NME reports: “A report by the Musicians’ Union in 2024 found that
75 per cent of UK artists had seen a decline in bookings in the EU
since Brexit, with 79 per cent unable to make up for the loss of work
elsewhere and the majority claiming that touring in Europe was simply
“no longer financially viable”.
Alongside UK artists being booked for European
festivals falling by nearly a third, the body argued:
“Reduced touring opportunities not only directly affect artists and crew unable to tour, but also songwriters who see reduced royalties where their works are no longer being performed by UK artists at concerts and festivals in EU countries.”
This comes with the perfect storm of increased touring costs, more red tape and admin around carnets and crossing borders, less chances to be heard, massive dips in income, and a huge impact on mental health.”
Now, Culture MinisterIan Murphy has promised the “full commitment”
of the UK government to remove the barriers to touring the EU and UK.
He said: “There’s a full commitment from our side in terms of the UK government to fulfil the commitment in the EU and UK Summit to fulfil the aspirations of the Cultural Compass and to make sure we can have all our artists – whether it be UK artists in Europe or European artists in the UK – as seamless as possible.”
Vitalizing tunes that work faster than a stream of caffeine
Band: DEAD PIONEERS Who: Sharp-mouthed punks
from Denver.
Track: NO KINGS
New piece from their upcoming 3rd LP, named Wagon Burner .
I’ll hit our stereos on June 26th. More info here.
Album artwork
TUTV: Following blitzkrieg bomb Nazi Teeth, the punk pioneers go after that orange moron in the White House. The new crushing cannonball refers to the massive No Kings Protests (June 2025, October 2025, and March 2026), with millions across the US, hitting the streets to oppose the actions and policies of the incompetent and tyrannic Trump administration. Wake up, world, and join the protests.
The album was finished before co-founder Dave Ball, passed away last October.
TUTV: Back to the discotheques’ dancefloors of the 80s, colored
with its soulful flamboyance and hedonistic nights out. Sway, swing,
and shake. Get sweaty.
Band: SOULWAX, Who: The Belgian brothers David and Stephen Dewaele‘s main project for
30 years now, released their 6th longplayer, called All Systems Are Lying,
last year in October.
Track: PERFECT WE ARE NOT
New piece which they wrote and recorded in
just 24 hours in the historic Abbey Road Studios
in London.
TUTV: It’s a nearly 8-minute electro-spiked brainbreaker echoing,
both New Order and LCD Soundsystem with its motorik beeps an
bleeps perseverance, and nerve-racking repetition.
The siblings throw some nonchalant vocals in the mix before
storming towards an orgastic techno finale. Perfect.
TUTV: Don’t expect Barnett to turn into a pop diva. She’s still her slacker rocker
self, writing both lazy and electrical sonic goodies. And that’s what she does here
again. Great Advice is bite-sized, infectious, and uplifting.
TUTV: Brian and The Onions don’t waste time. They produce a ton of decibels from
the get-go. They move and groove with sturdy doggedness, mulled with in-your-face vocals. And you can yell along to the chanty chorus. Rock ‘n’ rap-punk roll rules.
Track: TAKE MORE
Their first release since their
2021 debut album Flourish.
“Take More is a song about growing up in the suburbs. It captures nights spent twisting your mind over the future, caught between staying with the people you love and the need to escape, struggling to find anything that breaks the loop.”
TUTV: Imagine Hole fronted by Joan Jett. Bitchy, right? You betcha. This is a knife-edged stormer, vitalized by buzzing guitars and non-stop pushing drum beats, while the male action of the duo jumps in for some vocal assistance. Wanna have fun partying downtown?
TUTV: Yes! A stirred-up ska-like groove gets your pelvis abuzz. Rapping vocals,
a hefty guitar upsurge, and 70s organ glow complete the hustling picture. What
if I tell you to jump? Would you?
Band: AWAY // FANS Who: Jumpy London team, formed in 2020, classing themselves as an indie-dance
five-piece who set out to make music that gets everyone dancing, screaming, and misbehaving. Formed in the early part of the 2020’s
“Perfect Moment is an ode to messy nights and hungover mornings with the people you love.
It’s a celebration of youthful stupidity and hedonism, as well as the long-lasting connections
we can make in all the silliness.”
TUTV: C’mon, get your lazy butt off your couch and shake your booty to this
bass-propelled twist-around this stimulating invigorator. This is the perfect moment to throw your furniture out of the window and make some room for your twirling actions.
The rapping vocalist shows the way, backed now and then by cheery harmonies,
while the diligent drummer produces an addictive disco beat, which made that
1978 hit Born To Be Alive popped up on my stereo in my head.
“It’s a song about the ecstasy of being in love, the feeling that floating on air, of being so close that you can feel the pulse of your heart when looking into the eyes of your special person. The sensation of spinning and spiralling higher with a rush of feelings which won’t ever stop, you won’t come down.”
TUTV: Pop techno for crowded dancefloors in torrid nightclubs. If your body doesn’t vibrate when We Can’t Fall enters your eager ears, you need to consult your shrink or change your medication. Anyway, invite your lover for a wild night out in the city and
let the adrenaline take over.
Band: McCASLIN DAHLE Who: Duo of seasoned musicians featuring Donny McCaslin (3x Grammy nominee, bandleader on Blackstar by David Bowie) and Ryan Dahle (Limblifter, Age of Electric, Mounties).
Track: HENRY TAKES THE 5TH
First single, from their upcoming debut album MXD,
out May 22nd. Tracklist and more info right here.
“The song frames the mundane through a child’s lens where
the everyday feels enormous, heavy and extraordinary.”
TUTV: Expect a speedy, head-twisting ride, full-steam ahead from the get-go. Vocally magnetic, sonically intoxicating, and hopped-up, spiced with frenetic saxophone upsurges, adding a freaky force to this turbulent psych stormer. One spin and your ears are hooked.
Band: THE N.S.O. Who: A Yorkshire (UK) four-piece who mix various influences and genres into their work, resulting in a sound that is enticingly fresh and exciting. They combine dark and gritty vocals with light-hearted melodies making for a winning combo at every turn.
“Counsellors Call is a conversation with yourself, your partner, your boss, your friends or your ‘counsellor’. It’s realisation and contradiction in one, to a familiar rhythm in a humorous way, just like life itself.”
TUTV: Take up the phone and wobble and wabble to the strumming Coral-esque guitar swagger at work here. Counsellors Calls is a jumpy, frisky,
and pop-juiced tune that will bounce in your head for the rest of the day.
TUTV: It’s been a while since we had Common Flaws on our headphones, and it’s
a techno-stoked pleasure to hear Oberti again playing around with synths, producing
an ongoing, motorik EBM stomper, which bounces around in your head all day long.
Band: DOPAMINE FIX Who: Fresh-Irish indie duo who’s manifesto says a lot about them: “With a nod to the Dadaists, we create Post Punk, Experimental and
Electronica which aims to unnerve, to disturb and to question.”
“This piece speaks from inside the aftermath: after the damage, after the noise, when
certainty has begun to fail. In a world shaped by artificial intelligence, disinformation
and continuous media manipulation, perception is no longer shared. Reality becomes something assigned rather than lived.”
TUTV: Dopamine Fix offer a voltaic, jump-up-and-down earworm
that bangs and booms from start to finish, like disco legends Erasure
with a punky vibe. Trust me, they’re for real, and they produce real
sonic stimulants.
Band: DEAD RAT SOCIETY Who: London-based team producing bombastic explosion of Punk, Electro, Hip Hop and Grunge Rock. They are a genre-bending conceptual rollercoaster, fusing the no-nonsense lyricism of punk, the hard hitting dance beats of Electronic Music and the raucous noise of fuzz rock.
TUTV: These weirdos are big fun, triggering your foxtrot moves with big horns, big beats, big vocals, and big rotations. DRS make you smile, cheer, and spin around like a carousel. Simple and 100% effective with a lot of sassy swagger. That’s entertainment for you, mister Weller
Ali Lipman (singer/guitarist) : “I wanted to reflect on the stage of life I was in before her
death, recognizing how youth, distraction, and inexperience kept me from fully appreciating
the time we had together. The song explores that painful awareness, as well as the disorientation of sudden loss and the struggle to make sense of it all.
At its core, this song is about how grief becomes a lasting expression of love, shaping
how I move through the world and reminding me to stay present, because nothing is guaranteed.”
TUTV: At the song’s start, the light goes on slowly and smoothly until frenzied guitars,
a pushing rhythm section and passionate vocals take over and inject this flare-up with gusto and fervor, peaking on the ardent chorus.
It feels as if Lipman wants to ease her pain caused by a dramatic loss and decides
to choose for the future with this emotional eruption. Music has a cathartic force.
TUTV: Once again, these Swedish music addicts show their knack for writing
attention-grabbing tunes that spin around in your head throughout the day.
This new bass-peppered composition has a bit of slacker rock touch, bringing Dinosaur Jr to mind, with fewer guitar layers, but more melodic and with vocally
passionate J Mascis echoes.
Band: SEADOG Who: Dream-pop outfit from the mystic shores of Brighton.
They have 2 albums under their belts. Cabin Fever Blues (2018)
and Internal Noise (2024).
Press info: “An indie anthem for the underdog. A celebration of the ones who carve their own path, rather than follow the herd. The song embraces that raw authenticity and the care-free energy of youth.
Sleeve artwork by B. Kayla Bell
TUTV: Against The Grain balances somewhere between smooth Dinosaur Jr moments
and guitar-layered fuzziness by Band Of Horses, invigorated with rigid drum/bass pulsations and spacey melodiousness. On top, silvery vocals float along, bringing Sparklehorse‘s hallucinatory vocals to mind. Splendiferous stroke.
The song captures the internal tug-of-war of extroversion: throwing yourself into the night to escape your own thoughts and masking heaviness with noise, movement and people. Written for those who are always invited and always present, the track sits in the uneasy aftermath of the night when you are imminently left alone.
TUTV: This slow-burning torch progresses in slo-mo, amplified with weeping guitars and somber-sounding vocals. The party is over, once again. You’re alone, again. I guess many can connect by experience with this sad situation, therefore making this distressed song an inspiring one. Shared sorrow is half sorrow
The late royal genius PRINCE (1958 – 2016) released his 8th LP (and also the
4th and final one, where the Revolution is billed) PARADE today 40 years ago,
on 31 March 1986.
Parade eschews the guitar and rock elements of Prince‘s 1984 album Purple Rain in
favor of the neo-psychedelic style he explored on Around the World in a Day (1985), austerely produced funk, and soundtrack compositions.
It went to #3 on the US Pop Charts and #4 in the UK.
It sold more than 2 million copies internationally.
The New York Times: “The album succeeds in part because of the more aggressive
songs, in which Prince chooses to play up the black side of his multifaceted musical
sensibility.”
Herculian blues rock giants LED ZEPPELIN (1968-1980) released their
7th LP, named PRESENCE,on 31 March 1976, today 50 years ago.
It went #1 in the UK and the US
Rolling Stone wrote: “In spite of a few dull blues rock songs, the album is
another monster in what by now is a continuing tradition of battles won by
this band of survivors.”
Turn Up The Volume: For many bands, this would have been a top album.
For Led Zep – given the brilliant work they released before – it was nothing
more than a good, but too familiar-sounding LP.
TUTV: The rat race is on, folks. This debut is, without a shadow of a doubt, a longplayer that will last for a long time. For its sharp-teethed punkiness (British Racing Green / Won’t Stand For It / Muck And Bullets and the flabbergasting The Wrong Day), for its bloodcurdling execution, and for its overall KO horsepower in 8 rounds.
The Rats, led by vim and vigour by motormouth Emile Dekeyser, offer barbed-wire songs with body and balls, with heart and soul, with vivacity and a jagged joie de vivre. Every uppercut stands loud and proud on its own feet. Striking debut. Hands down.
TUTV: HF do not fuck around. They serve a fusillade of badass EBM jams.
Sonic fuel for the 24-hour party people among us. They alternate pulsating sledgehammers with galvanizing grooves and trancy vibes. Here and there,
they add some vocals, but the boisterous beats are king.
They know all the electro-techno party tricks in the book by now.
No dull moments with these Canadian disco-punk connoisseurs.
Artists: JAH WOBBLE and JON KLEIN Who: The dub bass expert who was co-founder of John Lydon‘s P.i.L.
a zillion years ago, and the former Siouxsie and The Banshees guitarist (1987-1994).
Klein: “Working with Jah Wobble is always an inspiring experience. When I started working
with him in recording sessions, he often quoted the words of Holger Czukay, the bass player of German band Can: “First we play, then afterwards we talk! We like to make things happen in the moment. Often we complete a working draft to a piece of music from scratch in a few hours.”
Wobble: “The music comes from that silent place. It’s pre-existing. You just allow it to flow. Proper post punk. Angry and humorous. Okay, it’s the end of civilisation. But nothing lasts forever right? We shouldn’t take it to heart.”
TUTV: The duo has puzzled an ominous, dark-groovin’ 8-jams record together.
Klein‘s aggressively articulated, Cockney-punk vocals accentuate his
take on our messed-up planet, crowded with bloodsucking politicians.
Wobble‘s dub bass play is still spot-on, and accompanied here
by brutish guitar ruckus, while the tone swells grimmer track by
track.
Overall, Automated Paradise sounds as if Doomsday
is just around the corner. No fiction, reality.
TUTV: It’s the perfect soundtrack for ebullient parties at your local graveyard. It’s an eery garage pop/rock record for your favorite nightmares, stuffed mostly with high-tempered, catchy tunes motorized by freakish guitars, bass/drum frenzy, glowing organ heat, and Laurenne‘s tempting and arousing vocals.
Let’s all get together in the midnight hours, celebrate our spine-chilling life, admire
each other’s psycho outfits, send the war-greedy Bogeymen (you know who they are)
to hell, be sweet creeps, trick and treat everybody with spooky jokes, and never ever
forget to go nuts, all you manic motherrockers out there, with the help of these 13 new smashing Darts pumpkins.
Press info: “It’s a record born from necessity rather than momentum, written during
a period when Hillig had nearly walked away from music altogether, and found himself worse for it. What emerged instead is his most vital and clear-eyed work to date, an
album shaped by collapse, community, and the unglamorous work of staying alive.”
TUTV: KAH’s warm, enthralling Americana voice infuses his mixed-emotions songs with a puissant Tom Petty swagger, a rock-solid John Mellencamp zip, and, at times, a Billy Bragg tenacity. From rock to country to balladry. 12 enchanting tunes.
Hillig‘s versatile songwriting skills shine throughout this highly appealing
and enrapturing record. I’ll have it on my earphones for a long time.
KEY TRACKS: The Horrible Truth / Divorce Of Course Of Course / Jules Can You See Me? / Something Is Different / Our Remaining Pig / We Were Right (‘Til We Were Wrong)
Will Irvine (frontman): “Everything felt so prescribed and inescapable and I needed
to reclaim who I was. Pause is about finding a way to fully let go and unearth your inner
power amongst all the noise. Things are so wild right now and it sometimes feels like the
world is speeding towards this cliff edge. ”
TUTV: Chop chop chop. Daytime TV bulldoze through this freak-out percussion
crusher, swinging a chainsaw left and right. No pause whatsoever in today’s rat
race chaos. Always full tilt ahead. Cut cut cut.
