The flagship of the Dutch indie pop is back after a nine-year hiatus. A lot has changed in that time, but a peer of the group around the exasperated songwriter Jacob de Greeuw has never emerged. On Johan's best records (especially from 2001), De Greeuw combined his depressions with catchy and melancholic songs with a high content. These were packaged in clean but deliberately rattling guitar songs.
A sound that also became the trademark of their label and house producer Frans Hagenaars. Pull Up has nothing more and nothing less to offer than 11 new songs in that tradition. At most the band has started to sound tighter, which may have to do with the addition of guitarist Robin Berlin ( , , ). Whether they were missed in the intervening years is not a relevant question. More important is the good news that Johan is back. (MR)more
