Culture
Suggested Listening 2024: Emily Votaw
By: Emily Votaw
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WOUB Culture’s Suggested Listening series highlights the music that resonated with WOUB Culture contributors and regional artists in 2024. Today we spotlight Emily Votaw, music journalist and arts producer/reporter for WOUB Public Media.
Emily Votaw enjoys reading about music history, watching movies about Godzilla, and painting portraits of her dogs. Sometimes, she plays music on the radio. You can find out when by following her on Instagram: @dumb_girl_lesterbangs.
The hilariously intense ecstasy of discovering a new favorite band isn’t something you can force or predict. But, boy, is it fun when it happens—and I’m thrilled to share that it happened to me this year.
Enter Death By Unga Bunga, a Norwegian band that knows their music history and rocks so hard, and with such diversity and sincerity, that it wouldn’t matter if they didn’t. (For the record, they do—their name comes from the title of a compilation of The Mummies’ 45s.)
There’s a lot to unpack, but here’s a brief ‘primer’:
Juvenile Jungle (2010) – Mod-leaning, Nuggets-y garage punk served up in ’60s-style all black. They may seem really young, but you know who else was really young? The Small Faces, The Who, and all those other kooky rock groups this music reminds you of.
Please note: You will see lead singer Sebastian Ulstad Olsen’s haircut and, of course, be very impressed by his ability to pull it off. If it looks oddly familiar, it’s because you’ve seen it before in old photos of much shorter rock stars like Brian Jones, Steve Marriott, or any of the Fab Four.
The Kids Are Up to No Good (2012) – The cover will remind you of Slint’s Spiderland, the title will evoke The Who, and you even get a surf rock-flavored song about The Violent Femmes.
Pineapple Pizza (2016) – I Can’t Believe That We’re Together, Best Friends, and Wish I Didn’t Know are all strong tracks that will prove important later. Lady Fondue is another standout, notably accompanied by a music video featuring the band in character-appropriate costumes.
Fight! EP (2016) – The band hasn’t done many English-language interviews, but there’s a Q&A Sebastian did with Impose Magazine. In it, he calls this EP “perfect,” and he’s not joking. It’s a four-song glimpse into the band’s full rock potential.
So Far So Good, So Cool (2018) – Here we have a crowning achievement: Into the Night, the song that got me hooked on this band. Who needs a normal song structure when you’ve got Stian “guitar god” S. Gulbrandsen?
Heavy Male Insecurity (2021) – Egocentric, All Pain, No Gain, My Buddy and Me, Not Like the Others, Live Until I Die (“I want a bulldog with a cute face/and a football he can chase”), and Trouble — crunchy, loud, and most importantly, really fun. Don’t be scared off by the “masculinity” theme; it makes sense in the context of the record.
Live From Deadwood City (2022) – Back in 2020, DBUB released Once Upon A Time in Deadwood City, a Western-themed extended music video on YouTube. In this cinematic universe, Sebastian is “the sheriff,” and the band is “his posse.” Everything climaxes with a two-part version of Wish I Didn’t Know, interspersed with the guitar solo from The Boys Are Back in Town, played with guitars hoisted behind their heads and accompanied by MC5-approved coordinated kicks. Actually, there might be two penultimate moments because I can’t not mention this version of Not Like the Others.
So, Death by Unga Bunga was pulling off an impressive homage to ’60s rock when they were basically teenagers, and they’ve spent the past 15-or-so years cultivating an increasingly muscular and raw—yet tender and never self-serious—sound.
Their forthcoming album is literally called Raw Muscular Power. It’s set for release in February, with five singles already out. The new songs incorporate satisfying elements of noise rock, a direction the band began exploring as far back as the Fight! EP and have since perfected.
As a MOJO-style music journalist, I spend a lot of time looking backward to discover ‘new-to-me’ music. I’ll always enjoy that, but Death by Unga Bunga has reminded me that great rock music isn’t just a relic—it’s alive and thriving here and now, right where we need it most.
Still Barking – The Bonzo Dog Dooh-Dah Band (2024)
We long-suffering Bonzo fans have been waiting years for this, and it’s finally here—in all its 17-CD and three-DVD glory—and it’s actually as good, maybe even better, than I had hoped. To greatly simplify things, the Bonzos are like the art school version of The Beatles—and I’m allowed to say that because Paul McCartney famously produced their only “hit.”
Very notably, the DVDs include a Neil Innes “art school film,” starring Vivian Stanshall as the silent movie star he was always meant to be, wearing the thick eye makeup I’ve always wanted to see him in.
1-800-MIKEY – Plushy (2022)
My favorite track is Snoopy: “Snoopy the dog/I wish you were real.”
Songs about Snoopy are always bound for greatness. That’s why I feel so proud to be an Ohioan when I hear live, public renditions of the state’s official rock song, Hang On Sloopy. It doesn’t take much to mishear – or mis-sing – the lyrics as “hang on Snoopy/Snoopy hang on.”
Amyl and the Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness (2024)
Wow, Amyl & the Sniffers were incredible at the 2024 Nelsonville Music Festival. Lead singer Amy Taylor oozes energy and charisma—and we’re both 5’4″, so what’s my excuse?
One Hand Clapping Sessions – Paul McCartney and Wings (2024)
Cave World – Viagra Boys (2022)
Worms from Street Worms is what caught my attention, but Cave World is what made me a convert.