Album Of The Week

THE DARTS – American Garage Rock Bats Offer ‘HALLOWEEN LOVE SONGS’ To Party With At Your Local Graveyard

Posted on by JL

9 March 2026


📸 Tina Gross

Here are 5 things you should know about the
all-female-fury band, named THE DARTS.

1. They’re based in Seattle, Washington, and are fronted by the ever-charismatic
singer-songwriter Nicole Laurenne, also operating solo as crooning diva Black
Viiolet

2. Their brand new LP HALLOWEEN LOVE SONGS is out now through
their French record label Adrenalin Fix Music. More info here.

3. With the new record included, bat in chief Laurenne has now written/released
6 longplayers in 10 years with her women-in-black turbo, with looong tours in
between (catch them live if you have the opportunity. They’re red-hot on stage,
as I experienced multiple times, so far). A Laurenne day lasts for 48 hours and
she has thrilling music running through her veins 24/7. There you go.

4. It’s the perfect soundtrack for ebullient parties at your local graveyard. It’s an eery garage pop/rock record for your favorite nightmares, stuffed mostly with high-tempered, catchy tunes motorized by freakish guitars, bass/drum frenzy, glowing organ heat, and Laurenne‘s tempting, and arousing vocals.

5. With Halloween Love Songs, The Darts have turned Halloween into a daily
in your-masked-face event. From now on, all you need is All Hallows’ Eve love.

Get together in the midnight hours, celebrate our spine-chilling life, admire each
others psycho outfits, send the war-greedy Bogeymen (you know who they are) to
hell, be a sweet creep, trick and treat everybody with spooky jokes, and never ever
forget to go out-of-your-mind, all you manic motherrockers out there, with the help
of these 13 new smashing Darts pumpkins.

The LP features these 2 singles/clips.

– APOCALYPSE –

– MIDNIGHT CREEP –

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Tour 2026

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DEAD ANYWAY Trip And Hop Their Way Through Intimate Reflections On New Album ‘SQUEAK PIGGY SQUEAK’

Posted on by JL

23 February 2026

British duo DEAD ANYWAY set the dark lyricism of Kate Arnold against the music
and soundscapes of Marc Symonds. They offer a mix of poetry, electronica and guitars.
A heady brew of dark, glitchy head-messing wonder.

They now launched their 7th album, titled SQUEAK PIGGY SQUEAK.

Again, DA takes you on a relaxing wander, entertaining your ears, mind, and psyche en route. They trip and hop their way through eight new pieces. Sonically, as we experienced so many times before, Tricky, Arab Strap, and Portishead come to mind.

Sydmonds designs a fitting, easy-listening atmosphere, flavored with scintillating guitar
sparks, shiny synth,s and bass-dipped Massive Attack-like percussion, for Arnold‘s spoken
word reflections.

Her laid-back vocals suit the whole sonic picture organically, and her hush-hush
tonality creates an inviting, intimate ambiance. Thematically, the songs cover very personal, mental issues, which is why we asked Kate to guide us through them.

– WITHOUT IS A LUXURY –

“I thought I’d start with ‘Without is a Luxury’ and work back, since the last track of ‘Squeak
Piggy Squeak’ is a reflection on those which have gone before. When I’ve emerged (blinking,
like a mole) from writing for a collection, it’s always hard to work out what planet I’ve been on lyric-wise, and it takes some time for the themes to appear. And that’s what the track is about, really. Taking stock, I guess.”


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– TACKY WALLS –

“I suffer quite badly (physically and emotionally) from claustrophobia and ‘Tacky Walls’
is about having to have a brain scan, and a diagnosis that came from it. It’s that
simple, really.

As always with Dead Anyway, the album title comes from something within one of
the tracks and ‘Squeak Piggy Squeak’ (from this one) is a frankly quite sinister party
game (Google it) which I remember being terrified at the prospect of playing as a child.”


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– THE OVERLINE –

“This one covers how the internet has overtaken our lives, the way it seems to have changed basic human nature, and how grateful I am that I won’t be around to witness the way I see it playing out, if we don’t wake up and reflect.”


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– DUMB WAITER –

“The theme of claustrophobia appears again in ‘Dumb Waiter’. We all dig our own
holes, don’t we, and those holes can get way too comfortable if they’re allowed to go unrecognised. I seem to resort to using the second person (the ‘you’) when I’m being
particularly self-accusatory – so I was clearly talking about myself here.”


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– A SHIFT OF PERSPECTIVE –

“The single, ‘A Shift of Perspective’ is, sadly—but not, I’m afraid, untypically—the only vaguely optimistic track on the album. Magic Eye puzzles were popular in the UK a while ago (again, Google it) and the technique was to stare at the pattern really hard, adjusting your focus, until the 3D image (or the answer to the puzzle) suddenly appeared.

Some people, including Marc, never got the knack and he still doesn’t know what the image is in the artwork! The lyric is basically saying, ‘keep going, something will shift’. And of course, what’s not to love about a Wizard of Oz reference?”


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– NO POPCORN –

“This song is another self-beratory thing. I’ve always been gormless. Far too long spent looking out of the train window at the trees and the sky, not even considering the destination. And now look.”


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– BEYOND REPAIR –

“‘Beyond Repair’ deals with trying to contain depression, trying to crack on with life when depression hits, and recognising—and gathering the nerve to utilise—someone who might
just understand. It’s also about not wanting to be a burden to them.”


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– WHO NEEDS THE VOICE OF THE MYSTERONS –

“Stick ‘the voice of The Mysterons’ into YouTube: genuinely, is there anything more terrifying?
Is there anything more terrifying than what we’re capable of doing to ourselves in our heads, alone in the wee small hours? Another second person. I’ll leave it there.

So, there we have it. The themes have emerged. Claustrophobia,
alienation, depression. We’re not called Dead Anyway for nothing.”


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Thank you, Kate, for your clarifying insights.

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SQUEAK PIGGY SQUEAK on Spotify – Instagram – Linktree

RONKER – Belgian Volcanic Punk Hyenas Have Their 2nd Earsplitting Album Out

Posted on by JL

2 February 2026


📸 Nathan Dobbelaere

Band: RONKER
Who: Belgian most terrifying noiz turbine,
fronted by manic demon Jasper De Petter.

New album: RESPECT THE HUSTLE, I WON’T BE YOUR DOG FOREVER
Their sophomore.

Press Info: “It’s a concept-album about coping mechanisms and the antics of a rock & roll lifestyle. The band is presenting a more layered and sophisticated sound than its predecessor; the result is a record that is equally shaped by the likes of David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars as it is by Refused or Slayer. Still as aggressive as before, but with a more old-school approach to songwriting with big choruses and even bigger riffage.”

Ronker about the record: “The initial plan was to write half of the record completely sober. We mostly succeeded in that effort. Not quite. We noticed that the songs we wrote in those sober sessions had a very distinct nature compared to the more fierce banger-like
songs we hammer out when we have some sort of intoxicants in our veins.”

TUTV’s impressions.

Ronker rage and race once again.
These volcanic punk hyenas develop
an earsplitting havoc that crushes
your mind, your psyche and your
shaking stereo.

They come at you like a rush of blood
to the head. No rest for the wicked.

If Ronker was an animal, it would
be a Tyrannosaurus Rex on dope.


Manic demon Jasper De Petter – Trix, Antwerp – Photo by Turn Up The Volume

Vociferous vocalist Kasper has 4 lungs
and iron pipes. He growls, barks, howls
and spits and sneers at a sizzling speed.

His backing crew hits hard, really hard.
Schizo riot gun riffs and a Herculean
bass/drum tandem. What you hear
is what your terrified ears get.

On the short & soft, classical piano-driven
instrumental in the middle, you can take
a breather, and the closing ballad, an
intensity-growing ballad Using Eyes is
one of my favorite pieces on the record.

This 2nd LP could easily be the soundtrack
to Quentin Tarantino‘s first horror movie.

If these bazooka rockers were to play
a gig in Minneapolis today, ICE would melt
right in front of our eyes, in no time.

Welcome to Ronker’s Dante Inferno.

The singles.

– SNUFF –
Scorching jam

– LIMELIGHTER –
Louder than war

– NO SWEAT –
Aaaarrrggghhh

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Album On Spotify – Instagram – Linktree – > Tour Dates

EVAN DANDO And THE LEMONHEADS – Wowing Ressurection With New Album ‘LOVE CHANT’ Out Now

Posted on by JL

27 October 2025

EVAN DANDO and his band, for almost 4 decades, THE LEMONHEADS have released
their new album baptized Love Chant , the first with original, new Lemonheads music
since 2006. In between Dando had recorded/released a couple of albums with covers
of favorite songs.

Press info: “After years of writing, wandering, and starting over, Evan Dando returns with Love Chant, the first Lemonheads studio album of original material in nearly two decades. Long in the works and shaped by shifting geographies and a cast of trusted collaborators, it’s a bold, melodic reaffirmation of one of alternative rock’s most distinctive voices.

Now based in Brazil, where much of the album was recorded, Dando’s relocation
in recent years has offered a quiet shift in perspective, a chance to reset, reconnect,
and finally bring these songs into focus.

The result is a record that sounds both fresh and familiar: rooted in the hallmarks
of The Lemonheads’ best work, yet expanded by years of lived experience and new surroundings.”

Mojo Magazine says: “Love Chant might be described as scrappy, vulnerable and heartfelt, but it is also loose, exuberant and animated in a manner that seems faithful to who Dando is today.”

TUTV: The fact that em>Dando and his Lemonheads have a new album, after all these years, out is surprising, but it’s even more surprising that it’s a crackerjack one. Clean Dando has obviously refound his 90s appetite for creating enthralling pop music and
he eagerly wants it to share with us; from the get-go.

The 4 first tracks’ swift and jaunty flow, catchy melodiousness, rollicking guitar
exuberance and peppy vocals set the record’s reborn tone. Dando has resurrected himself and his band gloriously. Now and then he touches turbulent memories from the past and does some soul-searching again, but you can feel he’s truly happy, healthy and excited to be here in great artistic shape.

Not one dull moment. Mind you, it’s not masterpiece, rather
a welcome reaffirmation of The Lemonheads‘ riveting pop
mastery.

Singles/clips: The Key Of Victory / In The Margin / Deep End

– THE KEY OF VICTORY –

– IN THE MARGIN –

– DEEP END –

ALBUM

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SPAMMERHEADS – Spanish Techno Duo Counters Drama With New Album ‘THE MIRE CHRONICLES’

Posted on by JL

20 October 2025

Band: SPAMMERHEADS
Who: Techno tandem
from Valencia, Spain.

Press Info: “The latest album by Spammerheads, was born from the difficult
experience of the floods that hit Valencia on October 29, 2024. During this time,
the duo lost part of their studio and actively participated in the cleanup efforts
in their city.

This was an experience filled with a mix of emotions—shock, helplessness, fury, resistance, solidarity, and resilience, among others that shaped what may be their best work to date. Written as a chronicle, the album explores the personal and collective states of people
affected by tragedies or catastrophes.

The Valencian duo offers six tracks (plus two digital bonus tracks) to remind us that despite
the difficulties we may face, we must always fight to get ahead, get back on our feet, and not
be swept away by the current.”

TUTV: It sounds like if the Spanish electroclash duo decided to process last year’s devastating floods drama in their hometown Valencia with new music. Their intentions resulted in this new notable LP stuffed with eight titanic techno thrills.

Eight 90s inspired trance tunes. Think Chemical Brothers, The Orb and The Prodigy.
Yes, EDM has become a timeless musical outlet genre that puts you in a mind-bending trance, far away from the shambolic reality.

The pair’s Mire Chronicles have a hammering impact on their post-drama demons. To hell with them. At the end of the traumatic tunnel there’s a Spammerheads light that illuminates a healing future.

SINGLE

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JEHNNY BETH Hammers Nine Inch Nails On 2nd Solo LP ‘YOU HEARTBREAKER YOU’

Posted on by JL

2 September 2025


New album artwork

JEHNNY BETH, France-born, former frontwoman of female post-punk band
Savages (2011-2017), released her solo debut album Love Is To Live back in
2020. A year later, she teamed up with Primal Scream‘s maestro Bobby Gillespie
for a romantic duet longplayer, called Utopian Ashes.

And now we can get flabbergasted by her bone-chilling, second full-length,
titled You Heartbreaker You. She wrote the album with her partner and
collaborator Johnny Hostile.

Beth: “We’re living in a dark time, full of drama and barbarous tragedy.
It became clear to me that, in these times, we either learn how to scream
really well, or we learn how to whisper.”

Kerrang says: “In a time where it seems everyone wants to make noisier music as an act of defiance against an increasingly cruel world, Jehnny Beth has found a way to stand out. She’s real, she’s raw, and everything here has such a strength of spirit to it that it feels truly alive.”

TUTV: Beth translates her dark and desperate visions on our world’s horrendous state of intolerance and dirty and deadly conflicts, with a crushing and industrial wall-of-trashing post-punk record. She hammers nine inch nails for 29 brutal minutes with 9 mindfuckers.
I guess this is how an electric chair experience must feel like.

Menacing blood-and-guts percussion and her (at times) creepy vocals dominate
the louder than war brouhaha that blasts out of our speakers. Our planet is about
to collapse, Beth made a doom and gloom opus to soundtrack the catastrophe.

Singles/clips: Obsession / Broken Rib / High Resolution Sadness / No Good For People

– OBSESSION –

– BROKEN RIB –

– HIGH RESOLUTION SADNESS –

– NO GOOD FOR PEOPLE –

ALBUM

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NEIL YOUNG Still Is A Caring Garage Rocker At Heart – New Album ‘TALKIN TO THE TREES’ With THE CHROME HEARTS Is Out Now

Posted on by JL

16 June 2025

No retirement time whatsoever for 79-year-old legend NEIL YOUNG.
Only health problems would slow down his 24/7 appetite for making
music/playing live.

This weekend he released his first album with his new band
THE CHROME HEARTS. It’s called TALKIN TO THE TREES.

Press info: “Talkin To The Trees is a personal and powerful album featuring
ten new compositions by Young. “Big Change”, the first song from the album,
comes with a message that left no doubt where Neil Young stands in these
challenging times.

The Chrome Hearts are Spooner Oldham (Organ); Micah Nelson (Guitar and Vocal); Corey McCormick (Bass and Vocal); Anthony LoGerfo (Drums); with Neil Young (Guitar, Harp, Piano, Vibes). The album is co-produced by Lou Adler and Young, and recorded at Shangri La Studios in Malibu.”

TUTV Talkin To The Trees brings Young‘s 1975 masterwork Tonight’s The Night instantly
to mind, sonically that is. Raw and rough, as if the LP was recorded live in one take, in
a garage with lots of echo and plenty of ramshackle guitars, buzzing electricity and
Young‘s characteristic, ardent vocals. Very familiar, very entertaining.

From riff-robust rockers (Family Life, Dark Mirage, Let’s Roll, Big Chance) to country-bluesy musings (Silver Eagle, Moving Ahead), to melancholic balladry (Talkin To The Trees, Battle Of Love, Thankful).

It’s pure Young, musically and thematically, wondering about the world’s future, warning for environmental pollution dramas, difficult times to come for our children, and the need of a big positive change. At 79, he’s still socially and climate concerned as he was in his prime. At 79, he still delivers mind-and-ear pleasing records.

KEY SINGLE

ALBUM


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Neil Young’s Archives Website

EZRA FURMAN Opens Up All Of Her Heart And Soul On New Expressive And Ardent Album ‘GOODBYE SMALL HEAD’

Posted on by JL

19 May 2025


New album artwork

Artist: EZRA FURMAN
Who: Flaring singer-songwriter from Chicago. She started
her career with a band called The Harpoons who released
3 albums.

New album: Goodbye Small Head.
Her 7th one.

Furman: “Twelve songs, twelve variations on the experience of completely losing control, whether by weakness, illness, mysticism, BDSM, drugs, heartbreak or just living in a sick society with one’s eyes open. These songs are vivid with overwhelm. They’re not about someone going off the rails, they are inside that person’s heart.

The songwriting here is a revision to William Wordsworth’s famous proclamation that “Poetry
is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” I can agree with that, except for the tranquility part. This poetry, my poetry, arrived in the midst of the storm. It was written as I teetered toward the edge.”

DIY Magazine says: “It’s a textured tapestry of overwhelm that’s as desperate as it is defiant. She employs a string section across much of the record, and yet also dabbles in sampling for the first time; with its skittish drums, eulogic cello, and haunting vocals, ‘You Mustn’t Show Weakness’ is the potent pinnacle of this new frontier. Lyrically, too, ‘Goodbye Small Head’ is some of her finest work.”

TUTV: Furman‘s records are all soaked in emotional tenseness and troubled sensitiveness, lyrically and sonically. Her all-consuming voice is the perfect instrument to emphasize all her ardent eagerness.

And it works thoroughly on expressive highlights Jump Out, Power Of The Moon, You Hurt
Me I Hate You, A World Of Love And Care and closer I Need The Angel. Ezra Furman puts all of her heart and soul in her mesmerizing music. It makes Goodbye Small Head a formidable accomplishment.

Singles: Grand Mal / Jump Out / Power Of The Moon

– GRAND MAL –

– JUMP OUT –

– POWER OF THE MOON –

ALBUM


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MCLUSKY Still Wield The Axe On Comeback Album ‘THE WORLD IS STILL HERE AND SO ARE WE’

Posted on by JL

9 May 2025

Welsh notorious post-punk noiseniks MCLUSKY, fronted by Andrew Falkous,
made a loud and clear mark on the indie list of decibels-producing acts between
1993 and 2004 with three ear-piercing and politically loaded albums.

Then Falkous formed another blaring group, named Future Of The Left,
including his wife on bass. They fabricated 5 full CDs and then went silent.

In 2015 Mclusky suddenly returned for a benefit gig in London and played
some more here and there. In 2023, they released a new 4-track EP, called
Unpopular Parts Of A Pig / The Digger You Deep to fund a delayed US tour.

Today album #4, titled THE WORLD IS STILL HERE AND SO ARE WE is out.


Press photo by Damien Sayell

Press info: “Having formed in the late nineteen-nineties and releasing music, if that is what it was, from 2000-2004, Mclusky disbanded soon afterwards in a slow motion farce of not enough drama to get much press off the back of it. Now they are back fuelled initially by spite but now enjoying it too much not to do it, and playing to crowds in the UK, US and Australia which are much bigger – and more hygienically inclined – than in their so-called heyday. So far nobody has complained, except for one guy in Leeds (and he was clearly on ketamine).”

Kerrang says: “It all sounds remarkably fresh. So while some of the reference points
might give away the age of its authors. ‘Way Of The Exploding Dickhead’ is a twist on
the title of a computer game from 1985 – its frantic, eccentric energy feels timeless.

The highlights are plentiful, from the misanthropic maelstrom of ‘People Person‘, to the lolloping ‘The Digger You Deep’ and the Pixies-esque ‘Hate The Polis’, but you don’t need to pan for gold when there’s so much of it. When The World Is Still Here And So Are We was announced last year, it came as a surprise to many; that the resulting opus is such a remarkably consistent collection after 21 years probably should be too, but somehow isn’t, as mclusky always offered a safe – and strange – pair of hands.”


Andrew Falkous raging with Future Of The Left in Brussels – 2017, photo by TUTV

TUTV: The world is still spinning and Mclusky decided to come back after 21 years
to see what’s going on and let us know what they experienced/experience in their
own tumultuous way. To be honest, it’s Mclusky by numbers, but their numbers still
slice and slash as a first class Swiss knife.

Loudmouth Andrew Falkous still spits and sneers his 4 lungs out as he always did
and rips politicians to shreds while he wields with a razor-sharp axe. Chainsaw guitars everywhere, backed by a hellacious drum/bass duo. They’re masters when it comes to search and destroy punk havoc.

Falkous still comes up with daft song titles like ‘unpopular parts of a pig’, ‘kafka-esque novelist franz kafka’, ‘the competent horse thief‘ and ‘autofocus on the prime directive‘. Welcome back, noizz freaks.

KEY SINGLE

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ANIKA – Wayward Songstress Fights Her Mind-Threathing Demons On New Stupefying Album ‘ABYSS’

Posted on by JL

15 April 2025


Press

Artist: ANIKA
Who: British, Berlin-based songstress. She released two splendid
albums with indie band Exploded View and has her 4th solo one
out now.

Album: ABYSS

Press info: “Anika channels her frustration, anger, and confusion with the world.
The album captures raw energy with minimal overdubs, resulting in a visceral and
urgent 10-track journey fueled by intense emotions.

Abyss reflects Anika’s desire to create a space where people can unite and feel free to express themselves amidst the chaos of the world. With influences ranging from 90s grunge and Courtney Love to Patti Smith and Genesis P-Orridge, the album is driven by
a rebellious spirit.


Album artwork

AllMusic says: “Anika may be known for her aloof persona, but emotion has always been a vital part of her music — and never more so than on Abyss. She brings just enough range to Abyss to avoid monotony, letting the personal bleed into the political… Confrontational in ways quiet and loud, Abyss is a testament to Anika’s fierce artistic independence and gift for haunting moods. Full review here.

TUTV: Abyss is sonically, her most heavy-laden longplayer. From revved-up pop crazing (Hearsay / Honey / Last Song) to psych rock shocks (Abyss / Oxygen / Out Of The Shadows).
It’s Anika Vs Anika and the outside world as she makes clear in Walk Away with the lines “The truth is, I don’t really like myself / And the truth is / I don’t really like anyone else.”

Anika still struggles with all kind of demons (media moguls, a broken relationship, being trapped in your own narrative, patriarchy, toxic masculinity and other mind-destroying dangers). Eventually she’s at her best when she faces and fights her worst nightmares and she knows she’s not alone. We’re all in it together. We should try not to hate each other and be tolerant for a chance. L’union fait la force. 2025 is Anika‘s year.

SINGLES: Hearsay / Walk Away

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EURO/UK TOUR

CANADA/US TOUR

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