock. Their songs have a very high degree of ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song before, but I definitely know who this is’ and I respect that. This EP is the second release, after single “Find You There”, that features the ever so lovely Tim van Doorn on keys and as backing vocalist. If you’re not familiar with his work, I would highly encourage you to check out his solo work on Bandcamp and the self-titled St. Plaster record, and give his studio Big Dog Recordings a follow while you’re at it!
I think we should all be grateful the six piece basically treated us with a soundtrack to the summer! We all know we need one since, you know… *vaguely gestures around while spending yet another summer at home*. That being said: any day you’re in need for some summery vibes is a good day to listen to Travoltas and Back To The City is no exception.
The second song is Back To The City, the title track. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but the guitar sound in the intro gives it some sort of southern rock/country edge. Is this intentional? I don’t know, but the mountainsides described in the first verse, certainly don’t set our scene in the Netherlands, so if this was an attempt to ‘Americanize’ the song, I say mission accomplished! It also speaks of being on the road for a long time and looking forward to ‘boogie-woogie all night long’. Perhaps it is a nod to our secluded lives we’ve lead the past year and a half. While we can’t quite do what we want to just yet, we know we’re getting there and have begun to dare to look forward to that all night boogie-woogie. I know I am! Transitioning from looking at past experiences with some sense of sadness, missing the good old days, to using that nostalgia to fuel our anticipation of what is to come.
Start Again is the ballad of the EP, while still being a very upbeat, Travoltas-esque song. It makes total sense sequence-wise. Although the title alone might suggest something different, the lyrics are actually about not wanting or feeling the need to start over. In this song we hear singer Perry Leenhouts assuring his significant other that while acknowledging the rough patches they’ve been through, or are in the middle of, he wouldn’t change a thing. As a hopeless romantic, I think it’s a very sweet ballad and a nice addition to the release. Although I hadn’t mentioned it thus far, the harmonies/backing vocals overall are also delightful to listen to and come out very well in this song.
Ultimately we end with Nightcrawler. The closer has an epic/theatrical air surrounding it. I can see it being played during a unifying scene where our protagonists prepare to face the unknown, assuring each other that things will be okay with lots of ‘together till the end’-vibes that unfolds in an ominous, aesthetically 80s futuristic universe. Again this could be influenced by accompanying music video, but I think it’s spot on! The spoken word bridge is done in what I can only describe as an amazing movie trailer voiceover meets Batman voice in which The Nightcrawler introduces themselves to us. I can see this being a very fun song to play as a Travoltas live set comes to an end, where the audience has that coming together moment you often feel when you’re in a room full of sweaty people who you’ve danced and sung with for the past hour(s). That while knowing that not long from now, you will also have to face the dark and find your way home through the night. And, while you don’t want to think about that just yet, mentally preparing for that moment nonetheless. In a similar manner, Nightcrawler prepares you for the silence, the darkness that will follow after the stories you’ve just been exposed to are over. You’ll leave Nightcrawler feeling calm and content, but also excited to listen to the EP in its entirety for who knows how many times.
TLDR: The Travoltas have managed to release an EP that is both very coherent and varied in sound and covers a lot of ground thematically in just four songs. I really enjoyed listening to it MANY times in preparation for this piece, and I’m glad I did because it definitely deepened my appreciation for the songs and helped me connect to them on an emotional level.
If this EP can’t satiate your Travoltas appetite (those 15 minutes go by so fast!), don’t forget to head over to their youtube channel where they recently released one of their acoustic sessions. The fact that they titled it Volume 1 leads me to believe that there is more to come, and I’m looking forward to it!
Order Back To The City on Bandcamp.
Like/Follow The Travoltas on Facebook and Instagram.
This review was written by Ilse R. Smit.
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