ROD STEWART, born Roderick David Stewart 78 years ago lost his wild rock
hairs a long time ago. Over the years he decided to become a smooth crooner.
Whatever, we still have his now-and-then stupendous 60s/70s records (Faces
and solo) to get us going.
Like this one.
AUSTRALIA
UK
ROD STEWART: Bio – Discography – Instagram
Daily bedlam that works faster and harder than caffeine
23 February 2023
Credit: Sara Hays
Robust stone rockers CARBELLION from Wisconsin, are gearing up for their
3rd longplayer, named Weapons Of Choice, out on 17 March.
Pre-order info here.
To get us all in the right headbanging mood they bombard us with another
punchball piece off the album. It’s called PITY THE BACKSEAT an hommage to
the 1968 classic American novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
Brentz Nitz (drummer): “Pity the Back Seat is my love letter to S.E. (Susan Eloise) Hinton’s novel The Outsiders published in 1967, as well as the subsequent motion picture directed by Francis Ford Coppola released in 1983. The lyrics are based on bits of dialogue from the screenplay and movie. I read this novel in the 7th grade around age 12 and afterward watched the movie. The story affected me on a personal level like no other novel or movie had before.
I found myself connecting with the characters as if they were kids from my own neighborhood. The story about the rich kids (Socials or “Socs”) from one side of the tracks and the poor kids (Greasers) from the other side finding unity over shared hardships and events are the common threads that connect with readers for generations.”
TUTV: The robust stone rockers are riffing and hitting their buts off again
on this cranked-up juggernaut. Fast and furious forward like a runaway train.
For those outsiders about to rock Carbellion salute you.
Pick your fight.
CARBELLION: Facebook – Instagram – Spotify
Weapons Of Choice out 17 March 2023 via Eclipse Records
One year ago today. R.I.P.
Our beloved friend Mark Lanegan passed away this morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland. A beloved singer, songwriter, author and musician he was 57 and is survived by his wife Shelley. No other information is available at this time. We ask Please respect the family privacy
— mark lanegan (@marklanegan) February 22, 2022
With Screaming Trees – 1996
MARK LANEGAN: Bio – Discography
America’s legendary music magazine ROLLING STONE revealed their list of
50 Genuinely Horrible Albums by Brilliant Artists featuring artists/bands
such as The Clash, Kiss, Kanye West, R.E.M., Metallica and Neil Young.
FULL LIST HERE.
It inspired Turn Up the Volume to come up,
just from the top of the head with 5 awful ones.
Here we go.
1. ‘Human After All’ by DAFT PUNK (2005)
I never was a DP fan. Their cheap 80s disco retro resonance, their
stupidly distorted voices, no thank you. And this one was their worst.
Stream/don’t stream
.
2. The Great Rock And Roll Swindle by SEX PISTOLS
The Sex Pistols only made one album ‘Never Mind the Bollocks‘. Still the best punk rock LP
in my book. But this money-grabbing collection presented as the soundtrack to an awful (never-finished) movie was the late manager Malcolm Mclaren‘s pure cash-in act. Of course, anybody knew it, he in the first place (thumbs up for the title), but talking about flogging a dead horse.
Stream/don’t stream
.
3. ‘Metal Music Machine’ by LOU REED (1975)
No surprise but I like the idea: a big-fuck-you music industry record. I like the artwork.
I like Lou Reed a lot (actually one of my all-time fav artists) and I actually like the guts
of the person who gave his fiat to release this horrible noise LP.
Stream/don’t stream
.
4. The Car by ARCTIC MONKEYS (2022)
AM (read Alex Turner) evolved from inventive indie pop-punk revelation
to a lousy version of crooner bands like The National and the Bad Seeds.
A reeaallyy boring album.
5. The Weirdness by THE STOOGES (2007)
Why bad? It was such a disappointment (after having high expectations) when
I first heard it. It was a quick and cheap way to promote the reunion of one of the best
proto-punk bands ever. Take the money and run. As much as I love Iggy Pop, this was a (rare) low (mind you, still better than everything Blink-1982 and similar fake punk bands ever produced).
Stream/don’t stream
.
22 February 2023
(photo by Suzi Corker)
Band: CHUM
Who: A 4-piece enigma from London. They have already gained an underground reputation for bringing a live show which floats somewhere between séance, pantomime and bad trip. They have a passion for humour, theatrics and the ethereal all the while set to a backdrop of crushing bass heavy sonics, maniacal kraut-tinged drumming and toe-tapping pop-esque melodics, interspersed with a dry somewhat disturbed vocal delivery.
Debut album: METAPHYSICAL
Out: 7 April via Crackedankles. Expect
a mental-groove-infused 8-track record.
Debut single: BEEFCAKE DOCTRINE
It came a few weeks ago and the 7″ version
sold out in 45 minutes. Hallelujah!
Turn Up The Volume was heavily impressed and still is: “What a brainbreaker,
what a mindtwister. From the get-go repetitive Krautrock dynamics do your
head without asking permission first. It just happens in an eye-ear blink. Its
trance-inducing beats create a hypnotic and puzzling razzmatazz you can’t
and you won’t escape from. Touchdown!”
Press play and get impressed too.
CHUM: Facebook – Bandcamp
22 February 2023
Since their reunion in 2010 glam pop legends SUEDE got
tremendously active with 4 albums and constant touring.
This week they did something really amazing. They performed at
the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios for their Piano Room Month‘s series
with artists’ playing the piano room with the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Suede choose to cover the 1978 classic cracker BECAUSE THE NIGHT,
written by Bruce Springsteen and recorded for eternity by Patti Smith.
The band’s take is astonishing. The orchestral magnificence is grand and
frontman Brett Anderson‘s vocal effort is phenomenal. A pure tour de force.
Listen/watch.
Daily electricity to load your batteries
22 February 2023
(Press pic via Measure PR)
Band: MAGNETIC SKIES
Who: Synth-pop act
from London formed in 2018
New single: YOU SHINE ON
From upcoming album Empire Falling
“This is a love song, a story about two people finding each other despite
divisions from outside, and about being true to yourself even when that
doesn’t fit with expectations from society or other people. It’s celebrating
a really positive self-belief.”
TUTV: This is delightful synth pop bliss with echoes of legendary British
giants The Human League and Pet Shop Boys . Boosting tunes are so welcome
in these worrying times. Music still can make a difference as it happens here
with this pick-me-up earworm transferring you to la-la land, away from reality.
With uplifting vocals adding an extra dreamy touch you’ll be smiling from left
to right and back. Sizzling score!
Listen/watch.
MAGNETIC SKIES: Facebook – Instagram
ZZ TOP
LYNYRD SKYNYRD
US tour dates 2023
– ZZ TOP –
R.I.P. Dusty Hill
– LYNYRD SKYNYRD –
Timeless riff
Daily cracker that works faster and harder than caffeine
22 February 2023
After the 1998 album Kingsize – their 6th LP – it seemed
like if the British guitar pop combo THE BOO RADLEYS
was over and done.
But last year they returned to the spotlights with the new longplayer
Keep On With Falling (without co-founder Martin Carr). And the creative
production keeps on streaming.
On 9 June another full length will see the day of light. It’s named EIGHT, yes their 8th.
(
Following lead single Seeker the band presents a 2nd taster with The Unconscious. Lyrically it’s about the past two rough years frontman Sice experienced, but sonically
it’s another brassy feel-good thrill that puts a smile on your face. The Boos still have it,
they still excite, and they still entertain.
(Press pic)
Sice (co-songwriter and lead singer): “It started with a ska riff and nothing else.
The idea was to let it grow without restriction… kind of like opening the unconscious.
Lyrically, it details my two-year psychoanalysis, which did not end well.”
Tim Brown (bassist and co-songwriter) adds: “A disco/dub mash up? Brass solo?
The song certainly took a few unexpected musical turns on the journey to reaching
its final form. Thumping drums and bass drive the song along. Backing vocals lift
the bridges, and overlay the choruses.”
Tune in.
2023 is also the year that their pop diamond album Giant Steps turns 30.
THE BOO RADLEYS: Linktree
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS – Botanique Club, Brussels – 20 February 2023
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS, the garage-punk rock fury from Los Angeles, led by vocalist/guitarist/organist and charismatic voodoo doll Bonnie Bloomgarden,
release their new – 5th – album, baptized ISLANDS IN THE SKY this Friday,
on 24 February. Order info here.
The three shared singles predict another triumph (and thanks to his secret sources
Turn Up The Volume‘s ears can confirm that for a fact) for the girls that glow in the dark.
Check them out and get hooked.
– WHAT ARE THE ODDS –
– MAGIC POWERS –
– SUNDAY –
And last night we heard these three stunners for the first time live as DVG landed
in Brussels for a 60-minute fuzz and buzz concert that started with the ominous psych snake Abre Camino (from 2018 album Darkness Rains), followed by rattling renditions of Street Justice and More Dead (from the same LP). By then everybody, young and old, was already under the spell of Bonnie Bloomgarden‘s genuine joy radiation, her big rock ‘n’ roll heart and the band’s dashing drive.
Their flaming gloom and doom gems Disco, DVG Boogie and Disaster turned up the heat of the sonic seance even more and increased the sweat factor in the packed club instantly. And these seasoned musicians know all the right tricks and push all the right buttons to keep the steamy sauna show going. Hail hail. Rawk and roll.
The three new singles were received as euphorically as the older firecrackers were. Yes, only devoted fans in the house, so Bonnie decided to meet them up close for a finale of selfies, smiles, and hugs while she kept on singing her lungs out to the Jimi Hendrix‘s infused jam Electric High (bonus track on the Deluxe Edition of 2014 debut album Street Venom). Magic powers in motion.
We all screamed for an encore and got one to close a gig where LOVE was in the air throughout. I only saw ecstatic faces and ecstatic fans thanks to an ecstatic band.
Everybody was under the spell of DVG joy and it felt really, really, really good.
The riff man in the shadow
Former dart Rikki Styxx hitting hard
DVG: Facebook – Instagram
(Concert photos by Turn Up The Volume)