Get ready for some thunder and lighting stoner blues rock extravaganza as British inflaming trio BLUE STRAGGLERS unleashed their 5-track debut EP. “Comprising five heavyweight alt-rock gems that lay equal claim for A-side status, Blue Stragglers’ debut EP captures the Sussex trio at their muscular, melodic finest. Recorded and mixed by engineer and producer David Holmes in the belly of Lightship 95 at Soup Studios – a houseboat turned recording studio docked on the Thames in East London – the EP sessions were almost over before they had even begun. Recording took place during a ferocious winter storm, which turned the loading of equipment across the Lightship’s ice-covered bridge into a precarious ordeal. Thankfully, the dreaded cry of “man overboard” was never heard and Blue Stragglers laid down five songs to serve as rallying calls of rock’n’roll defiance during a summer that’s been thin on such life-affirming delights.”
Turn Up The Volume already reviewed 3 out of the 5 steamrollers when they were shared over the past weeks. The clear-cut writing was definitely on the wall-of-sound. – ALL MINE (SOMETIMES) – “A brain-breaking banger and smoking slam.”
. – SHE – “A riff exploding blues hammer to test your lungs’ capacity.”
. – LATE AT A FESTIVAL – “Blur‘s Britpop flair pumped up with tons of illegal decibels.”
. Let’s add two other hot-royal-blood haymakers…
– FOREVER AND A DAY –
– LAST CALL –
. … and what you get is a jaw-dropping debut EP!
For those about to rock BLUE STRAGGLERS salute you…
Rowdy blues-rock desperadoes BLUE STRAGGLERS out of Sussex are gearing up to
quake the earth with their wall-crushing debut EP on 4th September. The extended
play captures the turbo trio at their muscular, melodic finest. Blue Stragglers laid down
five songs that are unequivocally up to the task of being played “during the sunset slot
at festivals” as per the band’s stated aim.
The fierce three-piece let you taste their summertime heatwave blues with two unstoppable uppercuts, called SHE and LATE AT A FESTIVAL . Get ready for some
sauna-hot firework right here…
– SHE –
“A cheeky south London romp about the one who got away.” Wham bloody wham bang!
This red-hot-blooded haymaker triggers you to punch all those hypocrite politicians in
the face. A riff exploding blues hammer to test your lungs’ capacity. This is what we need to ventilate our isolation paranoia. Wall-crushing hullabaloo. A whole lotta steamy rock ‘n’ roll. Royal Blood with balls!
. – LATE AT A FESTIVAL –
Razorblade melodiousness drenched in a pool of kamikaze guitars, going forth and black like a roller coaster on the run. Blur‘s Britpop flair pumped up with tons of illegal decibels. Don’t come late at a festival with Blue Stragglers on the bill or they will find you and make you beg for mercy. You have been warned!…
Wham Bloody Wham Bam! Open your windows and doors ’cause here’s a brain-breaking banger to invite all of your neighbours and start a revolution in your street with. Well, we have to start somewhere. Sussex’s stoner rockers BLUE STRAGGELS deliver the perfect uppercut anthem to dynamize our battle. Firework fuel to activate your inner rage. Yeah!
ALL MINE is a blistering hot hammer, an earsplitting ripsnorter, a slam-bang wallop to
get rid of all your disturbing demons. Come on, get up, stand up, and fight for your right
to smash your head against the wall and go berserk. Absobloodylutely. Don’t hesitate and press play…
This EP is the emotive, bluesy and saxy harbinger – with Lick The Bag as one of the best rollicking 2020 tracks – for the Swedish punks’ new album Welfare Jazz, out 8th January.
“I think our songs are mostly written about what’s going on in our lives. Not every band needs
to take themselves so seriously. I’m not very good at political commentary, so I’m not gonna go write a political song. There’s enough of that, in a way. You know, ‘Nazi punks fuck off’” says sharp-tongued singer/songwriter/tattooist Sebastian Murphy.
Singer/songwriter Attawalpa is a South-American, London-based artist who’s “music
is the sum of his influences, a colourful and culturally rich Schmorgers board of sounds, textures, emotions, and grooves from eras across a multitude of genres, sitting comfortably
in between rock, alternative and pop spaces. His Peruvian heritage plays a part too.”
These four gracious pearls, with multi-layered orchestrations, shows an imaginative and
impassioned artist with a transcendent vox and the masterly gift to write absorbing songs with a sticking pop melodiousness.
This rowdy Sussex turbo trio produces a fired-up blues-rock turbulence that electrifies
your body, makes smoke coming out of your ears and open up your sweat pores. Feel
free to bang your head against your living room walls, kick that coronavirus in the balls and let your locked up 2020 energy go its way with volcanic force. Yeeeeeeeeessss!
A collection of the 5 songs representing 2020 for this Welsh art-pop-folk duo.
“The taste of our particular flu pastille.” says the pair.
Expect dream-pop in colors and mixed-emotions poetry in motion, embedded
in multi-dimensional arrangements and free-spirited patterns Kate Bush and Florence Welch would definitely approve. Yes, that twinkling and sparkling good.
If you want to get away from reality for a while than this Norwegian dream-pop act is the ideal partner. It’s romanticism wrapped in six lyrical musings – including one charming instrumental – with the near whispering, sensual voice of vocalist Elisabeth Thorsen having a soothing effect on your state of mind. The feel is tranquilizing, tender, idyllic like a sort of zen experience.
Fifteen Knockout Tracks on repeat this past month!
A fervent fusion of robust rippers and striking strokes.
Here’s Turn Up The Volume‘s Knockout August Team.
‘Vote That Fucker Out‘ by WRECKLESS ERIC and AMY RIGBY (UK/US)
An anger-fueled uppercut, the whole wide world should scream along. A firm middle-finger knockout. Let’s get together and shout at the top of our lungs until the elections
in November. Exit Trump is the world-saving goal, ladies and gents! Let’s act! Let’s sing…
‘A Hero’s Death’ by FONTAINES D.C. (Ireland)
Rollicking title track from the Irish post-punk misfits’ second album.
An unquestionable contender for longplayer of this science-fiction-like 2020.
‘Hail Taxi’ by METZ (Canada)
These Canadians deafening noiseniks have slash and trash chromosomes in their DNA. Don’t even try to resist this wall-balls-breaker, just surrender. New LP Atlas Vending arrives 9th October.
‘Fixer Upper’ by YARD ACT (Leeds, UK)
A mind-twisting crackerjack that’ll do your head in the way you like it. This funky as bloody hell banger sounds as if Mike Skinner and Sleaford Mods joined forces to experiment with intoxicating guitar riffs and turn up the decibels on for once. Cuts like a Swiss knife…
‘Hold My Hand’ by DEATH VALLEY GIRLS (Los Angeles)
Gloriously catchy, peppery and poppy with a cool vintage organ, shake and swing beats, 60s garage glow and Bonnie Bloomberg‘s peek-a-boo vocals. “Love is just like the ocean.”
‘You Say’ by MADAME SO (Paris/London)
A spunky standout. A warning message for all hostile killjoys out there. Kicking off
with a powered guitar riff, soon followed by Madame So‘s vox hitting the roof with
the titanic You Say chorus. Smoking stuff, ladies and gents…
‘The Soul Singer’ by THE WATERBOYS (Scotland)
High-energy stroke! A horns fueled belter from amplified folk troubadour Mike Scott and his band’s new – fourteenth – solid album Good Luck, Seeker.
‘Late At A Festival’ by BLUE STRAGGLERS (Sussex, UK)
Razorblade melodiousness drenched in a pool of kamikaze guitars, going forth and black like a roller coaster on the run. Blur‘s Britpop flair pumped up with tons of illegal decibels. Don’t come late at a festival with Blue Stragglers on the bill or they will find you and make you beg for mercy. You have been warned!…
.
‘Trump’s Still In Washington’ byBROKEN SOCIAL CONTRACT (Washington, US)
A razor-sharp rant about that 24/7 idiot in the White House. One-man-band Justin Donnelly delivers the fitting belter to ventilate our own fury. Play it loud,
play it on repeat, play it until a new real POTUS arrives in Washington.
‘Everybody Will Be Forgotten’ by FAST FRIENDS (Bay Area/Boston/Denmark)
This paranoia punk punch sounds like Weezer on dope, like Green Day kicking that American Idiot in the face, like the mental result of a lockdown psychosis, like if there
is no tomorrow. Jump and yell along before it’s too late. Right now, right here…
. ‘Forever’ by FOLK DEVILS (London)
Once a devoted indie rocker always a devoted indie rocker. Even are all these years you can hear and feel this band’s beating heart and feverish soul burning with strong-willed bravado and hungry desire. Dynamite sound, dynamite tune. Seems like Folk Devils are back forever despite the taste of life going wrong…
. ‘My Faith Is Larger’ by SAVING JACKIE (San Antonio, US)
A hot-tempered sucker-slam triggering every single nerve, every single muscle, and every single vein in your shuddering body. If you’re still mourning the loss of Rage Against The Machine, dry your eyes, rise from your bed, and go mental to Saving Jackie. Now!…
‘Burn’ by TEROUZ (Montreal)
This stunner wouldn’t be out if place on a Sisters Of Mercy album, while Terouz’s voice balances between Interpol‘s maestro Paul Banks and Editors‘ frontman Tom Smith.
Get up, stand up, and pirouette yourself dizzy…
. ‘Dirty Little Sinner’ by REGENT (Southampton)
This cracker blends Oasis‘ northern flair and Blur‘s power-pop catchiness. A steaming kinetic stomper to play to the max on your stereo so the neighbours can jump around
like doped monkeys too when the boiling chorus kicks in. Pump your fists in the air…
‘It’s OK To Bleed’ by HEAVY SALAD (Manchester, UK)
A trippy, mantra-like chant that will set your free. Light a joint, steal your grandparents’ hippie outfits and join Heavy Salad up there, eight miles high and dream of better times…
