cafebar 401

Cafebar 401: Lush, Lean, Powerful Melodic Rock
Reviewer: Billy Santee
Fantastic! Cafebar 401 an inspired mix of melodic pop and dark sentiment -- from the taut, power-rock hook of Full-pro Disco, through the mesmerising vocal-piano ensemble build of Troubles, to the INCREDIBLE MIRACLE that is the song, I Need to Know. I NEED TO KNOW. Play it and be amazed. An awesome CD. An awesome achievement. Cafebar 401 another GREAT entry from the Wampus label. - Billy Santee

Cafebar 401 - Cafebar 401

The Netherlands' Cafebar 401 are the perfect injection into modern alternative's lackluster and collapsed veins. Evoking images of early Foo Fighters with electronics this side of Beck and that side of Timbaland, Cafebar 401 even through in fuzzy guitars not properly heard on non-stoner rock albums. They could be the recreation of someone important enough to sit side by side to a Weezer or Nirvana while effortlessly recalling past efforts of the '90's greats in the alt-rock scene. Vocally they're on target with melody firmly held and shedding gruffness for a coalesced minimalism in guitar-driven rock's arena. Then you also have numbers like 'Senses Working Overtime' that finds the quartet impatiently plunking at their instruments driving each other to insanity with frenetic confusion. This is a must-hear. - reviewer J. Sin

Cafebar 401 - Cafebar 401 (CD, Wampus Multimedia, Mid-tempo pop)
Rarely do we get a taste of Dutch underground pop. The music of Cafebar 401 is presented to the world by the open-minded folks at Wampus Multimedia..."an indie label run by artists, for artists." The band is a guitar-based pop quartet whose music sounds not unlike an updated, more normal, poppier version of Split Enz. The vocals are particularly similar to Neil Finn. The guys in Cafebar 401 look like regular guys...and their music is almost...normal. While the band's tunes are upbeat and hummable, there are some slightly dark threads running through the music that give it a strange curve. The tunes on Cafebar 401 operate smoothly in mid-tempo mode from start to finish. The band does occasionally display some rock and roll tendencies but these tunes are, for the most part, rather subdued. The band has already generated a good buzz in The Netherlands. With this album, they are hoping to expand the boundaries of their influence. Infectious tunes include "Full-Pro Disco!," "Something Worth Dying For," and "Bob Ross on Drugs." Good stuff. (Rating: 4+++)

http://www.lmnop.com/LMNOP-Reviews-August-04.html#anchor2645683 - unknown

CAFEBAR 401 - S/T

Right off the bat, you know this band is not from America. They subdivide the minimalist euro-rock flow some into alternapop, the other resulting juice into something experimented with in the garage; the concoction they get has legs, balls, and a face of it's own. From simple toggle switching cuts (Many Left Here Long Before) to the punk driven "Full-pro Disco", there's some cool shit happenin'. As hard as it for people to fantom, this punk rock, in that it uses standard rock n roll, powerchorded with virtue of the singalong. Simple, effective, groovin' (check out the classic Bob Ross On Drugs). They touch the psyche many times, mostly to add flavor. The phrasing is sometimes forced into a pop vibe, but I get the impression that might be part of their trip. Being Dutch, the feel is more than part of their scene, it's part of their essence. Contact: http://www.cafebar401.nl, http://www.wampus.com - Mark Doyon wampusmail2@wampus.com

http://undergroundrecords.org/sound/sound3.html - A. Madman

Cafebar 401; Cafebar 401

Wampus Multimedia

Wow, this band should be all over modern-rock radio right now. They’re amazing. Hailing from Holland, Cafebar 401 specialize in a sound that sometimes seems very British, especially the vocals remind me of bands from the melancholic indie/Brit pop-rock world, but as those bands often keep a rather simplistic and laid-back style to their songs Cafebar 401 sticks out with their lively guitar power-pop oftentimes sounding like Foo Fighters and/or even The Rasmus (check those breakdowns). I cannot say enough good things about this album, I just hope these guys get the attention they deserve. (JJJJJ-)

http://www.geocities.com/pastandpresent2001/july2004.HTM - Hans Jakup Eidisgard

English Dance Rock: Cafebar 401's Cafebar 401

Released today, Cafebar 401's self-titled album introduces this Dutch band that's a bit beyond easy description. Alternative-garage-beat 'n' bass-pop band.

'Full-Pro Disco' has that combination of hard rock with dance tendencies like Skillet, Placebo, or what Jesus Jones would be if the guitars were raunchier. 'Senses Working Overtime' borrows a title from a classic XTC song, but that's about all this song takes from XTC. The sound is hard rock coupled with Tije Oortwijn's falsetto vocals on the chorus. I suppose you could call it all melodic hard-edged dance rock.

However, when the acoustic guitars and balladic breaks come in, featuring Oortwijn's plaintive vocals, I'm ready to have Cafebar 401 jump all the way from English Dance Rock to American Dance Rock where there are many grittier bands who are also ready with melodic blends of distortion and ballad, like Audio Adrenaline, delirious?, Seven Day Jesus, or Bleach. Interestingly, that little group of Christian bands ends up together partly because their harder-edged songs are always tempered by a production that keeps their vocals on top of the mix. I've always assumed that this sound would typify Christian band due to the mission of getting the message heard, but here Cafebar 401, without being a labeled Christian band (I can't speak for their personal faith), has a similar mix, the vocals rising above the bursts of guitars.

Ah, but I'd have to have good reason to bring a Euro band from the European side of the Spectrum to the American side. I do it with certain bands when the influences or style seem to much like they come from the opposite side of the pond, but there's got to be a reason. Cafebar 401 fits in nicely next to Placebo with that combination of a core of heavy guitar, lyrical flourish, and dance beats.

Towards the end of the album, 'Today' takes Oortwijn's acoustic ballad, kicks in a spare snare/high hat beat, topped by a bright, wandering keyboard line. It is a song mourning for a lost relationship ('I'm sure/It's over now/We're older now'), and the beat and keyboard while headed in a slightly more upbeat direction, actually only make the grief in Oortwijn's vocals all that more apparent.

Cafebar 401 shows that they understand how to take these combinations'hard rock guitar, keyboards, singer/songwriter lyrics, dance beats'and use them to actually move the song forward, to create a feeling and style that works towards the song. This isn't some grand experiment, 'let's see if we can put all of this stuff together.' This is a band creating something that couldn't happen without each of the pieces being present.

Following 'Today' is the despairing 'Using Few Words.' A guy I've been visiting in the county jail asked me, 'How do people view God? Do all people view Him as forgiving?' Here's the song for us to talk about and explore how people view God. Oortwijn cries out, 'I never thought her dad would die/He using few words told his daughter goodbye/Do you believe?/She thought she had/When God turns His back on you/It's the devil instead.' In those moments when God seems absent, it is hard to believe that He is truly there. 'Using Few Words' is one of those songs that forces to take a look at those difficult questions.

You come a long way on Cafebar 401's debut album, from the full-on fun of 'Full-Pro Disco!' to those closing plaintive songs. Yet, there's no dragging-and-kicking here; you'll be glad to go with Cafebar 401 from start to finish.

Thanks to Cafebar 401 and Mark at Wampus Multimedia for the review copy

http://musicspectrum.blogspot.com/ - Benjamin

Cafebar 401, "Cafebar 401" (Wampus Multimedia)

Dutch alterna-rockers Cafebar 401 play some engagingly quirky euro-pop on their new, self-titled CD. From a kitchen sink of influences, this talented quartet has culled a style that is unique but recognizable, if that makes any sense. The record starts out light and frothy with the ironically titled (I hope) "Full-pro Disco" which thrashes energetically. The R.E.M.-ish "Many left
here long ago" follows, making things all dreamy and spooky. "Senses working overtime", the next cut, sounds not unlike Radiohead, only not as self-conciously portentous. "Something worth dying for" sounds again like Radiohead, and...wait, you know what? A LOT of this record sounds like Radiohead! In fact, this band sounds like Radiohead would sound if they enjoyed what they were doing. In fact, I'd rather buy a Cafebar 401 record than a Radiohead record. But that's just me. Good band, good tunes. So what if they mostly sound like Radiohead?

http://www.normanfamous.com/normanfamousreviews.html - Norman Famous

Review on www.groovevolt.com | it's your music.
===============================================
I’ve spent the better part of the past two months trying to verbalize exactly
what it is that makes Cafebar 401’s self-titled disc one of the
best discs of the year. It’s simple for a reviewer to make such a lofty
statement, but often more difficult to verbalize the reasons for and to
justify said statement.

But the more I listen to this eminently-listenable disc from this Dutch group
-- and I do listen to it, over and over again, out of desire and not out of
obligation -- the more clear the reasons for my proclamation become.

First, Cafebar 401 reminds me of another great, underappreciated disc of
recent vintage: Idlewild’s The Remote Part. While not all the songs on
Cafebar 401 fit the mold (a good thing, incidentally), some of them do,
notably “Many Left Here Long Ago,” “Something Worth Dying For,” and
“Sense Working Overtime,” whose “wherever she goes she blows me away”
chorus is nothing short of brilliant.

Perhaps it’s frontman Tije Oortwijn’s singing is ideal for the alternative
Euro-rock tracks the band has put to record. Perhaps it’s the way in which
one song flows generously into the next without sounding like the previous
track in much the same way that a great mix tape does. For example, the
opening track, “Full Pro Disco,” gives little insight into what listeners
will find on the remainder of the disc; however, at the same time, it draws
the listener in, daring him to venture further.

Equally impressive is the band’s ability to downshift on tracks like
“Lost Without You” (which bears a passing resemblance to the Red Hot
Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge”) and “Troubles” and then pick up the tempo
again on tracks like “Bob Ross on Drugs” and “2 AM.”

“Today” out-Coldplays Coldplay, and it’s at about this point in the disc
where you realize you’re almost to the end and completely mad about this
stunning CD. Oortwijn has a beautiful singing voice and he works it out here.

It’s about time that people woke up and discovered Wampus Multimedia.
This is one of the best indie labels in the country; one that really feels
like an indie. They expose people to high-quality artists unfamiliar to many
and do not try to saturate the market with too many releases. I cannot remember
the last time that I was disappointed by a Wampus release, and, more often
then not, the discs they release end up on my year-end best of list. If this
sounds like a commercial, maybe it is. (Though, since I’m not being paid for
this, you can consider it more of a public service announcement.) Find this
disc (it’s available at cdbaby.com and at Wampus Multimedia’s Web site
(www.wampus.com).

Though it might sound cliché, there is not a single track on the album that
does not deserve your attention. Consider about how few albums one can say that.
Cafebar 401 might not be a household name in North America, but they certainly
deserve to be.


Cafebar 401
"Cafebar 401"
Wampus Multimedia
Rating: A
RELEASED DATE:
May 21, 2004
CD REVIEWED BY:
Roy Opochinski


- Roy Opochinski

Wederom een fijn debuut uit de lage landen. Cafebar 401 klinkt het
ene moment als Radiohead met een vrolijke Thom Yorke, dan weer
als het broertje van Johan of Daryll-Ann. Daarnaast wordt er in de
geest van Muse en Coldplay gehandeld. Na deze rij namen worden
worden wellicht enkele wenkbrauwen opgetrokken en vraagt men zich af:
we hebben toch al honderd van die bandjes? In dit geval niet, want
deze band onderscheidt zich ondanks alle vergelijkingen.
Vooral door de goede zang, funky gitaren en afwisselende liedjes, In de
teksten zitten helaas nogal wat clichés en wordt er wel erg vaak herhaald.
Gelukkig worden de herhalingen ondersteund door pakkende
ritmes en schone rifjes. En dan zijn er hoogtepuntjes op het album,
zoals Bob Ross on Drugs, dat lekker losjes Rock & Roll klinkt en het
openingsnummer Full Pro Disco dat teruggrijpt naar vervlogen discotijden.
Tekenend is wellicht dat Cafebar 401 een contract bij een Amerikaans
labeltje in de wacht heeft weten te slepen - geen misse prestatie.
Omarmen die hap.
Rianne van der Molen - Rianne van der Molen

Cafebar 401 - Cafebar 401 (wampus/pink)
!! Waarom een recensie beginnen met twee uitroeptekens?
Wel, omdat iedereeen moet weten dat we hier te maken hebben
met een uitzonderlijk band van vaderlandse bodem ,
die verdacht internationaal klinkt en onderdak gevonden heeft
bij het Amerikaanse label Wampus Records. De basis wordt
gevormd door meeslepende rock met veel gevoel, zoals je die
ook terugziet bij Muse, Radiohead, Soulwax en eels. Maar waar
veel bands daar stoppen gaat Cafebar 401 verder.
De genoemde invloeden worden namelijk bijna achteloos vermengd
met smerige rock die zo uit de hoge hoed van Chris Goss
of Josh Homme had kunnen komen. Dat heeft pakkende nummers met
veel onverwachte wendingen tot gevolg. Een lekker ontspannen
productie en uitstekende zang doen de rest.
In deze bar kunnen we eindeloos rondhangen; een debuut om
trots op te zijn!
Ronny Dijksterhuis - Ronny Dijksterhuis