Last weekend, THE NATIONAL played at their own Homecoming Fest in
their hometown of Cincinnati. At one point, frontman/crooner Matt Berninger
announced a new LP, only 5 months after their grand LP First Two Pages Of Frankenstein.
It’s titled LAUGH TRACK and was already on sale, on a limited edition,
at the festival, with no front cover. Now the longplayer is available
worldwide.
Pitchfork says: “The National extends its predecessor’s subdued mood and
reclusive purview. This band still has a fierce rock record in them. Maybe
next time they’ll make it.”
TUTV: Laugh Track is The National by numbers. Not great, not bad. No idea
why they didn’t release it with First Two Pages Of Frankenstein as a double LP.
Commercial reasons, I guess.
HYNDE about the album’s title: “I enjoy seeing the various meanings and
origins of a word. And I liked the definition: ‘showing no abatement of intensity.’
So when it came to an album title, it seemed fitting. You know… to keep doing it.
I think anyone in a band is constantly questioning if they should keep going.
It starts as a youthful pursuit and eventually, it makes you wonder, why am
I doing this? It’s the life of the artist. You never retire. You become relentless.”
HYNDE – a year ago – about touring and the new album.
UNCUT Magazine says: “She has crooned before, but the freight of intimate emotion
here, letting low notes waver within the ferally alive arrangement, is masterful. Ending
an album of looking back, this is the new prime of Chrissie Hynde.” Score: 4/5.
Pretenders in Belgium last May – pic by TUTV
TUTV: When I saw Hynde – the only original Pretender left – rockin’ out for a full 75 minutes, with old and new songs, in Belgium last May (review here) I thought the new album (at that point only the first single, smooth rocker Let The Sun Come In was out) would be pretty hot-blooded too. Now I know it’s the opposite.
Except for Losing My Sense Of Taste, Let The Sun Come In and Vainglorious, Hynde chooses
to sit down, relax and reflect on her past, her present and her future, with tender ballads, co-written with guitarist James Walbourne. And as she proved several times before, she’s a most affecting crooner. Relentless gets more heartwarming with every spin. Pretenders are the talk of the town again.
Press info: “Wilson invites her audience on an immersive, enchanting ten-track journey that peels back the layers of our common humanity. Realms demands our undivided attention as Wilson takes us on a kaleidoscopic journey through our own minds and souls. Through a series of colorful, dramatic outpourings and dynamic, finessed upheavals, it’s a carefully crafted record proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that Cindy Wilson continues to have her fingers on the pulse of modern music. Pop in style and indie at heart, Realms is the next new wave of Wilson’s already storied legacy.”
Artwork by Suny Lyons
TUTV: It’s the perfect dance this mess around record for all goodbye-summer-2023
parties, indoors and outdoors. It echoes Madonna, Depeche Mode, Lana Del Rey, and Alice Glass all-in-one in Wilson‘s mood swings realms.
It combines Saturday night fever disco (Midnight / Overboard), synth-pop glamour (Daydreamer / Blossom and the fantastic single Delirious), and some gripping moonlight reveries as if she wants to remind us, both of the fact we live in a not-so-bright-looking reality (Hold On / Within / Not Goodbye) but also that we need to look hopefully, with
fingers crossed, to the future.
It’s not alone about the great tunes at play here, oh no, Wilson‘s outstanding vocality injects Realms with emotive energy and vivid verve on the let’s pirouette ourselves dizzy ones and with starry-eyed sensitivity for the moody ones. A five-star score.
British blues rock turbo ROYAL BLOOD have released their new,
4th longplayer, following their first three number-one LPs. It’s titled
BACK TO THE WATER. Order info here.
Album artwork
Ben Thachter: “I think this record was about letting the ideas take us where
they needed to go. If there was a song that was calling us to do something that
wasn’t typically what we’re known for, that’s where we’re going to go. The songs
are in charge and if that means having a record that’s quite varied that’s what
we’re going to go for, rather than trying to shoehorn everything into the same
world.”
Mike Kerr (bassist/vocalist): “We were in the right place at the right time,
and we have to remember to give ourselves the credit that we didn’t get into
this position by winning a quiz show, we put in a serious amount of work. It’s
taken us four albums to realise this isn’t luck, we’re good and we’re committed
to this.”
TUTV: Nothing new under the Royal Blood sun with this new longplayer, except
that the duo show their mellow side a bit more than before (Pull Me Trough / The Firing
Line / There Goes My Cool / Waves). But don’t worry, all you manic headbangers out there, there are still plenty of uppercuts present to go bonkers to.
Key singles/clips: Mountains At Midnight / Pull Me Trough
British shoegaze veterans SLOWDIVE launched their 5th LP,
their first in 6 years, named EVERYTHING IS ALIVE today.
The album is dedicated to vocalist/guitarist Rachel Goswell’s
mother and drummer Simon Scott’s father, who both passed
away in 2020.
Photo by Ingrid Pop
SPIN MAGAZINE says: “Slowdive has outdone itself on its fifth full-length, Everything Is Alive, which elevates its pre-breakup work in ways that feel nearly unimaginable. Indeed, Slowdive in 2023 is capable of writing both the hands-down most affecting song of its career (‘Andalucia Plays’) as well as its most in-your-face (‘The Slab’), while also incorporating modular synths as foundational elements in its creative process for the first time (they’re the first notes you hear on opener ‘Shanty’).” Score: 9/10.
TUTV: Slowdive are operating again in their beloved shoegaze universe where reality and fantasy go hand in hand. Where we, as listeners, can enjoy the sonic dreams they made up, soundtracked by starry-eyed synth/guitar symphonies. Everything Is Alive could easily be the second LP of a double one together with their self-titled 2017 longplayer, making it a 16-track album full of cinematic spirituals that put you on cloud nine for 80 minutes.
Nashville‘s inflammable garage rockers BE YOUR OWN PET had some
bonkers fun between 2004-2008, vanished into oblivion afterward, but
last year they couldn’t stop themselves from coming back and starting
to play an endless series of gigs.
And now it’s new music time. The revitalized bloodhounds have
a new, their 3rd LP, titled MOMMY out. Order info here.
Pearl (frontwoman): “By telling our stories and sharing our truth,
we can gain power back from a situation where we felt powerless.
Mommy is the bitch in charge, the one in control. It’s a reclamation
of myself.”
NME:“After 15 years away, the Nashville punks are back, bold and
better than before. The band are back with ‘Mommy’, more evidence that
even after a decade the angst and ferocity that put them on the map never
left.”
TUTV: After 2 albums and 15 years (!) BYOP still have tons of vitality, pizzaz
and sinewy corkers to offer. Battle-axe frontwoman Pearl still has demons to
fight with, and I assure you, you don’t want to be one of them. 11 spunky cry-outs.
Combative, bad-tempered, sharp, raw and LOUD. They truly have a great Mommy.
Singles/clips: Goodtime! / Hand Grenade / Worship The Whip
Manchester‘s psych post-punk misfits THE UNDERGROUND YOUTH,
orchestrated by voice/face/songwriter Craig Dyer released their new
album, named NOSTALGIA’S GLASS via Fuzz Club.
Dyer about the LP: “The aim became to create a collection of songs that paid homage
to our back catalogue and attempted to dissect not only the positive but the negative
elements of nostalgia, primarily the romanticisation of the past – be it the politics of
a country, the controversial legacies of film and musical icons or the sentimental
idealisation of long dead toxic relationships.”
Photo by Lily Creightmore
TUTV: To be honest, I needed several spins to get into the new TUY album and in Craig Dyer‘s world. Of course, he’s the only one who knows exactly what happens in
his mind, in his soul and his heart. But as he said he looked back to times gone by.
Great/gratifying moments, bad/sad moments. I guess for so many of us, nostalgia
can be both depressing and heart-warming. Dyer opened the door to his past, that
evokes those mixed emotions.
His somber vocals, the overall gloomy tone and slow, shadowy pace (except for Another Country that sounds like a splendid tribute to The Velvet Underground of the
music feels like he got lost in a labyrinth of uncomfortable memories most of the time leading to a spellbinding and bone-chilling opus. Melancholic poetry in motion. You can
file Nostalgia’s Glass next to Nick Cave‘s 2016 mourning masterpiece Skeleton Tree.
Singles/clips: I Thought I Understood / In Another Country / Frame Obsesion
AllMusic: “The open-air sound and restrained instrumentation — there are no drums, and some songs barely rise above the level of a whisper, add to the soft, contemplative air that breathes throughout. On every track, Oldham’s voice and ever-unique songwriting style are in the spotlight. Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You is slow moving, intentional, and mysterious, with Oldham’s long-practiced balance of menace and thoughtfulness at its peak. Like the best of Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s work that came before it, Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You is the kind of record that gets played over and over until it feels like a part of the listener’s personal history.” Score: 4.5/5.
Single ‘Bananas’
TUTV: BPB is an expert when it comes to writing/recording/releasing intimate
music that slows down busy states of minds and gets you in a tranquillizing mood,
away from our rat-race reality. His cosy, crooning voice is, as usual, the star in the middle, co-caused by the minimal, acoustic guitar/violin, sound approach. Most of BPB’s songs here have a bittersweet melodic and catching resonance and feature touching female vocals here and there. Soul-stirring record.
Our kid played two massive concerts last summer – 3 & 4 June – at the legendary
green fields of Knebworth, UK The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pink Floyd, Genesis,
Frank Zappa, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Status Quo, Paul McCartney, Mike Oldfield, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and yes… Oasis and more performed in front of audiences of circa 100.000 and many more.
Liam Gallagher called it biblical shows.
The live registration of 16 songs
played at the 2 concerts is out now. KNEBWORTH 22 – LIVE
You love or hate him.
I love him.
What you see/hear is what you get.
(photo by Turn Up The Volume – Rock Werchter, Belgium, 2023)
It’s just ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
UNCUT (British music magazine): “It’s back-to-basics good fun garage rock, and while it’s familiar territory it’s undeniable that the band know their way around a hook.” Score 7/10.
TUTV: Expect a tsunami of Molotov cocktails, punk-o-rama riffage, and yell-along
refrains spit out by primal screamer Pele. No rest for the wicked. Beware, this explosive record can damage your speakers. On the other hand, it’s the ideal soundtrack for banging your poor head against the kitchen wall and/or jumping up and down like a kangaroo on ecstasy.
Alert your neighbours before you start the deafening razzmatazz
and watch out for the anti-decibels police. Lots of riot-gun fun.
Key singles/clips:Bogus Operandi / Rigor Mortis Radio
