Band: GUIDED BY VOICES (Dayton ohio) Active: 1983–2004, 2010–2014, 2016–present
Album: ISOLATION DRILLS – 12th LP Released: 10 April 2001 – 20 years ago today
AllMusic/Mark Demig: “Every song here matters, with Pollard’s vocals at the top
of their form and the band sounds tight, forceful, and emphatic throughout. God
knows if the indie rock audience will ever forgive him for such obvious craft, but the
side of Pollard’s personality that thought touring with Cheap Trick was a great idea
finally gets the album he’s been waiting for with Isolation Drills.” Full review: here. Score: 8/10.
Turn Up the Volume: If you make 33 albums in 38 years (3 LPs in only one year
in 2020, and a new one called Earth Man Blues out at the end of this month) you
must be the hardest working band in the world (hello, Radiohead?) and this is,
without a shadow of a doubt, one of their best.
5 new firecrackers to boost your favorite 48 hours…
Band: MODEL CHILD (Los Angeles) Who: Outspoken lone ranger from Los Angeles, California Track: PILOT TUTV says 2 minutes of schizophrenic rage, furious anger and endless
humanitarian struggle. Fuck the greedy rich! Fuck the military industry!
FUCK WAR!
“Blood is raining gold across the room /
Million dollar chains tied to your tomb.”
Band: METZ Who: Premier shock rock trio from Toronto, Canada Newest album: ATLAS VENDING – 4th LP Track: SUGAR PILLL – new video clip
TUTV says: One of those vintage brain-breaking Metz
hammer blows sounding like a fucked-up hot rod on the run.
Press play…
Band: PINKSHIFT (Baltimore, US) Who: Fired-up grunge punks driven by tons of energy and grit New EP: SACCHARINE – out today – buy here Lead-single: MARS
TUTV says: This is a high-powered and barbed-wire punch-punk cannonball
celebrating hope and the band itself. The combination of rip-roaring-riff mania,
frenetic drum whacks, vocal Courtney Love swagger and a hectic chorus is what
you need to fight your panic lockdown attacks.
One of the greatest hits of the late great DAVID BOWIE was LET’S DANCE, the classic
title track of his 1983 album. The single hit the top spot of the UK charts on 10 April 1983, 38 years ago today. Here’s that fabulous video clip with that wonderful girl dancing the blues with her red shoes…
Band: EMPTY HEAD Who: Noise-rock gang out of Liege, Belgium
Pick: COSMIC RAVE – 2nd single from upcoming debut EP (14 May)
About:“A song full of imagery and twists that delves into abstract concepts such as reality and dreams. The lyrics are centered around the (mis)adventures of a protagonist who is exploring a parallel world and gradually losing his mind to the point of not being able to dissociate dream from reality. The title of the song ‘Cosmic Rave’ refers to the delirious parallel world in which the protagonist is evolving and slowly sinking into madness.»
Score: After their stunning debut singleHunted From Below the up and coming Belgian strike force Empty Head goes berserk again. Fired-up guitars cause a jigsaw electricity that could come straight from an Osees record. Feverish vocals go mental here and there. The drummer sounds like if he wants to beat all of his lockdown demons. And just before the heated finale sets in I hear Soundgarden‘s late great frontman Chris Cornell‘s covering Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven. Awesome, right? You betcha.
Get out of your straight jacket and pretend you’re in hell (maybe you really are)…
British music monthly UNCUT will celebrate the imperishable and legendary
troubadour BOB DYLAN‘s 80th birthday (born Robert Zimmerman, in Duluth,
Minnesota on 24th May 1941) with a CD of covers.
Uncut‘s June issue comes with DYLAN REVISITED: “A covermount CD made up
of 14 cover versions of choice cuts from Dylan’s songbook recorded exclusively for
Uncut, as well as a previously unreleased track from the man himself.”
Bob Dylan – ‘Too Late (Acoustic Version)’ Richard Thompson – ‘This Wheel’s On Fire’ Courtney Marie Andrews – ‘To Ramona’ The Flaming Lips – ‘Lay Lady Lay’ The Weather Station – ‘Precious Angel’ Cowboy Junkies – ‘I’ve Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You’ Thurston Moore – ‘Buckets Of Rain’ Fatoumata Diawara – ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ Brigid Mae Power – ‘One More Cup Of Coffee’ Low – ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ Joan Shelley & Nathan Salsburg – ‘Dark Eyes’ Patterson Hood & Jay Gonzalez – ‘Blind Willie McTell’ Frazey Ford – ‘The Times They Are a-Changin” Jason Lytle – ‘Most Of The Time’ Weyes Blood – ‘Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands’
In 1995/1996 ALAN VEGA, half of synth-punk pioneers Suicide
and his wife Liz Lamere, recorded an album called MUTATOR.
But it never saw the day of light. Then, back in 2019 Lamere and
close Vega friend Jared Artaud discovered the original tapes and
decided to mix the songs into a proper LP.
His widow Lamere about the track: “The anthemic zombie
atmosphere challenges the listener to find the underlying message
of hope that is always within Vega’s words and sound.”
Album: MOSELEY SHOALS – 2nd LP Released: 8 April 1996 – 25 years ago Score: No 2 in the UK and Scotland
AllMusic / Stephen Thomas Erlewine : “They sprinkle Beatlesque and Stonesy
flourishes throughout the album, as well as the odd prog rock flair, adding an even
more eclectic flavor to their traditionalist pop/rock. Ocean Colour Scene are still
developing their songwriting skills — the sound is more impressive than the songs
throughout Moseley Shoals, but their second album is an unexpectedly enjoyable
record.” Full review: here. Score: 4.5/5.
Turn Up The Volume: OCS formed at the peak of the Madchester craziness
and become popular as a Britpop band, while they always sounded to me as
a characteristic English blues-rock band, think The Pretty Things / The Animals.
You can also hear that Paul Weller was a big fan.
Singles/clips: The Riverboat Song / The Day We Caught The Train / Full Circle
Last February New-York based indie rookers ONISM E
released their debut album, titled SURVIVORS.
After a couple of spins Turn Up the Volume knew that this is
one of the best records you’ll hear all year and wrote…
“Gusto, high-spiritedness and anxiety are the keywords here. This warm-blooded LP
is a heart-rending reflection of the group’s state of 2021 mind. A galvanizing collection
of cohesive poignant emo songs influenced by the disturbing way our troubled world
is handling human issues, once-in-a-lifetime dramas, and the personal turmoil
of frontwoman Chavez.”
Big heart, big soul, big voice, big album.
Enough reasons for an interview. So, thanks to Eline for chatting with us.
But first, as usual, a piece of music with the album’s outstanding opener STAY…
Hello Eline,
What’s the story behind the band’s name and
when did the musical journey start, Eline?
“Onism is the knowledge that you are stuck in one body and will only
get to see so much of the world. The frustration in that thought is me
in a nutshell. I have been fortunate enough to travel a good bit.
I know I will never see all of it, and that makes me a little sad.
The band started it in 2017 with another guitarist. He left after we released
our first EP, and I kept the name and kept working on my own. This Onism E
lineup started in late 2019 in preparation for a music festival in Austin, TX.
We never got to play because then the pandemic hit.
Instead of just waiting it out, I decided to reach out to CeeRod
to play a bass line. The rest is history, as they say.”
Which track would you play to introduce yourself
to people who never heard of you?
“Oh, good question. It depends on the day. Ha. Today I
would probably play them, Survivors.”
. One of my favorite tracks is MY AMERICA and the video is both gripping and painful to watch. How do you see the future now that American idiot Trump is dumped?
I am hopeful but we have done so much damage to each other. Only time
will tell how we bounce back. I hope we are better for it in the end. I hope we
all learned some tough lessons that will make us better humans.
In the clip you wear a t-shirt with LOVE IS A VERB on.
What does the expression mean to you?
For me, it is about actively participating in my family life and my community.
I am not afraid to get my hands dirty. I hear people say all the time that they
want to help but don’t know how. I always tell them, whatever their gift is, to
find a way to use it. Love is active and requires action.
Your rad debut album calls SURVIVORS. Who are they? The band? The world?
“Both. Ha. If you are reading this, then you are a survivor. We have a way to go
but, you are here so, keep on keeping on.”
I love the album’s cover image. I’m sure big-time artists wouldn’t put themselves with a mouth mask on, on their records. Did you want to make a statement with your choice?
“I had not thought about it that way, but no, we did not intend for it to be a statement.
At the time we took those pictures, the goal was to stay healthy.”
The thing that crossed my mind immediately, when I heard the opening track
STAY for the first time was: that’s Aretha Franklin. Any thoughts on that, Eline?
“Thank you. That’s very kind. That is the influence of living in the south for so long. It does have a very pulpit-driven, preachy sound to the way I phrased it. You are one of the few to pick up on it, yay!”
A lot of musicians came up with a cover of another artist’s song during
these bizarre times. Which one would you pick to give it an Onism E touch?
“We’ve been talking about that for a bit. I think something from Radiohead, The Pretenders, Alabama Shakes, Gary Clark, Twenty One Pilots, or Ben Harper but, who knows. Ha.”
Voice!
Suppose you were asked to rewrite the American National Anthem,
what would be the outcome in sound and vision?
“I would not even attempt to or even know where to begin honestly…”
Which movie would you pick to screen behind you on stage while playing the album?
“Hmm. That’s tricky. I am going to go with a not-so-obvious choice and say Wonder Woman. It’s about hope, love, and fighting for a better tomorrow all in one. Plus, who doesn’t love Gal Gadot?”
New York Knicks or Brooklyn Nets?
Next step for ONISM E, Eline?
“Live shows and more music! We remain hopeful that things will
continue to improve with the pandemic. I remain hopeful that by
summertime we will have shows in our pipeline scheduled for the fall.”
Thank you very much for this chat, Eline!
May the road rise with Onism E!
