Turn Up The Volume picks 10 gems of favorite artists/bands
28 August 2022
From their supreme 1996 debut LP on Turn Up The Volume became a devoted,
and seeing them play a glam-tastic show for the first time in London, at the sold-out Astoria a year later I knew Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal would be big, but honestly
not as mega big as I thought. WOW! Never let them go.
Newest LP
TUTV’S 10 PLACEBO GEMS
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TOP 3 – VIDEOS
– SLAVE TO THE WAGE –
– PURE MORNING –
– 20TH CENTURY BOY –
(Smoking T. Rex cover)
America, here they come.
And on 8 November in my home country of Belgium
Spotted at W-Fest in Ostend, Belgium last Thursday
Artist: JOULIE FOX Who: London-based artist who brings a truly genreless approach to her musicality. Honing down an impressive repertoire, Fox’s musical endeavours shine brightly, as she brings her unique chronicles to life. Defining her truly unique soundscape, her rich musical heritages take the shape of influences such as St. Vincent, Jack White and Marina & The Diamonds, as Fox prides herself on an ability to stay genuine to her unique artistry.
‘Running’ is a story of a lost soul seeking love but fighting with demons living in her head since she was very little. She feels devoid of emotions, therefore, believing there is not much left in her to give and that she doesn’t deserve true love.”
Isn’t this is a song from the Twin Peaks soundtrack? The enigmatic 90s American mystery serial drama television directed by genius David Lynch. Weird but true, this was the first thought that crossed my mind when I heard this ghostly beauty.
Lyrically – about a lost soul with demons living in her head – as well as musically – Chris Isaak‘s glossy guitar echoes, slow-mo pace and haunting vocals – this pensive ballad resonates Lynchesque. Arresting performance.
Band: QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Who: Infamous stoner rockers from Palm Desert,
California conducted by Josh Homme Active: 1996-present / 7 studio LPs so far
Anniversary album: SONGS FOR THE DEAF
(With Dave Grohl on drums) Released: 27 August 2002 – 20 years ago
NME said: “Having begun as a straightforward three-piece band, they’re now
something else altogether. Their world – sexual, drug-filled, and occasionally
paranoid – has become progressively darker, and as such we find them nothing
less than guardians of the rock flame… It’s the feel odd hit of the summer, and
it’s going to be very hard to beat. Score: 4.5/5.
TUTV: Still their best longplayer to my not-so-deaf ears.
Muscled riffs, muscled tunes, muscled vocals.
Singles/clips: No One Knows / Go With The Flow / First It Giveth
Who: Member of former hardcore gangs The Domestics), plus Pi$$er,
Tokyo Lungs and half a dozen more. He’s a punk poet, DJ, singer/songwriter,
doctorate owner, producer, and inspirator of young punk bands.
Turn Up The Volume wrote: “One moment he sits back for a sort of lazy Mike Skinner
musing, then again he turns it up like Sleaford Mods do with sharp-toothed gusto, but overall the idiosyncratic vocality, the ingenious verbality, and the stream of catchy tunes of the late genial legend Ian Dury are omnipresent and it works like a magnet. Lots of reasons to be cheerful.”
Now, before this hot summer is over Domestic drops his Holiday single off the LP.
Another example of telling us one of his wacky stories, this time about a travel
agency hostess and her boring job.
Musically, it’s a lazy dreadlock-reggae-holiday tune with that familiar mellow
60s organ versus schizophrenic guitars, while Domestic gets his shit together
with a swim, a good book and a pina colada. Sounds like a fun holiday to me.
Yeah, of course I do a bit of tourist stuff
But then I go where the locals go
I speak to the people, have some fun with ‘em
Get the spirit of the place; the feel y’know
Next day? Maybe some pool time
Helps me work through my hangover and get my shit together
A swim, a good book, a pina colada
And dinner with my new local friends tonight, alright?
Is this your holiday?
It makes no sense to me
Is this your holiday?
Cos It looks like work to me
And I guess if you’re happy
It’s no business of mine
And I guess if you’re happy
You could show it some time
Summer is nearing its end and I just realized that harmonies heroes and
surf-pop legends THE BEACH BOYS didn’t appear on Turn Up The Volume
so far this season.
Time to act. Here come some good vibrations with their second and
final UK numero uno. 24-carat gold earworm DO IT AGAIN topped
the British charts 54 years ago today, in 1968.
Band: MORE KICKS Who: The band arrived from nowhere – seemingly fully formed – at the end of 2017 on London’s garage scene. They generate an explosion of pop melodies, jet-fuelled guitar riffs, and shifting, sinewy rhythms with The band arrived from nowhere – seemingly fully formed – at the end of 2017 on London’s garage scene.
“Punch Drunk marks a new era for the band: heavier, more expansive, and with more twists and turns. It veers from sparkling harmonies to fearsome riffing in the blink of an eye, with never a second wasted. As with the first record, it was recorded live on to 2” tape. It’s bottled lightning and the sound of a band firing on all cylinders.
James Sulli (frontman): “When the world collapsed in 2020, I realized more than ever how much I rely on music and More Kicks. This album became a total obsession and a lifeline. Stuck in one place, the songs all came from heartbreak, frustration, anger, hope. It feels like a unique set of circumstances that produced this record and I’m really proud of what we’ve done.” We can’t wait to play it for as many people as possible”.
The video was shot while on a two-week tour of Spain, is a video-diary of a band on the road consisting of petrol stations, the Spanish countryside and the typical daily routine of traveling musicians.
Sulli: “As is increasingly becoming a motto for More Kicks, we decided to make a virtue of it. When we’re old men in our rocking chair on the porch, I’m happy to say this video is very much what it looks like to be on tour with us. Service station ice lollies, a desperate hunt for weird local bars, deranged pre-show voice-saving techniques”.
Score: This jingle jangle firecracker made my day after just one spin. These are
the sort of sticking pick-me-up songs that make my excited ears flapping with joy.
After the slow mixed-emotions intro, it’s all about whistle-stop guitar fieriness until
the moody fade out. There’s a combination of 60s The Sonics licks, 90sThe La‘s electric
and vocal ravishment served with a garage resonance. More kicks indeed.
Artist: LEE ROGERS Who: Singer-songwriter from the small town of Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland.
His musical inspiration was drawn from classic voices outside of the tensions in
his homeland. Bill Withers, Marc Cohen, Tom Waits, and other great ones.
Single: UNEASY LOVE
One of the highlights of his new, 2nd album Gameblood
(you can read TUTV’s review here)
Rogers about the song: “I once travelled around Australia with a beautiful woman who set me on lots of the better paths I have taken in life, but she left the planet for her next journey a while back. I later had a dream that I was in an old car we had out there, driving in the middle of nowhere, listening to the only tape we had in the car, which was the album ‘Mule Variations’ by Tom Waits. I got excited when I looked round and saw her in the passenger seat, sun-bleached hair, tanned skin, bare feet on the dashboard. She then started glitching in and out of vision, like she was going to disappear completely. I woke up gutted, went to my studio with tears in my eyes and wrote this song.”
About the video: “It wasn’t easy and seemed to give my director Jamie Neish and I the run around! However, when he came up with the idea of projectors and leaning a little into film
noir style visuals, I knew we were onto something.”
A grand voice, a romantic song and a melancholia-colored video clip combined have all it needs to send shivers down your spine. This is what this Irish songsmith does with heart and soul, here and on all the way on his new longplayer.
Last Saturday at the 4-day Pukkelpop Festival (Belgium) was
the one that made me forget the tiredness and the smelliness
on a hot summer day.
Here’s TUTV’s top 5
Band: THE MURDER CAPITAL Who: Irish brats from Dublin, looking/moving like brats, but my oh my,
these brats were brilliant. Oh I forget, those porno mustaches have to go. Album: WHEN I HAVE FEARS
More! More! More!
THE MURDER CAPITAL: Facebook – Instagram
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Band: WET LEG Who: Two utterly cool songstresses.
This year’s sensation. Album: WET LEG (2022)
Band: KILLS BIRDS Who: Hefty post-punk-grunge trio from
California with an amazing bird in the middle.
Foo fighter Dave Grohl is a big fan. Albums: KILLS BIRDS (2019) and MARRIED
