Turn Up The Volume: Expect an intriguing mix of moody moments (Coming Home / In
Your Hands / Ballad Of The Byford Dolphin / Hammerfest), guitar-driven riff-hook-and-lick knockouts that cut like a Swiss knife (Better Than Life / She Hangs On The Western Wall / Phantom Pains / Cigarette Machine) and a slo-mo closer (Basilisk) that could feature on the soundtrack of David Lynch’sTwin Peaks TV series. An overall versatile accomplishment that grows on you. A twists and turns record swinging from dreamy pop to fuzzing and buzzing rock and back. Don’t miss this! You don’t need a pool to throw a party with Better Than Life on the stereo.
Info: Written and recorded over a five-year period, “Better Than Life” features some of Chris Shackleton’s most mature and versatile songwriting yet featuring ambitious sonics that take influence from alternative rock, post-punk, post-rock, krautrock and shoegaze. Lyrically, “Better Than Life” broaches on both the personal and the political with songs that focus on themes such as loneliness, populism, gentrification and just how far one is willing to go to find satisfaction in life.
Turn Up The Volume says: Expect an intriguing mix of moody moments (Coming Home /
In Your Hands / Ballad Of The Byford Dolphin / Hammerfest), guitar-driven riff-hook-and-lick knockouts that cut like a Swiss knife (Better Than Life / She Hangs On The Western Wall / Phantom Pains / Cigarette Machine) and a slo-mo closer (Basilisk) that could feature on
the soundtrack of David Lynch’sTwin Peaks TV series.
An overall versatile accomplishment that grows on you with every spin. A twists and turns record swinging from dreamy pop to fuzzing and buzzing rock and back. Don’t miss this! You don’t need a pool to throw a party with Better Than Life on the stereo. Best album October 2021!
Ounsworth (mastermind): “The songs are politically motivated,
which is unusual for me. It’s about what I think we’re all experiencing
at the moment, certainly here in the United States, anyway, trying
to move forward amidst an almost cruel uncertainty.”
Turn Up The Volume: Riveting tunes, sharp-cutting reflections,
magical sparks, Ounsworth‘s feverish voice, and his glittery guitar
play make this LP the best one since the self-titled 2005 debut.
Bewitching all the way. My 2021 number one
Turn Up The Volume: Finally, Iceage do what they were expected to do for a long
time. Creating a standout album that makes the hair in the back of your neck stand
up. Melodramatic with ardency, impassioned with vigour, emotional with grimness. Charismatic frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt leads the troops as never before.
Turn Up The Volume: From outlandish sonority – think Scott Walker – to
Zappa-esque adventurousness, from a ‘normal’ song (Marlene Dietrich) to
free jazz weirdness. The sonic search of this impressively inventive band is
both inscrutable and intriguing.
Cavalcade confirms the experimental brilliance of their debut LP. Miles Davis going post-punk in the 21st Century.
Turn Up The Volume: The drop-dead gorgeous sisters in rock arms Lindsey Troy
and Julie Edwards celebrate their 10th year of producing high-powered turbulence.
Their bond is tighter than ever and their boogie-woogie more varied than ever.
Mind you, don’t expect a jazz record. Deap Vally are still about rocking ‘n rolling
while tackling their demons with vocal bravado and forthright ruminations.
Old skool punk ‘n’ roll? Absolutely. Any good? You betcha!
Amyl and her buddies made another blistering riff-manic-monster of
a hell fucking hell yeah record. Pogo madness is back. Sturm und drang
from start to finish. Holy Moly!
Turn Up The Volume: This black and white pearl is the work of
the romantic Cave crooner meeting the haunting Cave crooner. Idyllic
orchestrations, classical arrangements, and bad seed Warren Ellis
showing, once more, his refined grandeur.
Turn Up The Volume: Manimal and Samara are a poetallica sensation.
A new laser light at the end of a mythical and tenebrous tunnel.
Imagine Sylvia Plath fronting a mind-challenging, noise-exploring band.
Their debut album is a multi-faceted opus in sound and vision. Puzzling poetry
exploring life, death, birth, past, present, and future embedded in titanic thunder
and lighting symphonies going from perplexing metal to chill-out ambient.
Turn Up The Volume: The amplified haziness of Slowdive, the mystifying
soulfulness of Spacemen 3, the multi-layer-constructing skills of My Bloody
Valentine.
Hallucinating soundscapes, synth shadowplays, and guitars dueling with
each other while tireless drums dauntlessly beat, and wailing voices wander
in an enigmatic fog of reverberation.
This is what the (sur)real world of Ghost Patterns sounds like.
Turn Up The Volume: This time the bombastic rockers take another direction
to express their emotiveness. Moody, nostalgic, melancholically romantic with
frontman Brandon Flowers looking back at his teenage years in his hometown
Utah. Think Bruce Springsteen‘s sentimentality on his masterpiece Nebraska.
Overall an emotive and melodramatic
record without going over the top.
For some critics, it’s too mellow.
For me, its gripping mellowness
that works just fine.
Liz Lamere (Vega’s widow) remembers: “Our primary purpose for going into the studio
was to experiment with sound, not to ‘make records. I was playing the machines with Alan manipulating sounds. I played riffs while Alan morphed the sounds being channeled through the machines.’
Turn Up The Volume: Most of the lost albums that eventually came/come to the
surface one day should have stayed lost forever. If they were good enough to be
released the moment they were recorded they would have never ended up in a
smelly cellar or, worst case, in a trash can.
So what about Alan Vega’s lost one? One: it feels special to have the legend back.
Two: the album seems to come from a very dark mind, from the obscure places
of Vega‘s soul, creating a nightmarish and Kafkaesque chill-out atmosphere for
a 30-minute David Lynch film-noir.
Turn Up The Volume: The rap and roll venom of Rage Against The Machine, the
fuck-you-hypocrites grimness of Black Flag, the punky saxophone of X-Ray-Spex,
the sharp poetic spit and sneer anarchy of Mark. E. Smith, the challenging spirit
of open-minded-and-ass-kicking-anti-establishment doom and gloom crusaders.
Sounds like 2021, like the end of the world as we know it.
Turn Up The Volume says: Like Pavement going prog rock with the sound- exploring
state of mind of Mogwai. Jazzy and classical music textures make sure your curious mind
is focused all the time. And singer Isaac Wood‘s voice resonates freakishly identical to the chilling voice of American songwriter Conor Oberst from indie band Bright Eyes.
It’s not a happy record, but who needs a tsunami of cheesy pop tunes in these science-fiction-like times, anyway. I know it’s their first time, but these hungry noise crusaders
will stun us again in the future.
Turn Up The Volume wrote: Gusto, high-spiritedness, and anxiety are the
keywords here. This warm-blooded record 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 Eline Chavez.
Her soul-stirring and powerful (Aretha Franklin / young Tina Turner) vox, the weeping
guitars, and the electrical intensity are at times overwhelming and heartbreaking. Impressive!
Turn Up The Volume: The essential message of this new powerhouse album is loud and clear: noise-challenging turbo Pink Room is here to stay! Their tsunami energy is beyond any decibel regulation. Again, loudmouth Bart Cocquyt leads the rip-roaring trio.
As I said before his vocal range is out-of-this-world. He easily could front a death metal band (Stay Black/Stay White) or a Nirvana reunion (Losing/Skin) or kick Ozzy Osbourne‘s ass (Hail Satan). Expect ear-shattering jackhammers, over-the-top frenzy, and clamorous lockdown paranoia.
Putain, putain, c’est vachement bien, nous sommes quand même tous des bohemiens.
After 10 years the sisters in arms want to inject their bond with new musical challenges
to keep their marriage alive and kicking (they’ll be always alive and kicking anyway).
Their new LP called, yes, Marriage and lands on 12 November.
The first taster is a slo-mo synth-vaccinated groove with Lindsey Troy‘s fully charged
guitars all over it and Julie Edwards, as usual taking care of the solid backbone drum
beat. Troy‘s vocals and Edwards echoing voice in the back give the song an extra thrill.
Expect a slash and trash jackhammer, an angry
spit and sneer storm, a Sturm und Drang uppercut.
143 seconds of furious frustration is what you get. Retro organs
clatter like if a nightmare is just around the corner, but Domestic
thunders like he’s a determined survivor who will not go down
just like that.
I listened to the title track of this London-based singer/songwriter’s new album
about 50 times, so far. It’s a guitar-driven riff-hook-and-lick standout that cuts like
a new Swiss knife with feverish and heartfelt vocals amplifying the dumbfounded
chorus. Holy smoke.
The rock ‘n roll swagger of Eddie Cochran, the surf guitar electricity
of Link Wray, and the fervent fire of Bo Diddley. Get the punchy
picture? This rollin’ razzle-dazzle riffage will boost your mood.
London’s funk-punk gang is gearing up
for their big breakthrough album.
This first taster is a trippy bass-driven disco groove you can sway
your hips to in the morning while waking up, in the evening while
getting drunk, and during the day when you’re getting bored.
When surreality becomes reality cry outs like these pop up to translate
alienated feelings that dominate your daily life. This club of two decided
to embed their frustration into a swirling dance stunner for our doomed
generation.
Pithy, peppery, and a blacked-out chorus that sticks as primo glue.
Add glamorous vocals and a glittering full-on wall-of-sound and the
final result is a supersonic stunner.
‘It’s Critical’ by SAVING JACKIE (San Antonio, Texas)
The heated rap-rock gang from San Antonio launched
a video for the title track of their debut album.
The clip is a clear-cut message regarding life-threatening diseases.
Flamboyant frontwoman Jenny 4C Ramirez emphasizes the fight
for your life bravery while making your blood stream faster through
your veins.
These young gunslingers rushed to indie stardom with their ace jazz and prog-rock influenced debut LP For The First Time.
Isaac Wood (frontman) about this brand new song: “it’s the best song we’ve ever
written. We threw in every idea anyone had with that song. So the making of it was
a really fast, whimsical approach – like throwing all the shit at the wall and just
letting everything stick.”
A blazing rock slam about the desperate need for stable emotional stimulation.
Blustering guitars, flurried synths, hot-blooded vocals, a discharging chorus, and somewhere in the middle a thunder and lighting guitar solo to electrocute all your
mind-destroying demons. Every time you take this medicine, you’ll get a kick out of it.
If you like British turbo Royal Blood
you’ll go berserk to this cracker too.
Instantly effective pop tunes like these make me smile
from left to right and back. Shiny guitars with shoegazy
sparks, a dizzy-making rhythm, happy-go-lucky sentiments,
and seducing vocals. A song that would turn Taylor Swift
into an indie star.
A crystal-clear structured protest against greedy political sharks and
megalomaniac charlatans oppressing people for their own devastating
agendas. Again Manimal and Samara show how to fuse poignant poetry
and versatile metal genres.
The fab goth-metal gang made an album with goth heroine Chelsea Wolfe
and Cave In‘s Stephen Brodsky. The LP, titled Bloodmoon: I will soundtrack
our nightmares from November 19 on.
Here comes the first piece Blood Moon. A classic mix of deafening bombast,
theatrical doom and gloom, barking voices (except for Chelsea of course), and
hardcore torment. A perfect Halloween monster.
White continues her sound-exploring search. Here she fuses
symphonic instrumentation with deep-bass-resonating synth
turbulence. Trippy, dissonant, and even claustrophobic when
short fragments of White‘s restless breathing emerge somewhere
in there.
The ongoing pizzicato violin play adds both an airy and eerie timbre.
I have no idea what the totally silent outro with some echoes of (what
seems to be) firecrackers in the very end, is about. What I do know is
that the first thought that crossed my mind when hearing this, was: Aphex Twin is back, in disguise.
Pretty quick into the song the early days of electronic
British legends Human League and Baxter Dury‘s synth
pop sensuality (especially the female voices) popped up
on my stereo in my head.
It sounds as if this Boston tandem warns us of Big Brother’s ambition to brainwash humankind with mind-altering chemicals with this darksome, yet instantly striking
electro jam. Haunting, feverish, and gloomy are the keywords here. Best played at
night while being dazed and confused by the surreal times we experience the past
18 months.
It’s been a while since I heard an epic belter that evokes
an image on the screen in my head of a massive stadium
filled with a sea of people holding their phones up with
shining lights and scream at the top of their lungs.
This powerful love ballad will
trigger your romantic side…
This impassioned stunner kept growing on me the past few months. Why?
Because frontwoman Angeline Chavez‘s voice balances somewhere between
the ones of a young Tina Turner and a flaming Aretha Franklin, because the
guitar play is overwhelming and because Stay is a superb tune.
The glorious 2021 No 1 hit in my book.
The opener of this year’s excellent debut album Survivors. Wanna learn more
about this Texan 4-piece? Read the interview with Turn Up The Volume here.
I saw this amazeballs post-punk turbo in action for the first
time at an indoor festival in Amsterdam, last November.
Holy smoke!
These motherrockers slash and trash with a burning vehemence and
a flabbergasting fervency. Miami Lounge (from their Bad Time EP) is
a perfect example of their mind-blowing mania.
Early last month I discovered this dynamite hit team from Brighton
when they blew all punters away with their blistering performance
in my hometown Ghent (Belgium).
They razzled and dazzled with ebullient exertion,
bewildered British bluster, and a fuck Brexit fierceness.
Their newest cut Ded Würst is nothing less than
a nasty and filthy sledgehammer. Hallelujah!
Samara and Manimal already scored Turn Up The Volume’s
best debut LP of 2021 with Full Spectrum.
This raw rollercoaster single came afterward. A slow-burning torch with
hellish flare-ups of Rammstein‘s Götterdämmerung hysterics and manic Manimal
riffage combined with Samara‘s spoken-word ode to the legendary American
confessional poet/writer Sylvia Plath hypnotizes and magnetizes.
8. ‘Night Is Mine’ by ULTRA SUNN (Bruxelles, Belgium)
This Belgian body-activating rave duo causes an instant flush of excitement with
booming beats, nightmarish resonance, murky dynamics, and ominous vocals.
When you mix D.A.F.‘s industrial vibes, Sisters Of Mercy‘s gloom and doom and Depeche Mode‘s pop-noir thrills, the final result is a dancefloor hit.
This queer five-piece from London dropped a notable full-length this year with
their brisk Hedge Fun LP where pop, rock and garage meet for a vitalizing feast.
My absolute favorite track is this energising earworm with phenomenal vocals
that make the hair in the back of my neck stand up. Just irresistible!
What can I say? Sad or happy song, Rich Girls make me always feel good
when they come on. Luisa Black‘s mesmerizing midnight vox is totally
glamorous and sensual and the band’s pop-noir melancholia is soul-stirring.
All New York City’s night bars without a Rich Girls track
on their Wurlitzer Jukebox should be closed. Immediately.
12. ‘Wherever It Takes Us’ by JAMES(Manchester, UK)
Remember them? Remember their massive hit ‘Sit Down’? James has never been really away since they hit the scene 40 years ago. And with this year’s All the Colours Of You album they prove why they still deserve attention. It’s an all ecstatic-pop killers, no silly fillers longplayer.
From the late great Suicide hero’s Mutator lost album that comes from a very dark place, from the deepest corners of Vega‘s soul, creating a pitch black and Kafkaesque chill-out atmosphere.
15. Not Alone But Not With You’ by ARXX (Brighton, UK)
A rollicking rocker from start to finish. These two frisky Brighton popsters know
how to make your head spin 360°. Fire your shrink, listen to this crackerjack two
times in the morning, twice in the evening, and on repeat in between and you’ll
feel euphoric. So much cheaper than therapy.
16. ‘Better Than Life’ by GLASS SANDS (London, UK)
The title track of one-man-London-band’s debut longplayer
(one of TUTV’s 2021 favorites) is a guitar-driven riff-hook-and-lick
belter. A swirling bang-on stroke. Absobloodylutely.
Charismatic front queen Bleu sparkles on this jangly jive that sticks as first-class glue and reaches an aural orgasm every time the chorus pops up. Her vox adrenalizes and vitalizes. Her vivaciousness is contagious. This pumped-up pop gem is contagious. You don’t need vaccination against this castle of a song.
Get up, stand up and fight for your right to dance yourself dizzy…
Faze Out is a slash and smash rant. An angry spit and sneer storm, a Sturm und Drang firestarter, 143 seconds of furious frustration is what you get. Retro organs clatter like if Doomsday is just around the corner, but Domestic sizzles like he’s a determined survivor who will not go down just like that.
‘Sucked into the vortex / it’s a Faze out /
you feel just like you’ll fade out …
20. ‘His Ilk’ by BRONSOM ARM (Kalamazoo, Michigan)
This rumbling steamroller bulldozes its way in slow motion, forth and back, while
a haunting vocal brouhaha causes a creepy noise experience. Whatever the song’s protagonist’s ilk is, it doesn’t sound like you want to be friends.
Hit the start button here…
Have all a pumped-up end of 2021 and a turned-up-volume 2022, music junkies!
I discovered this brilliant post-punk turbo last month at an indoor festival in Amsterdam. The whole crowd went bananas. These motherrockers slash and trash with a burning vehemence and a flabbergasting fervency. Miami Lounge is the crackerjack opener of this year’s released 5-track EP Bad Time.
Now it’s your turn to discover this awesome London squad.
Earlier this month this dynamite hit team blew all punters away with their jaw-dropping gig in my hometown Ghent (Belgium). They razzled and dazzled with ebullient exertion, blistering British bluster, and a fuck Brexit fierceness. The roof went off.
Ded Würst, their newest single, is nothing less
than a nasty and filthy sledgehammer. Das super!
6. ‘His Ilk’ by BRONSON ARM (Kalamazoo, Michigan, US)
From Michigan here come 2 Pc Noisey Slacker Psychedelic Sludge Punks.
They joined Canada-based indie label Off White House Records
this year with a big bang.
Their newest outburst is a riffin’ rollercoaster that makes the hair in
your neck stand up with its metallic resonance and relentless bass
frenzy. Add nightmarish vocals and I’m sure Santa Claus will run
away in fear.
The alias of British singer-songwriter of Bobby Anderson.
Never Ready is a vicious droning blast. Wïlderman rankles,
rages, and has a bad taste in his mouth. Never ready for
her look and her voice. 133 seconds of sonic sex.
Hot groove, hot intensity, hot slam dunk. Fucktastic!
8. I Don’t’ Love You Anymore’ by CHATEAU CHATEAU (Tucson, Arizona, US)
Glam and glitter riot tattoo grrl Blue attracts all attention,
sonically as well as visually. She swirls and scintillates on this
new kick while cursing idiots who hate the LGBTQ+ community,
who hate tattoos, and who hate anybody who doesn’t live by
their ultra-conservative rules.
To hell with all these idiots.
Meanwhile, enjoy this jangly earworm that sticks as
first-class glue and reaches an aural orgasm every
time the chorus pops up.
With Absent Transient they show their masterly skills of writing ear-and-mind
pleasing pop tunes charged-up with rotating riffs and dreamy vocal harmonies.
When an old skool DJ teams up with Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker you
get a sizzling acid house corker to start and end all upcoming New Year’s Eve parties with.
13. ‘What You Keep Telling Yourself’ by DOWN WITH SPACE (Montreal, Canada)
The motorik and magnetic rhythm of this electronic exploit makes your head
turn 360°. The catching combination of near whispering vocals, scintillating David
Gilmour guitar vibrance and cybernated elegance create an overall ear-ecstatic
vibe culminating in a dynamic finale.
Expect flashy echoes of the 80s British New Romantics movement with
this instant catching pop spark, fueled with glimmering guitar/play,
impassioned vocals, and a non-stop drum beat.
This sugary pop bliss feels good at first, better the second time,
and the best with all other spins. Great pop-ular music is about
lifting up the listener’s mood to a euphoric level for about
3/4 minutes. Easier said than done, but not here.
Still is a glorious harmonious touchy-feely gem that appeals from
the kick-off with Gardiner‘s tantalising voice and Kuras‘ vitalizing
guitar ravishment. Add a delirious chorus and you have yourself
a 24-Carat top thrill.
This Italian singer-songwriter, born Patrizio Ottavianiiter,
produces a blend of psychedelic rock and Arabic harmonies.
Knight Of Cups is the latest single in a series of monthly releases this year.
Electric dream-pop at its tempting best. Sparkling, spirited, and seductive.
Nell Smith is a 13-year old fan of Oklahoma’s eccentric stargazers Flaming Lips
(one of my all-time fav bands). Frontman Wayne Coyne spotted her at one point
as she attended several gigs with her father. They got in touch and after Coyne
found out that she’s a singer he proposed her to work with the band on a Nick
Cave tribute album he already had in mind for some time.
They got all in the studio and the result is a 9-song Nick Cave
covers album baptized Where The Viaduct Looms with
the nightingale voice of Nell as the heroine in the middle.
You can stream the brand new record on Spotify
One of the standouts is her version of
the heart and soul ballad The Ship Song.
19. ‘Always Together With You’ by SPIRITUALIZED (Rugby, UK)
Jason Pierce and his orchestra have a new LP,
called Everything Was Beautiful coming on
25 February 2022
With this spellbinding symphony, he does what he does so splendidly for so long. This
first new piece is another soulful spiritual growing slowly into a gospel-like trance. Epic!
Last June mega-star-crooner Cave and his bad seed friend Warren Ellis
signed for one of the best LPs of 2021 with their astonishing Carnage opus.
And they’re not done yet. The duo releases the soundtrack they wrote for the French nature documentary Panthère Des Neiges (The Snow Leopard)on 17 December.
Here’s the magnificent taster We Are Not Alone.
A characteristic Cave humdinger. Tender and gripping.
Watch the magic, hear the magic…
See/hear you next month with the best 20 knockouts of 2021…
TURN UP THE VOLUME 