Band: NUN HABIT Who: A queer five-piece from London who play fun, fuzzy
garage rock. Their songs are a mishmash of influences all
pulled together by a love of loud noises, pop tunes, and
having a good time.
Selina (guitarist): “With Nun Habit, everyone is welcome to bring anything
to the table and it makes you feel really comfortable being more adventurous
with your sounds and ideas. Our songs come together in the moment with the
five of us lobbing in ideas so we never really know where we’ll end up.”
Turn Up The Volume: This is a great 2021 record with influences from several
decades. From easy-going Belle & Sebastian pop (Slip n Slide / Snow Day) to jiving
jingle-jangle disco (Marigolds / TinderHingeHer). From synth/organ sparks (Flock
Of Seagulls (about that band?) / Soap and Cigarettes) to blue lullabies (Blooms /
One More).
Different voices, changing moods, big tunes, vibrant vibes.
Overall, a buzzing chameleon longplayer made to play on repeat.
1. ‘Soap And Cigarettes’ by NUN HABIT (London, UK)
Can’t stop playing this sickly sticky amplified pop cracker. It’s a tremendous
shot of adrenalin. The kind of tickling tune that dances in your head on repeat.
My favorite track from their excellent new albumHedge Fun.
Catch the vibe here…
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. 2. Trigger by LUNA BAY (London, UK)
Wham bloody wham bam! Firework from the kick-off. This jagged jackhammer rocks
big time and triggers your appetite for going bonkers. Ace tune, ace chorus, ace score.
3. ‘If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You’ by THE WOMBATS (UK)
Brisk and breezy. The Wombats do what they do best, putting a smile on
your face with easy-listening pop bliss. It’s the lead single from upcoming
LP Fix Yourself Not The World.
A tantalizing doom and gloom meditation infiltrating your mind before you realize
it. An unexpected, but truly bold and clear-cut return. First single from the duo’s
forthcoming longplayer Happiness Not Included.
This sparkling dream-pop ditty makes you forget the grim reality for a while and makes you lose yourself in your head. Light as a feather and starry-eyed vocals. If you are a fan of Mazzy Star, Beach House or Cigarettes After Sex then this sweet little gem will give you aural pleasure.
From her debut albumAdolescence, out 17th September.
An infectious ditty, bouncing in your head before it ends. If this, simply irresistible, tune doesn’t do anything for you, you gotta go to your shrink. From Barnett’s new, upcoming album Takes Time, Take Time, out 12th November.
Catchy as hell…
Summer is only over when it’s over. Still time to move and groove to this disco
stomper from the recently released lost Prince album Welcome To America.
Why don’t we all get a tattoo, suggests Frank. I think he’s right, it’s
the only way to really go nuts to this bangtastic jackhammer. From
the band’s 4th longplayer called Sticky, arriving in October.
“I’m not looking for trouble, I’m looking for love / Let me in your hard heart Let me in your pub” sings Amyl over and over again with fervency and tons of gusto, while flamed-up guitars go mental. A blast from new album Comfort To Me, out 10th September.
A queer five-piece from London who play fun, fuzzy garage rock. Their songs are a mishmash of influences all pulled together by a love of loud noises, pop tunes, and
having a good time. ‘Soap And Cigarettes‘ is a stand-out knockout from their brand
new album Hedge Fun.
This ardent 4-piece flames with force on this new riff-roaring ripper. They operate somewhere between Green Day and Weezer, with peppery panache, gusty guitars,
vivid vocals, and a cracking chorus.
Darkwave electricity from Belgium. Haunting and ominous. You can smell Doomsday waiting around the corner. It’s 2021, folks, we need to fix our problems now. This sickly sticky roller coaster is a call to arms.
‘Highway To Hell’ by TOM MORELLO feat. Eddie Vedder and Bruce Springsteen
Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello launches his new album titled The Atlas Underground Fire on 15 October. He invited several friends, like Springsteen and Vedder for a bombastic version of AC/DC’s classic headbanger.
The speedy and steamy title track is one of the fired-up highlights of the new album of this punked-up Brooklyn squad. A zigzagging collection of amplified belters to start and end post-lockdown parties with. More info here.
Wham bam, bloody bam! From the kick-off Money Song booms, bangs and batters. Hefty guitars blare in between and raise your blood pressure on the spot. And when the blissful chorus pops up it’s time to leave your cocoon and let your body do its thing. Don’t wait to boost your stream of adrenalin.
A stunning and shadowy top piece from this duo’s equally stunning
album Participation Mystique. And Tomorrow sounds cinematic,
atmospheric and spacey. Join Lore City on their journey.
Wurlitzer jukeboxes were invented for these 60s inspired humdingers, so they could be played in dark bars downtown were broken hearts gather at midnight. One more thing:
do not mess with SHE/BEAST, she’s not in the mood for fucking assholes and psychos.
And she’s absofuckinglutly right.
Press play…
‘Popstar’s Daughters’ by SHAUN RYDER (Manchester, UK)
The Happy Mondays frontman’s brand new solo album Visits From Future Technology is hip-shaking proof
that he still can fill dance floors. Here’s the trippy and poppy single…
‘All Nations’ by NADINE GAGNE and The Star Nation Collective (British Columbia)
This resonates as a bright sonic light at the end of our troubled world tunnel. Only with togetherness, friendship, mutual respect, equality, harmony and tolerance, humankind can have hope for the future. This tremendously catching chant reflects all that. It’s a joyful, anthem that should be played on radios all over the planet.
“We are all stars, all stars come on now. Rise, rise and shine, gotta stay proud!”
We need songs like these in the restless times we live in. Songs of hope, songs of consolation, songs of inspiration. Shauna wants humankind to fight to see the light
(at the end of the tunnel) again. Her thoughts are embedded in a starry-eyed and
instantly enthralling groove that hops from dreamy pop to hip-swaying rap and back.
Nowhere sounds like a desperation song, but one that has a deeply felt effect on your psyche, on your state-of-2021-mind. This spellbound jam is driven by melancholic guitar lines, reminding me of Interpol‘s electrically-charged drive. Affecting and soul-stirring fever.
An inspiring reverie for the countless girls/women and boys/men worldwide, struggling with the looks of their body when it doesn’t correspond with society’s everlasting sexist perception of how a body should look like, as we all know. Skin is an instantly heartfelt
slo-mo musing, turning after a distorted guitar intro, into a vocal and musical pearl, with touching piano play. I’m sure The Sundays‘s Harriet Wheeler would love it.
‘You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son’ by PORRIDGE RADIO (Brighton, UK)
Porridge Radio‘s leading Amazon Dana Margolin is a fan of Canadian rockers Wolf Parade. Here’s her terrifically gripping rendition of the band’s 2005 composition.
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!
TURN UP THE VOLUME 