Vitalizing tunes that work faster than a stream of caffeine
3 February 2026
Band: GRRRL GANG Who: Three Indonesian
guitar-pop indies.
Track: LAPDOG
Piece/clip from their new 3-track
maxi-single, named Online 24/7.
Edo (guitarist) “This song is about the choices we make every
day, when we click ‘agree’ to something that actually hurts us.”
TUTV: Lapdog tackles, just like the other two guitar-electryfing songs,
the signs of our times, and those do not look good, as we all now.
The fervent firecracker grooves with verve and vigor. Vocalist Angee‘s spoken
word performance is loud and crystal clear, so is the vibrant chorus. We need
to stop messing up.
Wake up, people.
Indonesia is here
to rock.
Tour Dates
March 17 – Washington, D.C. @ Pie Shop March 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Silk City March 19 – Boston, MA @ Warehouse XI March 20 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge March 22 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Smell March 23 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar March 25 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill March 27 – Portland, OR @ Swan Dive March 28 – Seattle, WA @ Clock-Out Lounge
USI ES is the musical moniker of Belgian singer-songwriter Ester Weemaes.
Her music balances between darkness and dreaminess. Her debut album SideQuest lands next Friday.
Wolf Vanwymeersch is a seasoned musician who released the first LP, A Mass In the Water by his new band Wholes last November.
Press info: “One Way the Sea” isn’t a sugary ballad, but rather the story of a couple
of fortune seekers who take their chances at sea. Musically, the duet navigates the same waters as the collaborative work of PJ Harvey and Mark Lanegan, but is powered by raw electronics.”
TUTV: Two things popped up in my head instantly. Firstly, David Lynch‘s 2001 enigmatic movie Mulholland Drive and secondly, Nick Cave and his 1996 album Murder Ballads, featuring his Where The Wild Roses Grow duet with Kylie Minogue.
Those that make sense? Does it have too? As I said, these were my first thoughts
after hearing this collaboration for the first time. So I guess it makes sense to me.
Usi Es and Wolf‘s duet is a slow-mo, hush-hush wandering, a subtly orchestrated dream
in motion, an alluring song of a utopian future, a tempting adventure. Their voices fit romantically well. Both intriguing and heartening, creating an illusory ambiance.
Band: KULA SHAKER
Who: British psych rock vets, fronted by charismatic
vocalist/songwriter Crispian Mills. Their 1996 debut LP,
titled K made them instant indie stars.
Press info: “Named after a 9th-century Indian poet king, the band have always existed
in an alternate reality, mixing mysticism, psychedelia, and raucous rock ‘n’ roll energy. With Wormslayer, they continue that quest, creating a kaleidoscopic journey that feels both
timeless and urgently fresh.”
TUTV: KS show again their passion for 60s psychedelic rock/pop. Broke As Folk,
Little Darling, Shaunie and Wormslayer are obvious examples of their retro delirium.
Think early Pink Floyd, The Kinks, and Arthur Lee’s Love.
And they are very good at it. Wormslayer is stuffed with top-flight pop-edelia tunes, elevating this 8th LP to a must-hear level. Voice/face/songwriter mastermind Crispian
Mills lifts his troops to ecstasizing nostalgia heights. Respect.
Goth gods THE CURE win their first Grammy award in their 50th career year.
Last night they received it for Best Alternative Album for their 2024 full-length Songs Of A Lost World (TUTV’s named it best LP that year)
Press Info: “It’s a concept-album about coping mechanisms and the antics of a rock & roll lifestyle. The band is presenting a more layered and sophisticated sound than its predecessor; the result is a record that is equally shaped by the likes of David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars as it is by Refused or Slayer. Still as aggressive as before, but with a more old-school approach to songwriting with big choruses and even bigger riffage.”
Ronker about the record: “The initial plan was to write half of the record completely sober. We mostly succeeded in that effort. Not quite. We noticed that the songs we wrote in those sober sessions had a very distinct nature compared to the more fierce banger-like
songs we hammer out when we have some sort of intoxicants in our veins.”
TUTV’s impressions.
Ronker rage and race once again.
These volcanic punk hyenas develop
an earsplitting havoc that crushes
your mind, your psyche and your
shaking stereo.
They come at you like a rush of blood
to the head. No rest for the wicked.
If Ronker was an animal, it would
be a Tyrannosaurus Rex on dope.
Manic demon Jasper De Petter – Trix, Antwerp – Photo by Turn Up The Volume
Vociferous vocalist Kasper has 4 lungs
and iron pipes. He growls, barks, howls
and spits and sneers at a sizzling speed.
His backing crew hits hard, really hard.
Schizo riot gun riffs and a Herculean
bass/drum tandem. What you hear
is what your terrified ears get.
On the short & soft, classical piano-driven
instrumental in the middle, you can take
a breather, and the closing ballad, an
intensity-growing ballad Using Eyes is
one of my favorite pieces on the record.
This 2nd LP could easily be the soundtrack
to Quentin Tarantino‘s first horror movie.
If these bazooka rockers were to play
a gig in Minneapolis today, ICE would melt
right in front of our eyes, in no time.
