Album Of The Month

Album Of September 2022 – THE AFGHAN WHIGS With Heart And Soul Standout ‘HOW DO YOU BURN?’

Posted on by JL

3 October 2022


(Artwork album)

Vivacious rock team THE AFGHAN WHIGS from Cincinnati, Ohio
with maestro GREG DULLI upfront released their 9th longplayer,
baptized HOW DO YOU BURN?

Order info here.

Greg Dulli in an interview with NME: “Luckily, Patrick, Christopher and I live in
California so I was able to play live with them, [which] gave the record the immediacy
I think it has. There was so much uncertainty, hopelessness, fear and confusion in the
world that I was working on songs to transport me to another reality, so I really feel
like this album was an escape.” Full interview here.

The late monumental voice Mark Lanegan came up with the LP’s title.
He contributed backing vocals to two tracks on the record before his
sudden death last February.

PRESS

Mojo Magazine: “How Do You Burn? finds the group on vintage form throughout.” 4/5.

The Line Of Best Fit: “The new record ups the ante on its two predecessors going
deeper in a richly assured display of Dulli and the band’s abilities.” 4/5.

Classic Rock Magazine: “How does it burn? Darkly, but with sparks.“. 4/5.

Record Collector: “How Do You Burn? finds the Whigs in particularly lusty form.” 4/5.


(Lokerse Festival, Belgium – 10 August 2022 – photo by TUTV)

Turn Up The Volume: Greg Dulli‘s pipes reach for the sky throughout this new standout LP. His unique rock voice is the unwearying motor of this burning blast. And when the songs are of supreme quality, as all 10 terrific tunes here are, and your bustling band is on a raucous roll with the vitality of young wolves you end up with an undeniable winner of a record. Not only of the past month but also aiming for the top seat at the end of the year. The Aghan Whigs are a soul band at heart with a brawny blues resonance. Awesome group, awesome album.

Singles/clips: I’ll Make You See God / The Getaway / A Shot Of Lines

– I’LL MAKE YOU SEE GOD –
A blistering blast

– THE GETAWAY –
Sepia-colored Dulli reflection

– A LINE OF SHOTS –
Psychedelic avidity

Stream the full album via Spotify

.
AFGHAN WHIGS: Website – Instagram

Tour 2022 – all dates HERE

Album Of August 2022 – ‘GOD’S COUNTRY’ By Barbed Wire Noise Turbo CHAT PILE

Posted on by JL

2 September 2022

Band: CHAT PILE
Who: Noize junks from Oklahoma City


Photo credit: Bayley Hanes.

Debut album: GOD’S COUNTRY
Released: 29 July 2022 – order info here

“There’s a sick irony to how a country that extols rhetoric of individual freedom, in the same gasp, has no problem commodifying human life as if it were meat to feed the insatiable hunger of capitalism. If this is American nihilism taken to its absolute zenith, then God’s Country, the first full length record from Oklahoma City noise rock quartet Chat Pile is the aural embodiment of such a concept.”

TUTV says: This volcanic beast of a record predicts Doomsday as we know it with destructive cannonballs accompanied by horrific primal screams (actually, last screams)
to soundtrack the end-of-times exorcism at work here. The flabbergasting closing track grimace_smoking-weed tells you all about the album’s agony. It’s about going-totally-out-of-your-fucking-mind and not knowing if living or not living is the answer. God’s country? Are you kidding me? It’s Satan’s country now. Contender for album of the year! FACT! Let’s rock!

Singles/clips: Wicked Puppet Dance / Slaughterhouse

– WICKED PUPPET DANCE –

– SLAUGHTERHOUSE –

Stream/buy God’s country here…


.
CHAT PILE: Facebook

Album Of July 2022 – ‘MOON REFLECTIONS’ By EX-HYENA

Posted on by JL

2 August 2022

Band: EX-HYENA (Boston, MA)
Who: The musical project of Bo Barringer and Reuben Bettsak
crafting the sound of an emerging dystopia, a sort of fantasy
land that existed along the margins of reality and within the
confines of the imagination.

MOON REFLECTIONS – the duo’s 2nd LP

Reuben Bettsak: “Moon Reflections brings forth cinematic landscapes from the Ex-Hyena world,” says Bettsak. “This futuristic world is created to build imagination sparks, to grasp memories, and to delve into understanding our fragile minds. It’s interesting. I think our last album was maybe built a bit more on stories, and characters from a dystopian future world, and of course aspects of that world touched upon the realities of our world. But in building imaginary worlds, one can tap into the subjects of the mind. Moon Reflections dives into the deep, murky waters of memories, it falls down a void of nightmares, it experiences extreme loneliness, and it also highlights a few characters via cinematic scenes from the Ex-Hyena
future world. And it all meshes together because imagination is a great magnifying glass.”

Turn Up The Volume: Ex-Hyena conduct orchestral manoeuvres at the dark side of the moon with a variety of vibrant vibes. A mix of ambient spheres (At The Moondial / Sight Unseen / Dark Passage), idiosyncratic electronics à la Aphex Twin (Tremors / Magnification) and dark-colored-waves (Nightmare Pills / Capture The Stills / While Curtains Burn). Throw in some special Pink Floyd effects in here and there and you know what will be on your headphones when the lights go out at night.

Singles/clips: Capture The Stills / Nightmare Pills

– NIGHTMARE PILLS –

Ladies we’re floating in space.
Buy/stream the album here…


.
EX-HYENA: Facebook – Instagram

Album Of The Month May – WOLF VANWYMEERSCH With His Solo Debut ‘THE EARLY YEARS’

Posted on by JL

30 May 2022

Artist: WOLF VAN WYMEERSCH
Who: The maestro of Belgian post-punk
crusaders Elefant and the guitarist of former
power-pop rockers The Van Jets

Debut album: THE EARLY EARS
Released: 5 May 2022 – Buy here

Wolf: “It has become a retrospective record with songs that muse about childhood,
love or life or songs that were effectively written in my youth. In terms of sound, it is a combination of acoustic, electric and electronic sounds.”


(photo by Julian Hills)

Turn Up The Volume said: Damon Albarn was the first name that popped up in my head when The Early Years impressed my ears on first hearing. At times I thought he was a guest singer on Vanwymeersch‘s debut longplayer, with his pondering voice and his reflective songs . Check Drama I, Who Can Tell, I’m Wide Awake and you’ll find out why.

Vanwymeersh also, like Albarn, is a song architect. All lullabies, reveries, and tunes at
play here stick quickly. But with every listen you discover how rich and subtly layered the musical arrangements and feel-good orchestrations (hear that playful banjo sound on Part Of Me ) are. Then again he invites you into his sonic labyrinth where he goes left, right, and back in one and the same song (When You’re Old And Grey And Full
Of Sleep / Fall From Grace).

The easy-listing construction of his classy compositions transfers you to a place where reality fades away and makes room for melancholic memories. As I said before (several times) Wolf is a romantic at heart with a soul-stirring singer/songwriter gift (did I already mention, Father John Misty?) and a heartwarming voice. Magnific achievement.

Singles/clips: The Hog / On A Sunday Afternoon / Friendly Is Better

– THE HOG –

– ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON (IN EVERYDAY LIFE) –

– FRIENDLY IS BETTER –

Stream/buy The Early Years here…


.
WOLF VANWYMEERSCH: Facebook – Spotify

Poignant Heart And Soul Intimacy With Midnight Hour Crooner OLI SPLEEN

Posted on by JL

Best longplayer of April 2022

30 April 2022

Artist: OLI SPLEEN
Who: Singer-songwriter
from Brighton, UK

New album: STILL LIFE

Oli Spleen: Ten years ago when I was in Paris finalising my debut solo album
“Fag Machine”, I would not have believed that ten years on I’d be five albums in.”

Cover artwork: The cover art is a painting by Sara Abbott of a baby albatross,
dead from plastic consumption. Based on a photograph by Clare Fackler (NOAA
Office of National Marine Sanctuaries). In seafaring folklore, it is thought that he
who kills the albatross will be cursed. This image reflects how we as a species are
dooming ourselves and future generations in our relationship to the environment.

Turn Up the Volume: Oftenly, hard times can be an artistic inspiration for
musicians (for all sorts of artists, actually). It can work or not for the psyche
of the listener. Here it works magnificently.

Spleen constructed 10 sonic paintings about his struggle for life, about
soul-destroying and physical pain, and doubts about the present and
the future.

10 heartfelt, tender, and very intimate ballads, at times distressing, at times mournful,
but in the end, there’s hope, redemption, and lust for life. Spleen‘s voice is both doleful
and warm, just like star crooners such as Nick Cave, Father John Misty, The National‘s maestro Matt Berninger and most of all the midnight hour voice of Tindersticks maestro Stuart Staples sound.

Ten pearls about suffering and surviving.
A poignant and riveting work. Don’t miss it.

Stream/buy Still Life here…


.
OLI SPLEEN: Facebook – All Albums on Bandcamp

ALBUM OF MARCH 2022 – Canadian Pop Romantics BASEMENT REVOLVER With ‘EMBODY’

Posted on by JL

1 April 2022

Band: BASEMENT REVOLVER
Who: Indie outfit producing noisy and graceful shoegaze-esque
music out of their hometown of Hamilton, Ontario since 2016

New album: EMBODY – the band’s 2nd one.
Order the digital version here .

“Their sophomore LP, Embody, is explicit about these new ideas and new thoughts,
addressing them with a deeper sound and crisper production to adroitly express the
complexity of the world.

It is an album of friendship, of working out identity together and making deeply personal
art. This record, with its complex sonic landscape, sometimes lush and sometimes stark,
is of a piece with their earlier work, but it’s deeper and more self-aware. Embody is the
sound of freedom, especially in the midst of such pain, both locally and globally.”

Turn Up The Volume: The most striking instrument on the album is the angelic voice of songwriter Chrisy Hurn. Just phenomenal. To my avid ears, she may join the female vocal likes of stars such as Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten, The Sundays‘ Harriet Wheeler, Belly‘s Tanya Donelly, and Mazzy Star‘s Hope Sandoval.

Yes that good, that special. Check ballad beauties Slow / Blackhole / Storm / Tired and my two favorites Skin and Long Way and you’ll hear why Chrisy’s voice is the band’s shining star. And when they rock out (Be Okay / Dissolve / Tunnel Vision) multi-layered shoegaze guitars take over and create a burning wall-of-sound that blows you away.

Overall this high-quality second LP encourages young people to be confident to be themselves, to be proud of who they are, and proud of how they look. It’s a vulnerable
and heartwarming, a passional and human, a tender and longing piece of work for heart and soul. Album of the month!

Singles/clips: Circles / Skin / Transatlantic / Tunnel Vision

– SKIN –

– TRANSATLANTIC –

– TUNNEL VISION –

Buy/stream Embody here…


.
BASEMENT REVOLVER: Facebook

(Images via Auteur Research PR)

A Real Growl Of Hardcore – BOTCHED TOE Hit Bullseye With Debut Powerhouse ‘A FALSE GLIMMER OF HOPE’

Posted on by JL

1 March 2022

Band: BOTCHED TOE
Who: British hardcore mavericks
Debut album: A FALSE GLIMMER OF HOPE

Kibou Records: “This is the debut release by BOTCHED TOE. There are ten songs,
clocking in collectively at just over 18 minutes. Why mess around, right? The catchy,
pummelling riffs Flanagan serves up provide the perfect backdrop to a bleak vocal
narrative from Domestic of a country in decay. Government corruption at an all-time
high, those in power displaying ever-increasing contempt for the public; the ravages of unbridled capitalism and a poorly handled pandemic carving ever deeper scars into our individual and collective mental health; simple dreams now out of reach, and a populace
so on edge and exhausted by it all that any significant, organised dissent seems less enticing that just retreating into one’s shell and hoping for the best (even when it’s clear that
this is the most flawed tactic of all”.

Turn Up The Volume: No rest for the wicked. No mercy for the 10 Downing Street
criminal and his yeasayers. World war three is just around the corner. This 18-minute hardcore Apocalypse long-player is 10 minutes shorter than the Ramones debut LP. Busy frontman James Domestic spits and sneers with frenzied force. Botched Toe is a nasty riff machine, a blustering beast, a tsunami of growls Get together, all you mosh-pit fanatics,
and let’s stop the devastating rat race – and fucking Putin – while going berserk.

A False Glimmer Of Hope is – without a shadow of a noisy doubt – ALBUM OF THE MONTH!

Do your greedy ears a favor and buy this Doomsday powerhouse via Bandcamp
or via Kibou Records.

Stream ‘A False Glimmer Of Hope’ here
(but alert your neighbors first)…

.
BOTCHED TOE: Facebook

 

Album Of January 2022 – ‘THE OVERLOAD’ By Leeds Mavericks YARD ACT

Posted on by JL

The best longplayer of the past month

1 February 2022

Band: YARD ACT
Who: Outspoken mavericks from Leeds (UK) led by
sharp-cutting storyteller James Smith
Album: THE OVERLOAD
Released: 21 January 2022 – purchase here here.

NME says: “Fire up the Rover! The Leeds band’s debut is a wild ride through their Yorkshire upbringing, and the curly characters they picked up along the way. The familiar touchstones
of the post-punk scene’s rigid sound – minimalist grooves, sharp guitars – are all here, but the band thrive when they shake up the magic eight ball… The tunes, however, are secondary to how miraculous the story of Yard Act existing is, really. Having made their debut just 18 months ago, and now due for an upcoming sold-out slate of UK shows, their journey is a reminder that the most rewarding endeavours – in life or art – sometimes arrive later than you expect or had hoped. Good things may come to those who wait patiently, but for those who put the graft in, like Yard Act, it tastes all the sweeter.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.

Turn Up The Volume: If you can make it in Leeds, you can make it everywhere, and
when iconic crooner Elton John says he’s a fan (read all about it here) you know you’re a crocodile rock band on the verge of world domination. Their debut LP makes the press and their by now massive fanbase (#2 on UK’s Album Chart last week) go ballistic.

They rattle and rumble while sharp-cutting wordsmith James Smith spits and sneers, like
a punked-up Mark E Smith, about all the bullshit and about all the bullshitters that mess up our already long messed-up society. It’s only January, but this is without a shadow of a doubt one of the most remarkable 2022 albums.

Here’s why…

.
YARD ACT: Facebook

Read the full interview of NME with frontman James Smith here

Album Of The Month – NOVEMBER 2021

Posted on by JL

1 December 2021

Band: CONVERGE feat. CHELSEA WOLFE and also
contributions from Cave In man Stephen Brodsky
Who: Longtime metalcore noiseniks from Boston
featuring the Goth heroine
Active: Since 1990 / 10 studio LPs

New album: BLOODMOON: I
Released: 19 November 2021

Kerrang! said: “Converge have long been rightfully revered as hardcore trailblazers, expanding the scene’s vocabulary through a questing spirit and willingness to experiment. Even within this ever-evolving context, however, Bloodmoon: I is so different to the rest of the Salem slammers’ oeuvre that it feels like a glimpse of an alternative timeline… You’ve never previously been able to describe a Converge record as mystical, but such is the arcane allure that defines this unique album, especially on Coil and the title track. Chelsea’s distinctively haunting contributions are inevitably a major factor here, but Stephen also makes his melodic presence felt throughout, with Jacob Bannon’s harsher throat completing a vocal triptych that never fails to thrill, their very different but complementary styles weaving together as if they were always supposed to co-exist.” Full review here. Score: 5/5.

Turn Up The Volume: Don’t expect that his album turned into something totally
surprising because Wolfe and Brodsky were invited by Converge to their sacred
studio.

But the colluding collaboration generates even more darkness to Boston‘s noise
freaks’ trademark pitch-black darkness with Chelsea‘s spellbinding vox adding an
obscure sensuality. The ghostly gathering is a grueling marathon of almost one
hour. It’s a celebration of all things gloomy and doomy with prog-rock textures.

A quiet-loud-quiet-very-loud rollercoaster of clashing, slashing and trashing
with a satanic sound as towering as the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.

A Metal-Goth-Core Highmass!

Singles: Blood Moon / Coil

– BLOOD MOON –

– COIL –

Stream album here…

.
CONVERGE: Facebook

Album Of The Month – London Singer-Songwriter GLASS SANDS With Sparkling Debut ‘BETTER THAN LIFE’

Posted on by JL

Best album of October 2021 according to Turn Up The Volume’s ears

29 October 2021

Artist: GLASS SANDS
Who: Musical moniker of indie singer/songwriter
Christopher Laurence Shackleton based in London.

Album: BETTER THAN LIFE

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’s Twin 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!

Stream/buy ‘Better Than Life’ here…


.
GLASS SANDS: Facebook