Best Albums Of The Month

5 BEST ALBUMS OF THE MONTH – OCTOBER 2026

Posted on by JL

29 October 2026

Band: FONTAINES D.C.
Who: The Irish indie stars, fronted
by their charismatic and highly talented
singer/songwriter Grian Chatten.

Album: DOPAMINE CHAMBER.
Their 5th. Order info here.

Grian Chatten (frontman/songwriter) who spent time among the faded grandeur
of Venice, Vienna and Sicily in search of lyrical inspiration: “I think Romance was maybe
60 per cent human and 40 per cent corrupted by automation, and a loss of feeling.

This one feels more like 60 per cent corrupted — the mask is wearing the face a little
more. I felt it would be more powerful to leave the hope out and reflect the ugliness
honestly. This one needed to feel more like a catastrophic warning.”

TUTV: Their first 2 LPs were afire ones, the ones young gunslingers make, full of vim
and vigour and stuffed with muscular barnstormers. With their third album Skinty Fia
the growing-up Irishmen showed signs of change of course, sonically and lyrically.

The 4th full-length Romance confirmed their new direction completely
and now with Dopamine Chamber they created/crafted a masterpiece.

A strings sweeping, orchestral, gloom/doom triumph. More cinematic, designed synth arrangements, less youthful guitar upheaval, more in-depth reflections about what worried Chatten sees and hears around him in this dark era.

His ruminative tonality and affecting storytelling timbre are on his most entrancing
button. This sign of the times exploit will spin on my headphones for a long time. One
of the most fulfilling records of 2026.

KEY SINGLE

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Band: FAT DOG
Who: London disco-punk cowboys who shoot from the hips.
They made an immediate impact with their debut LP WOOF.

Album: CANCEL ME (I’M TIRED)
Their 2nd longplayer.

Press info: Fat Dog have created an exhilarating, swaggering, panoramic, inventive,
re-inventive, re-re-inventive electro-punk-art-pop-rock’n’roll-space-country triumph that deserves all the adjectives. Over ten mind-bending and melodic tracks, it blends electro-pop anthems, cascading rave bangers, cowboy-tinged pitstops and swirling psychedelia.

TUTV: Fat Dog are barking at the same tree. They use their prize-winning formula
of their debut again, and it works fabulously piquing. Electro-punk pyrotechnics accompanied by boosting bass riffage, drubbing drum beats, crescendo-going vitality,
and Joe Love‘s pressurizing vocals combine for another tiring 24-hour party where you
can chase your tail all night long.

It would be a major blunder to cancel them.

Never modify a victorious dog team.
Let’s go to the races with FD.

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Artist: JOHNNY MARR
Who: The former The Smiths‘ guitar hero, who played afterward
several years with Modest Mouse, also with The Pretenders, Brian
Ferry and many more.

Album: THE AGE OF EVERYTHING
His 5th solo one.

Marr: “This is the record that’s been the most cathartic. The title came to me early in the process and became an inescapable idea. It seemed to sum up the way I think a lot of people are feeling. It’s all encompassing, but it’s not necessarily a negative statement. There’s a sense
of overwhelm in the culture brought about by technology, but looking at it with a different light, there could also be a sense of possibility.”

TUTV: Arguably his best solo effort. A series of top-drawer tunes, action-packed
guitar riffs and sparkling hooks, as usual, with vocal striving. This charming man
made a notably arresting record, up there with The Smiths‘ better work.

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Artists: WHOLE
Who: German darkwave duo featuring Alexander Leonard Donat of Vlimmer
and Fir Cone Children and Thomas Schernikau of Forced To Mode/Forced Movement.

Album: THING

Press info: While rooted in synthpop, THING constantly drifts into darker territory, pulling in elements of post-punk, darkwave, industrial and EBM. It’s an album shaped by two very different musical personalities: one drawn to urgency, noise and momentum, the other to restraint, atmosphere and reflection. Somewhere between those poles, WHOLE found its most direct and cohesive work yet.

Lyrically, the record revolves around a simple but increasingly relevant question:
what makes a human being human? In an age of algorithms, profiles, AI and endless
self-optimization, where exactly is the line between a person and a thing?

TUTV: Overall, Thing sounds like wandering aimlessly in a puzzling labyrinth.
Many ways to walk, many ways to lose yourself, only one way to freedom. WHOLE are looking for answers in this world’s growing AI spider web. Who or what are we, really?

The duo shifts from industrial textures to darkwave dynamics, from gloomy goth to doomy
post-punk percussion, from Die Krupps to Bauhaus, from Nosferatu to Lebanon Hangover. Participate in their sonic odyssey; it’s a worthwhile adventure.

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Blackjack Illuminist Records

Band: KIDS WITH BUNS
Who: Belgian dream pop duo, featuring
Marie Van Uytvanck and Amber Piddington.

“We started out with Kids With Buns at age 18 and 20 respectively, and we were
not trained musicians by any means. To be able to put that complete puzzle together.
The arrangement, the songs, the production everything contributes to the whole of
a song.

We have had the privilege of learning it by doing it, from the bedroom
to the stage. And we see the potential in each other’s ideas where no one
else would.”

Album: BELL JAR
Their 3rd. Recorded in
Philadelphia.

The album title is a direct reference to the famous semi-autobiographical
novel by American author Sylvia Plath (1932-1963).

KWB: “The theme of The Bell Jar is how every process in your life is actually circular,
regarding the healing from mental health issues. When things get better, they will also
get worse, and at some point, that becomes a very present theme in our lives. We felt
that we kept falling into certain patterns.”


Pukkelpop Festival, 22 August 26, photo by Turn Up The Volume

TUTV: Once again, we can hear/experience how heartfelt music can generate
a healing force after a break-up and hurting lovesickness. These two wonderful
buns also channel their crestfallen feelings through their singer-songwriters skills
in the hope of a cathartic recovery.

Marie and Amber enchant with guitar-sparkled musings, with warm vocals and
breezy harmonies. Dream-pop tranquillity with a rehabilitating outcome. Enlivening
tunes and ambivalent lullabies alternate throughout this falling down, standing up
record. Bittersweet symphonies for twilight moments.

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5 BEST ALBUMS OF THE MONTH – SEPTEMBER 2026

Posted on by JL

29 September 2026

– 1 –


Photo Turn Up The Volume – Antwerp, Belgium

Band: ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN
Who: The indestructible Liverpool post-punk-pop rockers who have
no expiration date, fronted by big mouth/songwriter Ian McCulloch.

Album: APPLES FOR ISAAC.
Their 13th,  and first in 12 years.

UNCUT (British music monthly magazine) says: “The album draws deep on Mac’s rich and strange memories of the 1970s, outside of the holy trinity of Bowie, Cohen and Reed. On an album keen not to outstay its welcome, you feel, quite reasonably, that this one should have
run maybe three times as long.


Album artwork

TUTV: Almost 50 years into their career, The Bunnymen come up with their first masterwork of the 21st Century after 4 average albums, but in the meantime, still delivering electrifying goods on their never-ending touring. It matches their 1999 LP
What Are You Gonna Do With Your Life?

Like that grand opus, this new one is a near-solo Ian McCulloch effort, musically
and lyrically. Longtime brother in arms, Will Sergeant‘s role is relatively minimal.

As the line “Is this the blues I’m singing?” goes in their 1980’s classic cracker Rescue
that sentiment is all over the place right here. At 67, McCulloch also gets gripped by melancholia, by memories of a lifetime. He translates them into his often cryptic, poetic,
and shadowy language and embeds them in a stunning series of astounding tunes enflamed by his eternally awesome voice.

The outcome is strikingly vital. Not one weak moment, and with Can’t Be Sold, Brussels Is Haunted, I’ll Be Your Sunshine, The Light That Surrounds You, Lab Rats Ran, and We Prayed In The Dark as the 24-karat gold nuggets.

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Artist: SEASICK STEVE
Who: The seasoned blues rocker, born Steven Gene Leach
75 years ago in Oakland, California

Album: THE LAST SEASON OF AMERICA
His 14th.

TUTV: The downfall of Trump’s Divided States Of Hate (“We got a criminal running this
place. He got lies written all over his face”) makes Seasick Steve angry, confused, mournful and combative. Except for MAGA, almost the whole wide world despises today’s America
for its current failure on many levels and its global, disastrous impact.

That’s the record’s main theme. Dark clouds hang all over Steve‘s doomful grooves
and his brooding ballads. He also goes after all “useless motherfuckers and parasites
in the music industry“.

Steve doesn’t rock out much. He spits and sneers on many occasions. He boils inside.
No, this is not a happy album. It reflects the ill-omened signs of this historic, damaging,
and dangerously tumultuous American era.

Yet, in the end, Steve still believes in a healing metamorphosis if we all get together and make it happen, as he sings on the funky footstomper Bad Things: “There’s bad things, but we still can change. If you believe in hope, we can rearrange. I still believe in the power of love.”

It’s not over yet is Steve‘s underlying belief in a redeeming turnaround.

KEY SINGLE

It’s the last season of America
And we’ll never watch again
The show that we loved

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Photo by Luke Bovill

Artists: ARAB STRAP
Who: Trippy Scottish electro-pop vets, Aidan Moffat and
Malcolm Middleton (1995–2006, 2011, 2016–present).

Album: HALF-TOLD TALES
Their 9th.

UNCUT Magazine (UK): “Over Middleton’s fertile arrangements, Moffat’s
poetry offers the reassurance that good people still exist in the world.”

TUTV: It’s the Scots’ 3rd rad LP in 5 years, following 2021’s As Days Get Dark and 2024’s bizzarly titled I’m Totally Fine With It 👍 Don’t Give A Fuck Anymore 👍. Yep, they
have their musical hat trick in the pocket.

On Half-Told Stories, half of the tracks are designed to rock out and freak out while trying
to pogo your way around the dancefloor in your head. More and more, the long-serving duo’s mix of trippy electronics and bouncy rock undercurrents comes with pumped-up, pounding decibels, like you can experience, among other stompers, to the full extent on the 3 dumbfounding singles (hear below)

Then again, half the record contains laid-back breathers, letting poetic storyteller Moffat look out the window and reflect on all things weird whirling in his mind, with his trademark wit and dark humour.

Put everything – low and slow, fast and fervent – together and you know for a certified
fact that the Scots delivered another buzzworthy showpiece for end-of-the-year lists.

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Pukkelpop Fest, Belgium – 21 August 2026 – Photo by Turn Up The Volume

BAND: GURRIERS
Who: Fast-rising, voltaic
indies from Dublin, Ireland.

Album: NOBODY’S COMING TO SAVE YOU
Their 2nd.

DIY Magazine (UK) wrote: “A tense, exhilarating follow-up that digs even deeper into
the dark, searching for signs of light. The 10 tracks creak, judder and detonate, riding fuse-like guitar scratches and claustrophobic drums. There’s doom and gloom, but Gurriers aren’t cheap nihilists – they understand the human spirit and the vitality of kinship.


Album artwork

TUTV: Without a shadow of a doubt, one of the hottest records of the year. They rock,
they punk, and they punch with blood-and-guts fervour. They’re on a quest to find the
light at the end of the tunnel to replace today’s dark times. Watch your back, Fontaines, your fellow committed countrymen are coming fast.

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Band: GILLA BAND
Who: Razor-blade-cutting,
idiosyncratic Irish post-punks.

Album: PUGNELLO.
Their 4th and first in 4 years.

Pitchfork says: “Exploding its signature blend of noise-punk and dance music to masterful extremes, the Irish band gets louder, rawer, funnier, and more methodical on its exhilarating fourth album.”

TUTV: I follow/love these Irishmen since I saw them live in Belgium in 2014
as nervous snotnoses hadn’t a record out yet, as support act for Fat White
Family. Their chainsaw hullabaloo went through bone and marrow.

And it still does. Mind you, their songs had and still have bloodcurdling body and returning, capriocious structure that’s bone-chilling and mind-blowing at times, while frontman Dara Kiely fights upfront to vomit his eccentric lyrics. If your eardrums survive
this electric-chair experience, you’re ready for some more sonic Gilla Band blitzkrieg.

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10 BEST ALBUMS OF THE MONTH – AUGUST 2026

Posted on by JL

– 1 –

Band: HOLY COVES

Who: Ardent Welsh indie outfit, fronted
by singer-songwriter Scott Marsden.

Album: HIRAETH
Welsh for ‘longing‘.
Their 4th.

TUTV: Hiraeth is a genuinely soul-stirring and brutally honest record.

Singer-songwriter/guitarist Scott Marsden recalls his past demons and finds comfort
in the beauty of his beloved Wales, its compelling history and the making of this new formidable album. He’s an emotive storyteller, blessed with a heartwarming voice that
fits his self-exploratory quest in every respect, spiritually and musically.

This is unquestionably the band’s most coherent, engrossing, and complete work,
excelling on every level and showing the cathartic power of music, once again. Mind
you, their previous work is more than noteworthy, but Hiraeth‘s full-blown execution makes it a grand achievement to cherish for a long time.

One of the best indie guitar rock-pop albums of the
year. A milestone for the Welshmen. Hands down.

KEY SINGLE

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Band: GETDOWN SERVICES

Who: Wacky disco-rap-punk duo
from Bristol, UK

Album: MASSIVE CHAMPION.
Their sophomore one.


Album artwork

TUTV: They go up, they get down. Up again. Down again. At first I was confused by the
by now pretty famous indie duo’s changing sonic moods breaking down the record’s
flow.

Lullabies, rock outs, moony mid-tempo reflections. One tune they put you in a soothing modus with a lullaby. The next tune they plug in their amps for a couple of pelvis-shaking firecrackers. Then it goes back to life-reflecting/watching thoughts, daily reveries, existentialist questions, and some depressing moments. Quite something else than
their non-stop groovy fiesta debut.

But I didn’t give up, as I felt some sort of connection anyway, and I kept on listening,
and it all started to make sense. This record’s emotional fluctuations, musically, vocally
and lyrically, became one full Getdown Services picture/experience that sticks seamlessly
in the end. Big score.

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Promo picture

Band: WESTSIDE COWBOY

Who: Highly promising indies from Manchester, UK. They released
their skilful post-punk debut EP So Much Country ‘Till We Get There
last January.

Album: IT GOES ON
Their debut.

TUTV: These young Mancunians nail it big time with this crackerjack debut. Their ramshackle post-punk fieriness is startling. Its jittery, hypnotic, speedy, repetitive riffing rippers, spirited with Geese-resonating duet vocals combine for a wayward, thrilling
record. A wowzers way to start your journey.

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Photo by Royal Cream

Band: THE AFGHAN WHIGS

Who: Cincinnati‘s rock bigshots, celebrating
their 40th anniversary this year.

Album: SOFT CONTROL
Their 10th.

TUTV: The Afghan Whigs catalog is strikingly notable for its mad keen fervidness,
true-blue authenticity, at times its dark emotionality, and its sonic brilliance.
Soft Control has all those substantial characteristics.

Greg Dulli is one of the greatest guitar-rock songwriters and blessed with a terrific
voice. Lyrically, he digs deep down again with inner-soul-searching quests. After four
decades, The Whigs are alive and kicking once again. Respect!

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Band: KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD

Who: The tireless Australian psych-prog-rockers

Album: ALIEN METAL
They just released their 28th LP in 14 years.
They must be the hardest-working band on
this planet.


Credit: Maclay Heriot

TUTV: It’s a pretty unusual record for the riff junks from down under, as they have thrown their guitars through the window and surprise with a full electronic opus. They go back to the British 90s techno raves.

Alien Metal resonates as if KG&TLW locked themselves up for a couple
of weeks playing Underworld, The Prodigy and Leftfield records on repeat.

Expect an incessant tsunami of hyperkinetic beats, mind-blowing electro
Krautrock madness, and deformed vocal flashes. Full blast forward without
breaks. Not one moment to have a much-needed breather. E-cstatic.

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Band: MODERATE REBELS

Who: London-based collective with a fluid membership, active since 2016,
who value expressing their ideas and feelings simply and directly, sometimes uber minimally, over any flash displays of musical skills. There have been Scottish, English, Australian and Irish members at various points.

Album: CHASE THE LOSSES (NOTICE THE FEELINGS)
The 5th one.

MR: “Building better worlds…what could possibly go wrong?…history always shows that giving
a government as much ‘authority’ over citizens as it would like, works out really well…it’s best practice to treat everyone like a potential criminal…total surveillance makes you free. So, here’s a new happy go lucky MR album for 2026.”

TUTV: It feels like the alarming ghost of visionary novellist/poet/journalist George Orwell is roaming about this record, attracting attention to his 1949 dystopian book Nineteen Eighty-Four once again.

Sonically, these rebels run, run, run like The Velvet Underground in their early days when they looked/played like the last gloom and doom band on earth. Strangely similar (and vice versa) to the debut LP by British young post-punk gunslingers (see/hear above). Then, why the fuck is the mainstream press not talking about this stunning record as they do abundantly about Westside Cowboy?

Whatever, MR constructed a must-hear, dazzling-puzzling
Götterdämmerung rock opus for your twilight hours.

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Band: MAN/WOMAN/CHAINSAW

Who: Unadulterated indies
from London, UK.

Album: CANNONBALL.
Their debut.


Credit M/W/C

TUTV: Man/Woman/Chainsaw join the (new) generation of new Brit-post-punk artilleries that started sometime post Brex-shit, with innovative bands such as Black Midi (already gone), Black Country New Road, Squid, Ditz, Bdrmm and newcomers Modern Woman, Westside Cowboy, Mary In The Junkyard, and My New Band Believe.

They have one thing in common: looking for new musical angels, exciting ideas
and unconventional soundscapes, within the broad rock-pop-punk universe,
without being arty farty.

M/W/C does it now for the first time with this debut LP. Whimsical, chopped-up song structures, spine-tingling melodiousness, two perfervid vocalists, nightmarish stories, mood-changing violins and confusing orchestrations. Everything in place to score a bodacious firstborn. Have a bloodcurdling trip.

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Band: THE DURUTTI COLUMN

Who: Post-punk project of Manchester-born, experimental singer-songwriter-guitarist Vincent Gerard “Vini” Reilly (now 72). The band’s name refers to the Durruti Column,
an anarchist military unit in the Spanish Civil War, named after Buenaventura Durruti.

Album: RENASCENT.
His 28th.


📸 @micksteff64

TUTV: This is a soothing, ambient Eno-like soundtrack for a melodramatic movie.
Reilly offers cinematic, dreamy soundscapes, rather than conventional song structures.
His singular, crystalline, finger-picking guitar playing style commands the aural tone throughout.

7 out of the 11 tracks are instrumentals. Caoilfhionn Rose sings on 3, Lucas Elliot
on one, and Reilly stirs with vulnerable vocals on the album’s best piece, the wondrous musing Scammer. Give Renascent a couple of spins; once you’re connected with The Durutti Column‘s imaginative and blue-sky world, you’ll enjoy a very gratifying record.

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Album artwork

Band: OPUS KINK

Who: Razor-edged, funked-up, sax-and-trumpet-infused
collective from Brighton (UK) fronted by their charismatic
voice/songwriter Angus Rodgers.

Album: THE SWEET GOODBYE
Their debut.


Ghent, Belgium 2025 – Photo by Turn Up The Volume

TUTV: 10 years since they formed this London indie collective unleashed their debut LP, following their attention-grabbing 7-track debut EP My Eyes, Brother! from 2022.

A brassy, funky and punky-jazzy party record, stuffed with pelvis-wobbling grooves and Angus Rodgers‘ bossy vocals pushing his abstract stories up front. OP blend, effortlessly vaudeville, ska and mariachi elements in heart-stopping and invigorating dynamics.

Move. Move. Move.

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Artist: BRANDON FLOWERS

Who: The charismatic Californian
frontman of The Killers

The LP is recorded in Nashville, the mecca of country music, with some renowned
country musicians. Rooted in his formative childhood years in the small town of Nephi, Utah, the timeless sonic approach proves to be the ideal home for Flowers’ most personal and vulnerable songwriting yet.

TUTV: When Flowers works solo, he regularly delves into his youth, coming up
with both sad and happy memories. He doesn’t trash anything whatsoever here.
He drenches his melancholic stories in bittersweet country tunes.

A bit sugary here and there, but nevertheless, the overall musical radiance
is very charming and entertaining. Music for daydreaming moments.

KEY SINGLE

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5 BEST ALBUMS – MAY 2026

Posted on by JL

28 May 2026

Band: BLEACHERS
Who: Singer/songwriter & workaholic
Jack Antonoff‘s supporting team.

Album: EVERY ONE FOR TEN MINUTES
Their 5th.

Antonoff: “It’s very rare that I write from the perspective of an everyone-ness. Obviously, the album is about my personal life, but when I was writing it, I was like, ‘We’ve never disagreed more. We’ve never been more torn apart.’ And yet there’s one core thing that everyone agrees on, which is: this version of modernity is trash. No one’s having a good time.”


Press photo by Alex Lockett

TUTV: It’s only recently that I found out that Antonoff is not one but an 11-time Grammy Award winner for his longtime production/songwriting work with megastars such as Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, and Kendrick Lamar. Well, I’m not a follower of these 3 global celebrities, so there you go.

But I do follow, and I do love his Bleachers project. And I do think that his new opus is
his/their best. Antonoff is a masterly, romantic singer-songwriter à la Beirut‘s Zach Condon, an enchanting mood-swinger à la Matt Berninger, and an absorbing human-stories teller à la Father John Misty.

Not one dull moment on Everyone For Ten Minutes. He writes/muses
about the shit times we live in, and it feels like you’re not alone comforting.

I wonder where he finds the time, aside from his hectic, main job for some of the biggest names on this planet, to write, compose, record, and then tour, alluring beauties like this hearty, mixed emotions one. Almost half of the year gone, and I’m quite sure this new Bleachers diamond will be Top-10 in my 2026 list.

Key singles.

– DIRTY WEDDING DRESS –

– YOU AND FOREVER –

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Band: JAPANESE JESUS
Who: 2 Irish mavericks from West Limerick.
Bertie Kelly (vocals, guitars, bass) and
Denny Dunworth (Drums).

FFO: USA Nails, Fugazi, Pissed Jeans,
Nirvana and other noiseniks.

Album: A WALL TO CLIMB OVER
Their debut, which follows their ace EP,
named Depression Breakfast from 2023.


Album artwork

TUTV: This is one of those indie DIY records that overwhelm my (experienced) ears way more than some massive mainstream successes within the same genre, in this case, powerhouse-noise rock.

I listened to the new Foo Fighters LP ‘You’re New Favorite Toy’ twice, and I probably won’t return to it, except for a couple of corking standouts. Thus far, this Japanese Jesus debut (released the same day as the Foos LP) has heated my earphones about 10 times now.
And it won’t be the last time.

Why? Well, it’s simple. These two hepped-up underdogs come up with more impressive tunes than Dave Grohl‘s globally famous band. With The Beige, Big Balls, Boredom Forever, No Rest and Over It the Irish turbo deliver riff-sick master blasters (think The Jesus Lizard on amphetamines, backed by Black Sabbath‘s cast-iron rhythm section) with blood-curdling melodies at the core of them all and vociferous vocalist Bertie Kelly screaming, at times, way more scarily than the former Nirvana drummer

With “I’m Bits,“ “Right Back Where They Started,” and “Whatever,” they offer some reflective moments amid the overall paranoid racket, balancing the record comprehensively well.

Japanese Jesus have outscored the Foos. Say no more, except for the
fact I always love it when the underdogs beat the big rock stars.

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Band: THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS,
Who: Oklahoma‘s vet rockers.

Album: SANDBOX.
(Only) their 5th in 27 years.

Tyson Ritter (frontman) told NYC’s magazine Paper: “This album has taken
a lot of fireside chats, and a lot of mending fences. I think I said in an interview
before. People don’t really want a new All-American Rejects record.

People want their time capsule and want to jump into it and feel like they smell
CK One and it makes them feel young. But the question I pose is, ‘What if we can
say something now? What if we can actually resonate?’”

TUTV: After 27 years, these vets come up with a highly peachy longplayer. A fireworks record stuffed with a series of whoppingly fab tunes. We get scream-along/fist-pumping rockers (Easy Come, Easy Go / Sandbox / Staring Back At Me), euphoric rockers à la The Killers (Get This / Eggshell Tap Dancer / King Kong / Lemonade), and a couple of gripping ballads (Green Isn’t Yellow / Mama).

Enough sonic scores, with familiar life-observing-affirming stories, to have yourself one of the best rawk ‘n’ roll LPs of the year. Retro? Old-fashioned? Maybe, but I don’t give a flying f**ck if it’s hip or not. Sandbox made/makes me go for the repeat button several times now. It activates my bloodstream and doubles my production of adrenaline.

100% solid gold triumph. Hands down.

Key singles.

– KING KONG –

– GET THIS –

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Band: THE CORAL
Who: Liverpool‘s psych-folk-pop-rock ramblers wandering since 2002,
when they drew instant ear-attention with their dynamite self-titled debut LP.

Album: 388.
Their 13th.

“Recorded in two weeks and inspired by Rocksteady, vocal groups of the early 60s, Ethiopiques compilations and “the highs, lows, births and deaths of the last three decades”
11-tracks bring the band back to the essence of being The Coral.”

TUTV: It’s vintage The Coral. Over the years, they grew mellower, more relaxed, more melancholic, more dreamy, and more sepia-toned. Charming, hum-along, mid-tempo tunes for romantic sunsets. If I think of it, the Scousers never ever disappoint(ed). They’re always welcome on my headphones. Right on, let the music play.

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Credit J Kimball

Band: JESUS THE DINOSAUR
Who: Boston-based indie folk team.

Debut Album: NOTHING TO THE BRANCHES

Press info: “As most of us go through life’s formative stages, there are often
two lanes of maturity and fulfillment that casually intertwine, with each helping
inform and propel the other.

One is establishing who we are as a person, while discovering a sense of identity
and comfort as our true selves; and the other is finding our community along the
way, seeking refuge and safety in those that exist, and persist, closest to us.

Those lanes converge and come to the forefront of Jesus The Dinosaur’s introspective
debut album, Nothing To The Branches, a record that acts as a portal into a different
kind of emotive headspace.”

Tommy Ng (frontman) “The statement that we are making with this album is that we’re here! The songs cover a range of things from complex relationship dynamics to gender identity to anxiety attacks. But at our core, the music we make is really more about being involved in an intimate collaborative creation process together and finding our own expressions within it.”

“Our chemistry is everything! We’ve been friends for a long time. They are my closest friends.
It allows for the process of music writing to be very intimate and vulnerable and expansive. There’s space for everyone to have their expressions, and we all want to work together and
feel seen.”

TUTV: On this debut, the band explore gender identity, relationship dynamics, anxiety,
and escapism. Musically, they embed these life-important issues in gentle, charming, candid and acoustic-euphonious reveries. Luring indie folk that triggers self-analysing daydreaming.

The ruminative balladry of Bon Iver and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy comes to mind. Nothing To The Branches embraces a similar heart-and-soul stirring melancholia, wrapped in introvertive reveries such as Lifetime, Not Yr Boy, I Miss My Friend and fervent tunes such as (Agender, Empty Space, Sweet Nothing and Looking For A Way Out). Great vocals too from Ng and guitarist Hannah Foxman on Can’t Say.

I’m sure many young people out there can relate to the covered
topics on this brave and frank debut. Kudos to Jesus The Dinosaur.

SINGLE

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Instagram – Linktree

5 BEST ALBUMS OF THE MONTH – MARCH 2026

Posted on by JL

30 March 2026

Band: THE RATS
Who: Post-punk dogs from
Ghent, Belgium ready to bite.

Album: BOXING DAYS
Their debut.

TUTV: The rat race is on, folks. This debut is, without a shadow of a doubt, a longplayer that will last for a long time. For its sharp-teethed punkiness (British Racing Green / Won’t Stand For It / Muck And Bullets and the flabbergasting The Wrong Day), for its bloodcurdling execution, and for its overall KO horsepower in 8 rounds.

The Rats, led by vim and vigour by motormouth Emile Dekeyser, offer barbed-wire songs with body and balls, with heart and soul, with vivacity and a jagged joie de vivre. Every uppercut stands loud and proud on its own feet. Striking debut. Hands down.

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BOXING DAYS on Spotify – Instagram – Linktree

Band: HOLY FUCK
Who: Robust electro rock veteran combo from Toronto, CA.
They formed in 2004. All members also have their own projects.

Album: EVENT BEAT

TUTV: HF do not fuck around. They serve a fusillade of badass EBM jams.
Sonic fuel for the 24-hour party people among us. They alternate pulsating sledgehammers with galvanizing grooves and trancy vibes. Here and there,
they add some vocals, but the boisterous beats are king.

They know all the electro-techno party tricks in the book by now.
No dull moments with these Canadian disco-punk connoisseurs.

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Album on Spotify – Tour Dates – Instagram

Artists: JAH WOBBLE and JON KLEIN
Who: The dub bass expert who was co-founder of John Lydon‘s P.i.L.
a zillion years ago, and the former Siouxsie and The Banshees guitarist (1987-1994).

Album: AUTOMATED PARADISE
Their 3rd collaborative one.

Klein: “Working with Jah Wobble is always an inspiring experience. When I started working
with him in recording sessions, he often quoted the words of Holger Czukay, the bass player of German band Can: “First we play, then afterwards we talk! We like to make things happen in the moment. Often we complete a working draft to a piece of music from scratch in a few hours.”

Wobble: “The music comes from that silent place. It’s pre-existing. You just allow it to flow. Proper post punk. Angry and humorous. Okay, it’s the end of civilisation. But nothing lasts forever right? We shouldn’t take it to heart.”

TUTV: The duo has puzzled an ominous, dark-groovin’ 8-jams record together.

Klein‘s aggressively articulated, Cockney-punk vocals accentuate his
take on our messed-up planet, crowded with bloodsucking politicians.

Wobble‘s dub bass play is still spot-on, and accompanied here
by brutish guitar ruckus, while the tone swells grimmer track by
track.

Overall, Automated Paradise sounds as if Doomsday
is just around the corner. No fiction, reality.

STREAM/BUY


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Wobble – Instagram / Jon Klein – Facebook

Band: THE DARTS
Who: American garage rock bats, fronted by charismatic
singer-songwriter/keyboardist Nicole Laurenne.

Album: HALLOWEEN LOVE SONGS
Their 6th.

TUTV: 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.

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

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ALBUM on Spotify – Instagram – Linktree

Artist: KYE ALFRED HILLIG
Who: Singer-songwriter from
Tacoma, Washington.

Album: THE ALL-NIGHT COSTUME COMPANY
His 9th. Order info here.

Press info: “It’s a record born from necessity rather than momentum, written during
a period when Hillig had nearly walked away from music altogether, and found himself worse for it. What emerged instead is his most vital and clear-eyed work to date, an
album shaped by collapse, community, and the unglamorous work of staying alive.”

TUTV: KAH’s warm, enthralling Americana voice infuses his mixed-emotions songs with a puissant Tom Petty swagger, a rock-solid John Mellencamp zip, and, at times, a Billy Bragg tenacity. From rock to country to balladry. 12 enchanting tunes.

Hillig‘s versatile songwriting skills shine throughout this highly appealing
and enrapturing record. I’ll have it on my earphones for a long time.

KEY TRACKS: The Horrible Truth / Divorce Of Course Of Course / Jules Can You See Me? / Something Is Different / Our Remaining Pig / We Were Right (‘Til We Were Wrong)

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Instagram

5 BEST ALBUMS OF THE MONTH – FEBRUARY 2026

Posted on by JL

28 February 2026

Band: KULA SHAKER
Who: British psych rock vets, fronted by charismatic
vocalist/songwriter Crispian Mills. Their 1996 debut LP,
titled K made them instant indie stars.

Album: WORMSLAYER
Their 8th one.

Press info: “Named after a 9th-century Indian poet king, the band have always existed
in an alternate reality, mixing mysticism, psychedelia, and raucous rock ‘n’ roll energy. With Wormslayer, they continue that quest, creating a kaleidoscopic journey that feels both
timeless and urgently fresh.”


Press photo

TUTV: KS show again their passion for 60s psychedelic rock/pop flavered with
Indian sitar vibes and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds symphonies. Think early Pink
Floyd, The Kinks, The Pepper Beatles, Traffic and Arthur Lee’s Love.

And they are very good at it. Wormslayer is stuffed with top-flight pop-edelia tunes, elevating this 8th LP to a must-hear on repeat level. Voice/face/songwriter and vibrant guitarist Crispian Mills lifts his troops to ecstasizing heights of nostalgia. Retro delirium
at its todays best. Formidable record.

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Band: THE NUDE PARTY
Who: North Carolina collective THE NUDE PARTY, active
since 2012, are a well-oiled 7-piece machine of choogling
rock‘n roll

Album: LOOK WHO’S BACK

Press info: “Look Who’s Back took shape in a homegrown, late-night party atmosphere, playfully debaucherous sessions ran late into the night, the cozy room as crowded with mics, cables, and recording equipment as it was with friends, pizza boxes, and beer cans.”

TUTV: This party squad keeps it simple, but oh irresistibly efficient with laid-back
melodiousness, sparkling guitar play, euphonious harmonies, and top-drawer sing along/tap along/clap along tunes with at times, a cosy country feel. It’s called pop-ular music. Instantly entertaining, chipper and ear-pleasing fun.

Trust me, the cliché, no fillers, all killers, is 100% accurate here.

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Instagram – Twitter

Artists: DEAD ANYWAY
Who: British duo who 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.

Album: SQUEAK PIGGY SQUEAK
Their 7th one.

TUTV: 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 are Arnold reflections on her mental issues. The overall outcome of this new LP is engrossing
once again.

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

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

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.”


📸 Nathan Dobbelaere

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.


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.

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Album On Spotify – Instagram – Linktree – Tour Dates
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Band: GORILLAZ
Who: The brainchild of Blur’s Damon Albarn and comic book artist
Jamie Hewlett, who celebrated the 25th anniversary of their top-ranking
project this year.

Album: THE MOUNTAIN
Their 9th.

Press info: “The album is a collection of 15 new tracks featuring artists and
collaborators, living and dead, including: Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Asha
Bhosle, Asha Puthli, Bizarrap, Black Thought, Gruff Rhys, Idles, Jalen Ngonda, Johnny
Marr, Kara Jackson, Omar Souleyman, Paul Simonon, Sparks, Trueno and Yasiin Bey;
as well as the voices of the late Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Dennis Hopper and
Mark E. Smith

TUTV: Gorillaz offer us the first summer record of the year. And if you’re a longtime
G fan you know what that means. Yes, a soft stream of easygoing, feel-good, and bubbly reggae-tinted tunes. But it’s not all sunlight and carefreeness.

Albarn and Hewlett both lost their fathers, in between two trips they did together to
India. Those sad happenings resonate in several melancholic musings, embedded in
Indian instrumentation (lots of sitars) and Eastern vibes, yet they obviously want to
keep up the good spirits and look to the future.

It results in one of their most entertaining longplayers in their 25-year career.

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Instagram – Spotify – All Albums

5 BEST ALBUMS OF THE MONTH – JANUARY 2026

Posted on by JL

31 January 2026

Band: SLUT INTENT
Who: American twin cities
hardcore slut style group.

Album: SLUTWORLD
Their debut.

Stereogum says: “For such a ceaselessly aggressive band, there’s a huge dynamic
range here; they shift from runaway-train speed to slo-mo churn to discordant midtempo freakouts, making the transitions feel as natural and effortless as an world-class athlete’s graceful body contortions.

Their fury would drown out a lesser frontperson, but Kelly commands the mic with enough unbound personality to shine through the chaos.”

TUTV‘s impressions:

POST-punk-core madness.

VOCIFEROUS vocalist Katy Kelly‘s
pipes are made of steel.

LOUDER, filthier, and cruder
than the Riot grrl movement.

FASTER than Lambrini Girls
and Snooper put together.

YOU can scare your whole town
with this boiling volcano.

YOU will be arrested by the police when
you play this slut shit too loud.

NO songs, only Molotov cocktails.

ONLY 18 minutes, but you’ll be out
of breath when the tsunami is over.

FIRST punk-loud and fuck-clear
record of the year.

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Band: DZ DEATHRAYS
Who: Disorderly punk rock trio from
Brisbane, Australia who found each
other in 2012.

Album: EASING OUT OF CONTROL
Their 7th one.


Album artwork

Australia’s THE MUSIC website: “Mega riffs ready to send a festival crowd into raptures? Tick. A riotous celebration of the joys of getting back on the road? Sure. Rock anthems that address the weird place we find ourselves, with personal privacy and the pale blue dot we
call home under threat from dark forces? Several.”

TUTV: 31 minutes of running rock amok, producing as many licks, hooks and riffs,
possible in that short time. No arty farty baloney. No ego wanderings. No unnecessary digressions.

Only combusting rock and bloody roll. They take a breather (well, sort of) on
2 tracks, Real Love and lullaby Warped but ‘Easing Out Of Control’‘s dominating
racket is roisterous and boisterous.

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Instagram – Linktree
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Artist: LUCINDA WILLIAMS
Who: Longtime lauded and award-winning
songstress (now aged 72) from Louisiana.

New album: WORLD’S GONE WRONG
Her 16th.

UNCUT Magazine (British glossy music monthly): “Williams reveals her chief preoccupation: America and where it stands today. Her natural impulse is to channel compassion, concern, empathy and anxiety in a batch of wise songs that know their past and present but refuse to crumple or compromise.

One year into Donald Trump’s second term, Williams knows people need to feel their woes
are acknowledged and understood, and more so, that they need hope for a kinder future.

The music is straight and soothing, a band coming together in a rootsy salve as Williams returns to a favourite theme, deliverance through music. She is engaged in nothing less
than a battle for America’s soul.”

Williams: “We are here to bear witness to this monstrous sickness.”

TUTV: If you have any kind of common sense, you’re disgusted by that orange dictator’s damaging politics in the White House. First of all, all the not-brainwashed Americans, of course, but also at least half of the world despises him because of his authoritarian
‘Me, Myself and I‘ politics.

Lucinda Williams is one of those millions of Americans who are sick of this MAGA cult POTUS. She embeds her rage into a series of most captivating songs, sonically, vocaly and lyrically. World’s Gone Wrong is both a worrying, candid, and sharp-observing record. Don’t miss it.

SINGLE

ALBUM
(No streaming
on Spotify)

Other platforms to stream the LP right here.

Linktree – All Albums
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Band: CAST
Who: The Britpop vets who were along with
Richard Ashcroft support act for the Oasis
reunion gigs in the UK.

New album: YEAH YEAH YEAH
Their 8th one.


Promo photo

CLASH MAGAZINE says: “With as many albums in this century as in the last, ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’ finds Cast building on the momentum of the previous two years with both confidence and quality. Refusing to trade solely on nostalgia, it’s a beefed-up version of their best selves. Long may their positivity last.”

TUTV: When someone says Cast I say “Fine Time,” referring to their
995 debut single. Yep, the former Britpop stars, led by former The La‘s
member John Power, have been playing around for more than 3 decades.

And they didn’t lose their appetite for feel-good, easy-going, joyful tunes, at all.
YYY features 10 jangly guitar pop songs. Simple but oh so catchingly infectious.
Cast have no ambition to reinvent the rock wheel, they just wanna entertain us.
Mission accomplished.

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Artist: WAIT, WHAT DID YOU SAY?
Who: Kind of mysterious singer-songwriter from
Tucson, Arizona with the weirdest alias I ever heard.

Album: STAY SAFE, LITTLE ONE
His debut album.

“This album is the culmination somewhat, since the beginning of writing
these words down. i would like to thank everybody in my life, past, present,
and future, for simply being in my life.”

TUTV: Think of the early raw rockin’ days of Evan Dando and his Lemonheads. Contagious melodies embedded in a swamp of high-energized tuines. At times chaotic, ramshackle and distorted, but hey, that’s DIY garage rock for you, folks. No arty farty production, no superfluous special effects. Direct, raw and rough. Love it.

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Website

5 Best Albums Of The Month – NOVEMBER 2025

Posted on by JL

29 November 2025

Band: WHOLES
Album: A MASS IN THE WATER.

The LP is an intense and raw reflection of grief, trauma, and the desire for healing.

‘A Mass In The Water’ roughly describes the last day of Wolf Vanwymeersch‘s father,
who took his own life during a psychotic episode. The album balances between
mockery, anger, powerlessness, grief, understanding, compassion, and love.

TUTV: It’s a both scary and flabbergasting opus that takes a lot of courage to make and share with the world. The album’s ominous dynamics, distorted vocals, and riff-roasting razzmatazz resonate like if you are listening to the soundtrack of a modern-day horror movie.

Vanwymeersch and Wholes created their own Dante’s Inferno.
Bloodcurdling, pitch-black, and bone-chilling. Helter-skelter.

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Instagram – Album On Spotify
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Band: THE BELAIR LIP BOMBS
Who: Swirling indies from
Montreal, Canada.

Album: AGAIN
Their 2nd one.

TUTV: Just one spin and I knew this LP was a winner. Ace tune, after ace tune, after
ace tune. Guitar pop at its most move ‘n groove exciting. In the middle, vocalist and
guitarist Maisie Everett draws all attention. Wonderful voice, striking performance.
And she’s backed by a well-oiled rockin’ engine. Trust me, these Aussies are going
places, very soon.

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Instagram – Album on Spotify
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Artist: HEAD ON STONE
Who: The solo project of Belgian songstress
Nele Janssen, frontwoman of post-punk turbo
Peuk.

Album: STONY BEDS Debut LP

TUTV: Nele Janssen bewitches with her crystalline voice and enchanting piano play. Intimate, passional and heartfelt. From a Peuk scream to a solo whisper. A beautiful,
soul-stirring record that silences you from start to finish.

Eleven bittersweet reveries for the midnight hours. Stony Beds is an ideal companion
for cold winter nights, while relaxing with dimmed light on your couch and your favourite drink at hand.

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Instagram – Album On Spotify
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Band: PICTURE PARLOUR
Who: Amplified pop duo, featuring Liverpool’s songstress
Katherine Parlour and North Yorkshire-born bassist Ella Risi.

Album: THE PARLOUR
Their debut.

TUTV: PP offer sinewy pieces of a high rock-punk-and-blues calibre,
all delivered with lots of gusto and bold brio. They fuzz and buzz
throughout the whole record. 40 minutes of barbed electricity.

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Instagram – Linktree
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Artist: MAVIS STAPLES
Who: Legendary soul/blues/rock voice who, along with family, had a long and
greatly accomplished career under the name of The Staple Singers (1948-1994).
She’s 86 now, singing and swinging like a 36-year-old.

Album: SAD AND BEAUTIFUL WORLD

Produced by Brad Cook, the album spans seven decades of the American songbook,
a range nearly as vast as Mavis’ career, and includes reinventions of timeless songs
by Tom Waits, Sparklehorse, Gillian Welch, Frank Ocean and more.

Cook imagined an album in the tradition of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band‘s Will the Circle Be Unbroken, a group of artists coming together to celebrate community. In this case,
one centered on Mavis. Collaborators include Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Tweedy, Derek Trucks, Katie Crutchfield, MJ Lenderman, and Justin Vernon.

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Instagram – Linktree – Discography

10 Best Albums Of The Month – SEPTEMBER 2025

Posted on by JL

– 1 –

Band: SPRINTS
Who: Irish post-punk whirlwind, led by charismatic
voice/songwriter/guitarist Karla Chubb.

Album: ALL THAT IS OVER.
Their sophomore one, following last year’s
amazeballs debut LP Letter To Self.

Sprints about the LP: “While the world is literally burning down around us there are voices that seem hell bent on pointing the finger at anyone but those actually responsible. There’s no need to dream-up dystopia, we’re living in it. And somehow, while the world has never seemed uglier, our life has never been more beautiful.”

TUTV: Their riff-ripping quiet/loud/quiet formula works again, big time. The decisive factor for making this my fav album of the month is the cooking/boiling/bloodcurdling ebullience of the 5 last tracks. They hit you, piece by piece, hard in the face. Karla Chubb‘s hepped-up vocals rule again. Here and there her unbridled explosiveness brings young Courtney Love‘s borderline cry outs to mind. Helter-skelter.

KEY TRACKS: Something’s Gonna Happen / Pieces / Better / Coming Alive / Desire

SINGLE: Descartes

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– 2 –

Artist: BAXTER DURY
The British flamboyant singer-songwriter
from London.

Album: ALLBARONE
His 9th one.

Dury about the album: “It’s kind of a character arc that goes through the whole thing,
two personalities. It’s very critical of people, this album, whoever they are, maybe some
bloke with a moustache and sockless loafers in Shoreditch or a fat old Chiswick gangster lording it up in a really comfortable middle class part of London”

“It doesn’t sound like a Harrods hamper band made it. It doesn’t sound like a band made
it all. Which is what I wanted most of all. It’s just something that’s brand new for me. It’s
quite exciting, really.”


Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Lokerse Feesten, Belgium

TUTV: Dury does it again. Allabarone is another invitation to get up, stand up and sway your pelvis to sultry beats. Buzzing bass grooves and hip-shaking vibes have you going non-stop while he tells/whispers/sings his weird stories about weird characters. As usual, female harmonies add a sensual touch. An album to consume regularly to keep your lazy limbs vivifying. Boom boom boom!

KEY TRACKS: Allbarone / Alpha Dog / The Other Me / Mockingjay

SINGLE: Allbarone

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Album artwork

Band: Ho99o9  (pronounced Horror)
Who: Trash & crash rap-punk duo – theOGM
and Eaddy – from Newark, New Jersey.

Album: TOMORROW WE ESCAPE
Their 3rd one.

TheOGM in an interview with New Noise Maagzine: “We want to be able to grow and express our musical range and artistry, so it’s an evolved sound and a process of trying new things and not compromising. There’s so much going on in the world right now and it’s very overwhelming.

You have to sit back and realign yourself, focus, and push through. That’s on a personal level and family level. If you’re going on that political route and that’s what you’re about, you gotta go that route, but everybody has a different route.”

TUTV: You can relax for 2.22 minutes during the opening lines of I Miss Home.
From there on, non-stop louder than war pyrotechnics dominate the record.
Imagine Rage Against The Machine have a motherfucking rap-scream contest with
Body Count while the crushing crossover decibels, trash, and crash the roof.

That’s how Ho99o9 deal with our daily, suffocating, rat race. Chop, chop, chop.
Attack, attack, attack. Hit, hit, hit. Don’t escape yet, guys, let’s party hard first.

KEY TRACKS: Target Practice / Incline / Immortal / LA Riots / Godflesh

SINGLE: Incline

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Instagram – Bandcamp
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– 4 –

Band: SHAME
Who: Sharp-cutting-punk gunslingers
from South London.

Album: CUTTTROATH

Press info: “Still in their twenties, the five childhood friends have grown exponentially, with ambitious sonic ideas and the technical chops to execute them. Having proved themselves several times over with legendary live shows and three critically acclaimed albums under their belts, Shame went into Cutthroat ready to create a new Ground Zero.”

TUTV: Without a shadow of a doubt their 2nd best following their terrific debut.
Pumped-up vocalist Charlie Steen spits and sneers again with vitriolic self-assurance, injecting the razor-edged tunes with extra firepower. London’s wackadoos smite again unashamedly with hurry-scurry tempestuousness. Abso-bloody-lutely. Get your pogo
stick out of the closet, you’ll need it.

KEY TRACKS: Cutthroat / Cowards Around / Nothing Better / Spartak / Axis Of Evil

SINGLE: Cuttroath

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– 5 –

Band: SUEDE
London’s glam rock/pop celebs orchestrated
by their never aging frontman Brett Anderson.

Album: ANTIDEPRESSANTS.
Their 10th long one.

Anderson said to Dazed: “It’s a kind of memento mori, a reminder of death.
It’s not an original thought, but let’s just say that we’re going to die, and that’s that,
but try and make the most of our time on time on Earth. There’s a bleakness to that,
but it’s actually also about embracing life – carpe diem. There’s beauty in transience.”

TUTV: On their past 3 longplayers, hefty guitars create a wall of elevating electricity
with an epic sonority. It results in more rock swagger than pop sensibility, even when
they slow down (Somewhere Between An Atom And A Star and June Rain) guitars have an overpowering impact. Only Brett Anderson melodramatic vocals can compete with them. His hypersensitive vocality is always present upfront and an instrumental factor for
Suede‘s work.

The singles (Dancing With Europeans / Trance State and Disintegrate) and the title track stand out. Their anthemic puissance hits your ears with huge fervidness. At times the band try to hard to maintain the vital potency all the way through.

Mind you, most of the songs have an adrenalizing quality. Many other bands would sell their soul to have the necessary craftsmanship to write tunes like Anderson & Co still do today. Great trash.

KEY TRACKS: Dancing With Europeans / Trance State / Disintegrate /
Antidepressants / Life Is Endless, Life Is A Moment

SINGLE: Disintegrate

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– 6 –

Band: THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY
Who: The Irrational Library is a Dutch-American rock band with its roots
firmly planted in both the regional and international counterculture. The
Dutch-American band produces a raw, dirty groove influenced by punk,
provo and punk icons. Their poetry is packed with social criticism.

Album: THE SAYING OF IT ALL
Their 5th one.

Press info: Carrying forward their unmistakable blend of groove, grit, and spoken-word swagger, The Irrational Library once again proves they’re tuned into the heartbeat of the here and now. Their music connects yesterday, today, and tomorrow into a sound both urgent and timeless.

TUTV: The IL are back in full kick-ass form, tackling hypocrites of all sorts, who mess up society for their personal benefit. Trenchant lyricist and eloquent word-waterfall Joshua Baumgarten is the heart-and-soul in the middle, whether he screams his lungs out or just tells us what is on his worried mind.

But without the fabulous trio that back him up with their characteristic jazzy-saxy,
bluesy-punk-rock sound, it would be half fun to listen to this record. Band and frontman
are a streamlined team holding your attention with groovy and funky ease, lyrically as
well as sonically.

KEY TRACKS: Notes From The Playground / Gun To Your Head /
Truth Serum / Evidence Of Proof / Today

SINGLE: Truth Serum


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ALBUM


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Instagram – Facebook
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Artwork album

Band: Múm
Who: Icelandic indietronica
outfit formed in 1997.

Album: HISTORY OF SILENCE
Their first one in 12 years.


Photo: Ben Rayner / Terrorbird Media

Press info: “Vibrantly oscillating around a carefully curated palette of electronic and analogue sounds, the eight new tracks reflect the group’s continuous strive to explore sonic spaces through subtle yet gripping songwriting.”

They breathe an overall airy and intimate atmosphere, yet resonate with the structural heft of time and structured, they echo their origins from different seasons, cities, and spaces—neatly stitched together with unparalleled craftsmanship. They breathe an
overall airy and intimate atmosphere, yet resonate with the structural heft of time.”

TUTV: History Of Silence‘s strength lies in its mind-relaxing flow. It feels like an ear massage. Sweet, slo-mo synth/piano symphonies, enlivened now and then with crystalline guitar sparks transfer you to a de-stressing place, far away from the noisy reality, while heartfelt duet vocals complete the tranquil sonority. Headphone music for cold nights.

KEY TRACKS: Miss You Dance / Kill The Light / A Dry Heart Needs No Winding

SINGLE: Kill The Light

ALBUM:


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Linktree
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– 8 –

Band: BIG THIEF
Brooklyn‘s lauded folk pop/rock band,
fronted by endearing voice Adrienne
Lenker.

Album: DOUBLE INFINITY

Stereogum says: The songs have an essential simplicity that makes it still feel accurate
to call Big Thief a folk band. A lot of that accessibility and simplicity is thanks to Lenker’s lyrics. They’re open-hearted and lovely, more so than ever, and their realness and plainness keeps them from being saccharine.

These songs are about the inexorability of passing time, the uselessness of language, and
how love and music can fill the gaps between these things we try to hold on to but never
can.”


Press Photo by Genesis Báez

TUTV: Big Thief seduce and charm once again with playful tunes. Sensitive ones, sad ones
and other related emotive ones, but always ear-pleasing ones. They don’t rock, nor do they really pop, it’s the band’s folk roots that catalyze a laid-back campfire feel. More acoustic than electrical resonance.

No unnecessary bells and whistles, no fake glamour, no studio tricks for BT. They’re
about authenticity and honesty, and Adrienne Lenker‘s voice was made for these serene and thoughtful moments. A great companion for a night in.

KEY TRACKS: Incromprehensible / Los Angeles / All Night All Day / Grandmother

SINGLE: Incromprehensible

ALBUM
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Instagram – All Albums
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– 9 –

Band: ROBERT PLANT & SAVING GRACE
Who: The former Led Zeppelin icon and
his touring band (for 6 years now).

Album: SAVING GRACE

Mojo Magazine‘s verdict: “Birthed via a Black Country communion which saw Robert Plant and his new, largely unknown bandmates enjoy a lengthy courtship off-radar, Saving Grace feels guileless, almost serendipitous. What might happen, Plant mused, if he shipped what he’d learned from T Bone Burnett, Alison Krauss et al home and duetted on choice blues, alt-country and folk covers with Brum-born former music teacher, Suzi Dian? Across 10 intimate songs deftly ornamented by guitarists Matt Worley and Tony Kelsey and cellist Barney Morse-Brown, magic happens.”

TUTV: Mesmerizing roots music with alluring duet/alternating vocals. Plant and Dian are blessed with magnicicent voices perfectly fitting this timeless genre of traditional music.

KEY TRACKS: It’s A Beautiful Day Today / Ticket Taker / I Never Will Marry / Higher Rock

SINGLE: It’s A Beautiful Day Today

ALBUM


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Instagram – Spotify
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Artist: LEXYTRON
Who: “Half Greek, half Persian and half English” – as this musician described herself
age 5 – the Manchester-born Lexy found her identity in music early on as a pianist and violinist.”
She’s now based in Auckland, New-Zealand.

Album: SOMETHING NEW
Her 2nd one.

Press info: “Following Lexytron’s genre-bending debut album ‘Something Blue’, lead singer Lexy slips into something more electronic on ‘Something New’, pairing an alternative pop rock style with sardonic wit, big choruses, and a painful honesty that has now become her trademark. The album was self-produced in Auckland and mixed and mastered by London producer Marco Meloni.”

TUTV: Dream pop, power pop, jaunty pop, guitar pop, musing pop, Lexytron let it all flow into each other, resulting in an entertaining, colorful and feelgood album that puts a big smile on your face. Her vivid vocals lift up the inherent strength of the frisky tunes.

It feels like if the young, happy mother is settled don a carefree cloud. She radiates
joviality and joi de vivre on Something New and it’s fully contagious for the listener.

KEY TRACKS: Elevator / Disco Jenny / Your Love / Another Lover / Laughing From Above

SINGLE: Disco Jenny


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ALBUM


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Linktree

5 BEST ALBUMS OF THE MONTH – APRIL 2025

Posted on by JL

2 May 2025


Album artwork

Band: THE WATERBOYS
Who: Scottish pop-rock-folk heroes orchestrated by
songsmith Mike Scott with 16 LPs, new on included,
on their most impressive résumé.

New Album: LIFE, DEATH AND DENNIS HOPPER

Press info: “Inspired entirely by the life and mythos of actor Dennis Hopper, Mike Scott and The Waterboys created this expansive album as tribute to one of American popular culture’s most compelling public figures. Deeply conceptual, this album of all original songs brings together high-profile featured artists like Bruce Springsteen, Fiona Apple, and Steve Earle to musically weave through Hopper’s life, including a song for each of Hopper’s wives.”

TUTV: This an amazing piece of work. A soundtrack for a yet to be made Dennis Hopper documentary. Hats off to Mike Scott for his boldness, imaginativeness, and ingenuity to score this musical movie, constructed marvellously with its sonically cinematic versatility.

Pop, rock, blues, country, bar-room jazz, and musing balladry take turns and puzzle
a most coherent and highly entertaining whole together, spiced with magnificent vocal contributions by Fiona Apple, Steve Earle and others. Never a dull moment with its varied stream of top-tier songs and Scott‘s awe-inspiring vocality throughout.

Movie shots from Hopper‘s parts in doom and gloom films such as Blue Velvet, Apocalypse Now, True Romance, Speed and, of course, counterculture classic Easy Rider pop up on the screen in your head. He was at his best when he played psychotic characters. And Scott is here at its best too. Can’t stopping listening to it and discover new things with every spin I know it’s only April but this pièce de résistance is, unquestionably, a contender for album of the year. Let’s fuck.

KEY SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – Linktree – All Waterboys Albums
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Band: THE MOONLANDINGZ
Who: English electro-pop combo started by the Eccentronic Research Council
duo, featuring Adrian Flanegan and Dean Honor back in 2015. Lias Saoudi (Fat
White Family, Decius, author, modern day, philosopher) joined them, as well as
different guests.

Album: NO ROCKET REQUIRED
The follow-up to their top-drawer 2018 debut LP
Interplanetary Class Classics, produced by Sean Lennon.

Press info: “No Rocket Required delivers brassy squawks, motorik convulsions and
sinister soothing vocals from a righteous line-up of guest singers and ranters: Nadine
Shah, Iggy Pop, Jessica Winter and Ewen Bremner. Plus, of course, there’s The Moonlandingz’ own front man, Johnny Rocket aka Lias Saoudi.

What to do, as we potter and fret, as we watch bodies, homes and lives destroyed every day while our elected leaders, so forensic and so sensible, use their weasel words, shrug their coward shoulders and saunter off to raise our bus fares. Dancing of course and togetherness, looking out for each other, and that’s not enough. What kind of fight are we bringing? We will always need to organise, to fight, to collaborate, to connect and to dance dance dance. And that is what The Moonlandingz do.”

TUTV: Where the first album was a 24-hour party affair, this 2nd one is musically a
sonic melting pot of 70s disco (like Sign Of A Man that clearly is inspired by 1978 classic Born To Be Alive by Patrick Hernandez) and 80s house (like Yama Yama) uppers and midnight hour downers (like Roustabout, and the romantic ballad It’s Where I’m From with perfectly matching vocals by the one and only Iggy Pop) that messes with your mind, body and soul.

To make sure that you hit the (dance)floor in the end, Flanegan and Honor knock you
out with the 9-minute hyperkinetic brainbreaker The Knack Drought Suite (Pts 1-3) that hammers your head in relentlessly and gives the last word to film-noir crooner Lias
Saoudi. Lyrically, NRR echoes Twin Peaks‘ unhinged stories from the dark side of the
human psyche. Everybody happy now? I definitely am.

KEY SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – Linktree
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Album artwork

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.”


Press

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 kinds 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.

KEY SINGLE

ALBUM

Instagram – Linktree
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Band: VIAGRA BOYS
Who: Swedish punk-rock dropouts fronted
by the human tattoo Sebastian Murphy.

New album: VIAGR ABOYS
Not their smartest LP title, but
already their 4th one.

Press info: “The LP sees VB turn inwards, leaving the acid-laced, conspiracy-addled societal commentary of previous LP Cave World behind to journey into the acid-laced, conspiracy-addled landscape within. Absurd, intense and surprisingly tender, viagr aboys shuts out the noise to find that the important part of being alive in the big, stupid world is figuring out that the world inside of you that is equally big and stupid.”


Press photography by Fredrik Bengtsson

TUTV: At their core, Viagra Boys still are the mean groove machine we know from
their swirling start. Whether they speed up, slow down, or move somewhere in
between (except for the closing, tender piano ballad), they always have an intense
impact on your body’s movements.

Wordsmith Murphy still keeps on rattling and rap-like rolling non-stop, but the overall
sonic vibe is more varied this time. From catchingly capricious to one-direction punk crazy, to sultry saxy. I’m not sure all the time what Murphy rambles about, but our messed-up times are always in the middle of his bizarre stories. Ultimately, it’s all about love, the only answer to hate. Another great job, boys.

KEY SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – Website
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Artist: NELL SMITH
Who: A highly talented teenage singer-songwriter, who died
in a car crash last October, only 17. Cruel, really cruel.

As a dedicated Flaming Lips fan, she got in contact with the Oklahoma band aged 13,
and after frontman Kevin Coyne found out that Nell has a great voice and musical skills,
they recorded a Nick Cave covers album together, titled Where The Viaduct Looms together in 2021. A once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Full of confidence, Nell Smith started to write songs for herself,f which are now collected on her posthumously released album, named ANXIOUS produced by renowned siblings Jack and Lily Walter.

It displays her artistically, far-reaching potential, with 10 spirited, real-life pop songs.
All beautifully orchestrated tunes. A combination of mixed emotions, reflective reveries and jaunty ruminations, with Smith‘s crystalline voice as the star in the middle. This record is/will be an everlasting memory of a bona fide artist in the making, who was taken from life abruptly, way too soon.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – Spotify