Artists: PRINCESS UGLY Who: The duo of J. Christopher-Rome (lyrics/vocals) and Christopher Moncrieffe (music/instruments) from Portland, Oregon. They mix post-punk, early 80’s goth,
shoegaze, and new wave into their own brand of sound.
TUTV: This is a multi-layered serpent of a track. After a short shock intro,
psychobilly guitars take over and riff and roll all the way through, surrounded
by glowing synths waves.
Add Christopher-Rome’s creepy whispering and you’ll feel transported
somewhere into a twilight zone where Goths party. Princess Ugly’s ominous
mind mystifies and the enigmatic she-devil in the video is a misleading magnet.
Save your soul, surrender.
Things get dark
Still going down
It needs to be fed
It came before
As an individual soul
As an individual soul
Delusion, delusion, delusions
We choose to pass by
We choose to pass by
In order to not miss a beat Turn Up The Volume scans the musical
horizon daily (doing it for years now, actually) to stay in touch with
all new things sonically great and shares the results on a weekly
basis.
10 new ones this week with…
Death Valley Girls
Ultra Sunn
Clarence & The Modern Life
Miya Folick
Jethro Tull
slowthai
Sextile
Fucked Up
Princess Ugly
Mudhoney
This is a psychedelic, non-stop mindtwister. After a short shock intro, psychobilly
guitars take over and riff and roll all the way through, surrounded by darkwave synths.
Add Christopher-Rome’s creepy whispering and you’ll feel transported somewhere into a twilight zone where Goths party. Princess Ugly s ominous mind mystifies and the enigmatic she-devil in the video is a misleading character.
Clarence:“On a trip in LA I saw a man walking down Hollywood boulevard passionately screaming at nothing. It felt like a metaphor for life. Being young and not feeling heard, being older and not necessarily wiser but still more confident for some reason. I guess it’s a bit ‘us against them’ lyrically, but also questioning how we decide who and what we listen to and
who we ignore”
Clarence (born Louis Matlock) says he finds inspiration with Brit giants like Gorillaz, Jamie T, David Bowie, The Clash and Blur.
With this dynamic debut single he nails it big time. Once that bass strikes
your limbs feel that a groovy buzz and funky fuzz is coming. The ongoing,
repetitive cadence works like a mesmeric magnet. It wouldn’t be out of
place one of Beck‘s early records.
The new cut by this post-punk electronic collective is a sickly
sticky dancefloor killer. It’s funky, it’s vibey and it’s sexy, spiced
with Mikal Shapiro‘s alluring vocality and some sparkling
guitar lines, and it goes on like forever. Glorious.
Jason Williamson: “Maybe we are proud of the country. Maybe we are proud to be English. Maybe I’m proud of the horrible grey streets and the shit weather and the stupid fashions I find myself investing in. It’s just that the English we’re proud of being is absolutely nothing like the English the authorities want to try and promote.”
First rap-punk bite and title track of their
new, 11th longplayer, out on 10 March.
The title track is one hell of a frisky reggae bass tune. Topnotch.
Birch: “It’s a celebration of the bass guitar as a voice, simple or layered, pounding or dancing or everything at once. The bass is sometimes assigned as a lesser instrument, and yet because of reggae and the creativity of a lot of women players, it has always been a creative and phenomenal instrument.”
These smart-dressing cowboys unleash their
new, 3rd, LP baptized RIDE ON on 10 March.
The first taster Ride On rolls, rattles and rumbles, grooves and moves
as if The Velvet Underground went country rock. It’s a jangly earworm with
an easygoing flow.
The hardcore veterans are quite busy lately. Last year
they released no less than 4 LPs centered around the
same theme Year Of The Horse and a couple of EPs.
And another new one, called One Day,
recorded in just, 24 hours landed last week.
My favorite whack is Found.
A rare, yes, catchy sledgehammer.
Imagine John Bonham‘s ghost on drums, assisted by a wayward bassist,
a sultry 60s Hammond organ, psycho guitars, schizo synths and a demonic
vocalist, mixing prog-rock and garage punk into a messed-up rumpus to
scare corrupt politicians with. Sounds wicked, right? You bloody betcha.
And do I hear an Australian aboriginal playing didgeridoo in there?
Gonzalez mixes trap metal/pop punk/blended hip-hop
in an eyeblink. like here with this new barnstormer.
‘This was a song I wrote about 10-11 years ago about the first and
last time I tried acid. So I found out later on that the acid strip I took
was actually 10 hits of acid and I tripped for 14 hours so you can
imagine how scary it really was.’
If you dig new hip-metal-hop sensation Nova Twins
you’ will dig Gonzalez definitely too.
The electronic-pop duo release their long-awaited debut album Truth Is The New Gold on 10 February via ethical independent
label Reckless Yes.
The title track is a kickback, de-stressing, mid-tempo ambient tune with a heartening effect. Smooth synth sparks, trance-inducing electro beats, combative guitars, and crystal vocals come all together in an easy-going and groovy way that creates a laidback feel for mind and soul. Golden thrill.
Wolf Manhattan is the alter-ego of musician, composer, producer and post-punk
electronic wizard João Vieira. A bedroom producer who lives alone above a local
shop in New York City, with his uncle’s record collection, a 4-track and a guitar from
the 50s that belonged to a well-known artist,
Last year he released his noteworthy,
infectious tunes-filled debut album.
Highlight Sometimes is representative of the longplayer.
A feel-good retro pop ditty, a lazy hum/whistle/sing-along
earworm to dream away to.
The song is now visualized in this new video clip.
On first hearing, my ears told me that Swedish pop collective I’m From Barcelona
are back in town with a new psych-pop choir chant. My ears were wrong regarding the performer/artist, but totally right about the instant aural impact of this far-out tune.
Barfighter is a monumental motherrocker of a roaring ripper. Like Deep Purple
on speed with Slash hooks and licks, John Bonham hammering his drums to pieces
and Ronnie James Dio screaming his lungs out. It’s only rock ‘n’ roll but I bloody like it,
so does my banging head and my trembling ears. Hell yeah!
It’s the 2nd shared piece of their upcoming 2rd LP,
baptized Weapons Of Choice landing on March 17.
“Musically, it’s a nervous mid-tempo post-punk-ska orchestral tune, sort of Talking Heads-esque. Lyrically, it is quite representative of our approach, both as people and as a band. An approach that can be summed up by the famous Winston Churchill’s quote: “If you’re going through hell, keep going”. We learnt, as musicians and young adults, that things tend not to work properly way more often than they do. But it’s not a big deal, It’s actually what makes life, love and art
so special”.
TUTV: Mid-tempo razzle-dazzle groove you can show your best ska moves to.
She’s a singer, throat singer, songwriter, performing artist, and
experimental Indigenous expressionist, originally from Pangnirtung,
Nunavut, currently living in Ottawa, Ontario.
Panikuluk a mid-tempo moving love song from a mother written for her little daughter. Inuit drums beat like a vivid heart with a mesmerizing and dreamy slo-mo pace while Qattuu throat vocals create a both, otherworldly and spiritual ambiance. A truly special performance and a wonderful way to express motherly love for your child.
Arden wrote Nadia it one emotional and traumatic night. It’s a compassionate and concerned plea to someone close to him who had been suffering for way too long.
Nadia resonates like a yearning mantra, especially on the captivating chorus,
sending shivers down your spine. This heart-rending contemplation balances between
fear and hope, between pain and content, but in the end there’s faith in the future. Arden‘s sensitive and tender voice stands out and feels so natural for romantic reveries like these.
The video features footage of a historic speech by former US president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, which was meant to console America and the world
during the Great Depression. Spine-chilling.
Princess of the Pearl Pace comes from Sweeney’s forthcoming album – his 4th – Rishi. Inspired by the traumatic birth and unexpected death of his infant daughter in 2018.
The LP’s ‘humble temple of songs’ was mostly written in India, where Sweeney’s family made a return trip to deliver Rishi’s ashes to the Ganges.
The song is a smooth and soothing feel-good reverie about
a feel-very bad experience. Romantic, melancholic and moony.
Princess of the Pearl Palace
All the folks will turn to see
The Princess of the Pearl Palace
Dancing like a wave upon the sea
Princess
when she’s out on the street,
The ground never meets her feet
She couldn’t care less
About your sarcastic mouth
She’s got another face to greet
. LUKE SWEENEY:Facebook
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Band: THE VELVET HANDS Who: A firm London-via-Cornwall four-piece.
“Blending their signature raucous choruses with soaring guitar hooks, the track was
born out of the foursome’s desire to make music that inspires youngsters to form bands.
An uplifting anthem for anyone feeling a bit lost in life, the new cut is punctured
by catchy riffs and melodic build-ups.”
This is indie pop at its indie best. Uplifting, sinewy, and high on life. Jangly guitars, a steadfast rhythm section, yearning vocals, and a club-filling jump-for-joy chorus. Top!
THE VELVET HANDS: Instagram
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Band: THE JAILBIRDS Who: Rockers from Toronto,
dripping with nostalgia, yet fresh.
“We’ve all been there – stuck in a toxic relationship and wondering
how we got ourselves into this mess. Finally, we realize that we’re being
treated like complete crap and we don’t deserve that.”
Sludge is a slow-burning blues rock torch. Screeching guitars,
wham bam drums, febrile vocals, and an overall fiery plangency.
Turn up the heat…
THE JAILBIRDS: Instagram
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Zac Eisenstein (singer): “I have been at home for over four years without a musical outlet. I needed to be here for my family but also my band Man Overboard for the life of us could not get on the same page schedule-wise the past couple of years. This culminated in my starting my own band. This isn’t a side project, this isn’t a little creative endeavor. This is my band now. This is the main band. This is the main project. The show must go on.”
Push Start is a flammable and high-powered pop firecracker bouncing
like a yo-yo with pithy panache, exuberant chants and Fall Out Boy echoes.
Artist: AUGUST GONZALEZ Who: Drawing from an array of influences ranging from hip-hop, indie-pop,
to pop-punk, Gonzalez is an artist that refuses to be put into a box.
Gonzalez: “The world is pretty ugly these days and it’s easy to get lost in it and feel down. I wrote this song for anyone struggling to get through the day – that don’t feel like they’re enough or don’t want to get out of bed. For anyone walking with a heavy weight on their shoulders, just wanting to give up – I want to let them know they’re not alone. I want to tell them not to give up because they are enough and worth fighting for.”
Gonzalez serves an effervescent cocktail of hip-hop-pop-rock sparks
inviting you to jump out of your lazy couch for a hip-swaying two-step.
Make your move here…
August Gonzalez: Instagram
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Band: KODAE Who: A musical collective from Albert, CA ombining their mutual love of modern groove with their connection to nature and mysticism. They are a group of intergenerational musicians with unique backgrounds
“The last couple of years reminded us of the importance of presence and community and as things have opened back up, many of us have fallen into the busy trap of trying to make up for lost time. This song is meant to remind us to savour the moment and regain connection to the world around us.”
This feels good, really good, for your mind, your soul, your heart and also for your itchy hips. The vivid vibe at play here is sensuous, sultry, and simply irresistible. Chic Le Freak guitar snippets, nightclub bass riffs and wonderful vocals. Think of soul starSade. Cool, right? Absolutely.
Band: CROW FOLLOW Who: Risen from the vibe of a diverse and energetic music scene in Boston MA, Crow Follow celebrates and transcends it. They bring glowing brightness to the darkest tunes
Track: IRON BOTTOM SOUND
From their upcoming debut album, out at the end of this month.
“It’s about the music scene, going out, playing out; the underneath places where
local music tends to be. It’s about seeking out the scene. Looking for those badass women playing amazing rock. We have role models amongst them too numerous to name.”
Imagine a sweaty bar with sweaty people movin’ and groovin’ to the heated beats
in the early hours of a long night out. There’s a big chance you’ll see/hear Crow Follow taking care of the vibrant vibes.
