Who: Acclaimed psych rock outfit fronted by Rishi Dhir,
songwriter and sitarist who has spent twenty years
blurring the lines between Western psych-pop and Indian classical.
Band: RADIO FREE ALICE Who: Post-punk, art-punk, and new-wave rockers from down
under with an energetic, operatic swagger reminiscent of 1980s
bands. So far they have released 3 EPs.
“The band have always spoken with conviction and passion about real issues, especially the mental health crisis that exists in Ireland. The new single addresses this explicitly and candidly; both in the self-awareness that being sober is simultaneously critical but can also feel like no craic, and in the haunting spoken word sections which close out the track.”
TUTV: Join the rackety, ear-piercing and rumbustious pandemonium of Slyrydes and get rid of your dire demons. Primal scream therapy to free messed-up mind. One is not enough. Kneecap goes punk, people. Say no more.
Press info: “The song turns the spotlight toward one of Doghouse Rose‘s greatest strengths: songwriting. Packed with towering harmonies, razor-sharp hooks, and
enough power-pop charm to make Tsar, The Muffs, and No Doubt proud.”
TUTV: Full blast forward from square one. It Gets Worse fires on all riff-charging cylinders. Vivid vocals lead the compulsive troops who’re bucked up by about a hundred guitars and a choleric drummer.
Think Blink-182 fronted by supercool rock chick Avril Lavigne. And when the
terrifically catchy chorus comes on like a comet without brakes, it’s all getting
better.
Band: STARS & THE UNDERGROUND Who: New Zealand-based post punk outfit with dark synthwave
and shoegaze sound that drifts like cathedral smoke and sways
like twilight on the tide.
Track: ECHOLOCATION
New single from their upcoming LP
titled ‘Guardians of the Night’.
TUTV: A barrage of psych-o-tic guitars spearhead this shoegazy fuze.
Dusky vocals at the front, hallucinatory vocals in the back. It all leads
towards a minacious experience. Spine-chilling and petrifying.
Band: THE NUV Who: Noisemakers from Italy who have
uninhibited thoughts at the third pint of beer.
Track: I AM ALL
Piece from their upcoming new album. Out later in the year.
“Let’s free ourselves from the burden of mistakes, let’s recover our memory and
our sense of friendship. No more civil wars. We desire simplicity and truth.”
TUTV: This unwavering bass/drum propelled head-spinner gets under your skin without asking. The hoarsely off-center vocals cause goosebumps. And the catchy and wacking great chorus bounces on repeat on your inner stereo for the rest of the day. This avid anthem will set your mind and your ears free.
Peter Zaremba (frontman): “It’s about ‘wet-blankets’ in situations
where people should be enjoying life. Basically a positive message
behind the snarky tone. Have some fun. And Goa was great.”
TUTV: Expect a sassy slice of heavy-duty knock-out rock ‘n’ garage roll.
These vivid vets still know all the revved-up tricks to set your speakers
on fire. Absobloodylutely!
“The song dives deep into the silent desperation of searching for meaning in a life that feels painfully empty. Suspended between illusion and reality, the track captures the urge to transform the ordinary into something extraordinary, even at the cost of losing yourself in the process.”
TUTV: Void Queen don’t waste time. From the blastoff, guitars push the decibels way up,
the drummer’s arms/hands get activated, and the vocalist throws some fervent fervidness in the mix. It all leads to a banging punk ‘n’ roll belter you can get out of your mind to. Oh my, oh my. What a powerstroke. Bang-on.
TUTV: Stevie Nicks? Whatever. This Boston hit team strikes again with a riff-flaming
powerhouse uppercut with vitriolic guitars all over the place. Add walloping drums
and barbed vocals, and you’ll go frantically crackers. Helter skelter.
The song tells a story of two outsiders with completely different upbringings
who crossed paths and could only find a sense of normality in each other’s
company.
Cutler: “This is the start of a new beginning for me, with day to day life becoming
more and more demanding music becomes more and more of an escape from it.
It felt like the perfect song to return to the process of releasing solo music again.
It’s true to myself and most importantly recorded for my own sense of enjoyment,
not to please everyone because that’s impossible.”
TUV: The fullhearted combination of high-octane vocals, galvanizing guitar play, and an overall mounting orchestration turn this mighty piece into a high-spirited power ballad. Arresting and absorbing. Cutler‘s new beginning is a welcome blessing for our ears.
Artist: DANI BLOND Who: Alluring Canadian songstress.
Blond: “The meaning behind “Human” is deeply personal. I’ve written a couple songs
about the suicide of my brother, but this one was more about the intensity I can feel,
or how I imagine others feel when experiencing or witnessing something unimaginable
in their lives.
So many tragedies are experienced in this world.
I wanted to touch on that feeling through the verses.”
Single artwork
TUTV: The grief-stricken aftermath of Blond‘s tragic loss of her beloved brother inspires her to process the impact through this heart-and-soul touching beauty. Her sky-scraping voice stars throughout.
Suddenly, after a couple of listens, the burning intensity of Rag ‘n’ Bone Man‘s gigantic
hit Human crossed my mind. Fact. Again, we experience the healing force of music.
Another batch of 5 new, stellar tracks has
been added to Turn Up The Volume’s Jukebox.
Turn it up.
ALL TOGETHER
. TRACK BY TRACK
Band: ELEPHANT STONE Who: Acclaimed psych outfit fronted by Rishi Dhir, a songwriter and sitarist who
has spent twenty years blurring the lines between Western psych-pop and Indian
classical.
The 2nd preview, following Everything Evil from their
new LP, baptized Asha, out August 26th. More info here.
The song confronts the global rise of fascism with the unflinching authority of history.
The official video repurposes footage from One Got Fat, a 1963 public domain film
whose unsettling imagery of masked children proves a disturbingly fitting backdrop.
TUTV: This psychedelia-drenched, sitar-spicy groover, wouldn’t be out of place on Doomsday‘s soundtrack. The far-right rules again as it did in the last century’s 40s, but
the world survived, and as long as bands like this keep on challenging the fascists with fiery rockin’ and rollin’ force, I’m sure we’ll survive once again.
Artist: ATOM LUX Who: Solo project of Lucio Filizola, Italian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Lucio Filizola. After early experiences with piano and clarinet, Filizola discovered rock ’n’ roll and shifted toward guitar, beginning a long exploration through progressive, psychedelic and alternative rock territories.
TUTV: Imagine Deep Purple and Black Sabbath have some mindblowing loud fun together, then this psych-infused speedball could well be the outcome. Riff-raging razmataz all the way trough, electrified with spaced-out vocals. Check your speakers before you let them get attacked with this jumbo jackhammer.
Band: CHARMING ARSON Who: Boston-based alt-rock power-pop quartet that wants to excite your imagination and feed your mind. Soaring guitar licks and expressionist lyrics are the yin and yang in their songwriting alchemy. The song as story, the story as song.
David Cameron (lead vocals, rhythm guitar): “While this song clearly has themes
of desiring something utterly elusive, some of the lyrics are there simply because they’re
fun to sing. Meaning-wise, I’m not going to pretend it’s anything more than lyrical excess.”
TUTV: Trad Americana rock galvanism and orthodox 6-string riffs provoke stoked-up zeal and kick-ass perkiness that triggers air-guitar fun and head-spinning movements. It’s only rock and roll, but the walloping way it’s served here, we will like it forever.
The song is a harmony-drenched spiral through romance, denial and emotional
collapse. It’s the beginning of an upcoming, summer-long debut EP campaign.
TUTV: From the kick-off Aurelia take you on a high-speed, riff-reverberating trip
and satisfies your eardrums with vitalizing harmonies. Angelina is an overwhelming,
mixed-emotions, knockout that floors you after one spin. Overmastering score.
Artist: MÉLIA MARTIN Who: 19-year-old musician from Chelsea, Québec. She’s classically trained in flute .
She also plays multiple instruments and draws inspiration from a wide range of styles, from indie-folk to electronic music.
“We all know once doesn’t mean forever, but then why do the things that last the shortest often stay with us the longest? This song is a reminder that something doesn’t have to last forever to be worth living.”
TUTV: This light-hearted, life-embracing musing induces romantic daydreaming and
easy-going relaxation. Martin‘s sensuous vocals fit this summery tune perfectly well.
Endearing singer-songwriter quality for carefree moments.
TUTV: This high-voltage haymaker detonates every time the raucous chorus kicks in and aims at your teeth. Neurotic guitars, hectic drum/bass fervency, and a singer who tests your eardrums’ flexibility combine for a jagged juggernaut that will alert the anti-decibel police.
Jeremy Gaudet (songwriter): “I‘d been trying to write a song about
the Detroit-Windsor border for a couple of years, American kids crossing
the bridge to the Canadian bars because the drinking age is two years
lower.”
TUTV: This is summer fun, this is sonic adrenaline, this works faster than
a high-energy drink. Think early B-52’s organ days. Jump along, sway along,
and clap along.
Artist: pMAD Who: Moniker of Irish musician Paul Dillon, who developed a unique sound
that traverses genres from Darkwave Post-Punk to Trash Metal Indie Rock.
The song reflects on time, uncertainty, and the moments
that shape us while still searching for hope through the noise.
TUTV: pMAD has a knack for writing excitatory tunes that make
you move and groove spontaneously. NineFortyNine is no exception.
Embedded in a dark-Gothic-wave orchestration, its drive sticks instantly.
Band: THE BERNADETTE MARIES Who: Trio from Brussels, established in 2024. Their sound merges post-punk energy, shoegaze’s dreamy textures, and indie rock hooks. TBM’s music is about love and existentialism, melancholy & meaning of our lives in a world that is slowly falling apart.
Track: MISSING BERNADETTE
Newest single from their first album, named Soft, set to be released September 18th.
TUTV: Shoegazy slacker electricity to lose your mind in and start daydreaming
on the spot. Layers of distorted guitars, yearning vocals, and a poppy melody
turn Missing Bernadette into a top-tier achievement.
Band: THE MOUNTAIN GOATS Who: Californian veteran rockers THE MOUNTAIN GOATS, conducted
by singer/songwriter/musical mastermind and only original member John Darnielle have been playing around for more than 3 decades.
Track: SHALLOW GRAVE
Piece from their 24th LP, named Days. Available August 7th.
Vincent: “My musicianship is quite untrained, and I didn’t even realise I was writing it in 6/8 time. That’s the kind of stuff that’s been allowed to shine on this record, because it’s a full band and Sam’s jazz background helps those moments to work.”
TUTV: Ardency embraced by a slowly advancing devotion, sonically,
vocally, and lyrically. Big Truck are riding in the right direction.
Artist: VIOLET GROHL Who: The 20-year-old daughter
of Foo Fighters’ frontman.
Track: OFTEN OTHERS
Knockout belter from her debut full-length Be Sweet To Me.
She co-wrote all songs, mostly with the LP’s producers Anthony
Paul Lopez and Justin Raisen.
Mojo about the album: “She marr[ies] the etheral swoon of dream-pop with
the crunch of grunge, creating a fusion that evokes the off-kilter spirit of the ’90s.”
TUTV: Violet rocks with more supersized zing and determination than a bunch of today’s muscular groups. Hopefully, she will not be cited ‘like father, like daughter‘ all the time. Yes, there are Foo Fighters echoes, but in the end, it’s Violet‘s own, top-scoring debut opus.
Band: HARD-FI Who: English pop/rock veterans, who scored three successful albums
between 2003 and 2014. Then they called it a day but returned in 2022
for some live action and now new music.
Track: DIGO NADA Spanish for ‘I Say Nothing’. Newest single from their upcoming first album
in 15 years. It’s named Sweating Someone’s Fever. It’s out June 19th.
New album artwork
Richard Archer:“My wife’s from Central America and I got into Cumbia music
because of Joe Strummer, then going out to El Salvador with her and hearing more
tunes and getting into stuff like Manu Chao – I liked it and it felt quite punk rock.”
TUTV: This smells like summer, like piña colada.
Latin vibes. Hard-Fi surprise. You’ll love it, like I do.
Band: TAXI GIRLS Who: Outspoken Canadian punk daredevils from Montreal formed in 2022.
They produce a sharp mix of blown-out guitars, dual-vocal tension, and hook-heavy urgency, for fans of The Distillers, Amyl and the Sniffers, The Donnas, Bikini Kill, and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts.
Track: SECRET HANDSHAKE
Their 2nd single from upcoming debut full-length called Static, out on June 26th. Tracklist and order info here
“The song is written from a place of love and longing, the song captures the feeling
of wanting a summer fling to last a bit longer than the fading season. Even when
summer is over, you’ll always have your secret handshake.”
TUTV: Full steam forward from the get-go with avid harmonies, and pepped up by greedy guitars, and rushing drum/bass buzz. These Amazons know how to get your head-spinning 360°. They don’t slow down one second on this racing riff-ripper.
Artist: AMY BELL Who: English songstress who started writing at 14 and playing live at 17,
is inspired by big names such as Billy Bragg, John Cooper Clark, Badly Drawn
Boy, PJ Harvey and Nirvana.
Track: MILLHOUSE.
A song that touches on themes that a lot of people my age struggle with.
Highlight from her brand new, 2nd EP, called Want Me.
TUTV: With the first seconds kicking in, I thought a country song was about to evolve.
A solid cool one that is. From there on Millhouse progresses in a lazy Courtney Barnett groove modus, evoking swaying body moves while Amy Bell‘s laid-back slacker vocals
glide over it. It’s a funky tune that sticks promptly in your head.
The lyrics operate through images and statements rather than narrative, “you know what I know”, “fight the real enemy”, “what goes around keeps turning”.
When the full chorus finally comes – “who wants it, who wants it” – it feels
both inevitable and earned.
The song earns every section. Nothing overstays, nothing is wasted. The middle eight
shifts the track’s center of gravity before the final chorus brings everything back, fuller.
TUTV: Hypnotic is gingered up by shiny synth-waves, some rollin’ bass force and its melodic verve. Gutsy vocals inject this strong steamroller with intense impetuosity. Indie punk rock ‘n’ roll for your itchy ears and hankering mind. Magnetic stuff.
Another batch of 5 new, stellar tracks have
been added to Turn Up The Volume’s Jukebox.
Turn it up.
ALL TOGETHER
. TRACK BY TRACK
Band: VEDA RAYS Who: Indie duo from Philly, making ethereal indie rock rooted in dream pop, post-punk, and traditional shoegaze, with lyrics that explore liminality and abstraction, channeling subconscious impulses into the present moment.
Track: TRUE AGENCY
It’s the first chapter in a song
cycle years in the making.
The songs are rooted in liminality and abstraction, the songs channel subconscious impulses into the present moment, where past and future blur and meaning remains
in flux.
TUTV: Guitar dream pop at its feverish and jangly finest. True Agency sticks after just one spin. It’s pick-me-up drive and infectious euphony causes elation, yet lyrically the tone is somewhat darker. A triumphant return to the scene for the Philly tandem.
TUTV: Vampire Queen is a double-edged crackerjack. Partly a glam-rock stomper,
partly a high-octane missile. The two parts assembled combine for a super-duper rollercoaster that goes back and forth. Striking stroke.
Track: A HARD LESSON
Newest piece from his 11th LP o\i.
Release date TBA.
Gabriel: “This is the oldest track of the project. It probably started in the late 80s
or early 90s when I was in Senegal. I was falling in love with the music I heard there.
I loved the tension created by the use of polyrhythms, particularly the threes and
fours, so that was the start of this song”.
TUTV: Gabriel sticks to trippy beats
and trancy vibrations. And it works
damn well.
TUTV: Vicious blues-rock riffs and sinewy sneers open up the debates, followed by a
dreamy introspection flash, turning in a few seconds into a wall-of-agressive electricty. Swing moods mess with your head, but if you bang it against a wall, all demons will be crushed. Just do it.
Artist: KRISTIN HERSH Who: Singer-songwriter luminary (now 59), best known for her band Throwing Muses and, to a lesser extent 50 Foot Wave. And she has
11 solo albums on her résumé.
It’s the lead single of her new, upcoming LP,
titled Sugar On Blackstone. Out August 18th.
Tracklist here.
Hersh: “He was a ‘Dark Eyed Junco’ and I was a light-eyed weirdo. We’d play basketball until after dark then, when we couldn’t even see the hoop anymore, so that we didn’t have to go home. After our stepfather moved in, it wasn’t a home anymore.”
TUTV: A feverish torch song spiced with Hersh‘s ever-transfixing vocality.
Another batch of 5 new, stellar tracks have
been added to Turn Up The Volume’s Jukebox.
Turn it up.
ALL TOGETHER
. TRACK BY TRACK
Artist: LIDO PIMIENTA Who: Columbia-born songstress based in Toronto, Canada.
As much as she is an iconoclast, Pimienta is a healer who
has expanded sonically since 2010.
Track: TOXICA
Piece from her forthcoming 4th LP,
titled Caribenya. Out on July 17th.
More info here.
Album artwork
TUTV: Hurray! Summer is here (almost). This is the kind of titillating tunes that boost
your state of mind. Tóxica‘s hip-swinging swagger, triggered by exotic African beats, and her high-spirited voice create a beach party atmosphere, although lyrically the song is
less positive, drawing attention to toxic relationships.
Artists: LUNAR TWIN Who: A dark, cinematic dream-wave duo, based between Hawai, Los Angeles
and Salt Lake City, blending dreamy soundscapes with soulful, nostalgic energy.
“It’s a story as old as the earth and it’s also a story of this very moment.
It’s about searching alone through the darkness, crossing a desert of
the soul.”
TUTV: Expect a synth ear-massage incited by trance-like
trip-hop vibes and dream-stimulating impulses.
Track: THE ENDLESS BORDER
First single from their sophomore LP,
out later in the year.
TUTV: Moody music for glowing sunsets, heartened by a steady-going rhythm section and mellow vocals, while glistening guitar sparks enliven this dreamy pop tune with its Western feel.
Another batch of 5 new, stellar tracks have
been added to Turn Up The Volume’s Jukebox.
Turn it up.
ALL TOGETHER
. TRACK BY TRACK
Photo by Luke Bovill
Artists: ARAB STRAP Who: Trippy Scottish electro-pop vets, Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton (1995–2006, 2011, 2016–present).
Track: YOU YOU YOU
First single from their new full-length Half-Told Tales,
their 9th, out on September 4th. Tracklist here.
AS: “A disco-metal sound and lyrics that explore
overcoming troubles and tumultuous times”.
TUTV: Trip Trip Trip! Hip Hip Hip!
“I’ve got a portly paunch I just can’t shift/I feel undesired, dismissed, adrift/
My get-up-and-go is long gone/ and the days keep dragging on/ But I’ve got
you, you, you,.”
Band: GETDOWN SERVICES Who: Wacky and ironic disco-rap-punk duo from Bristol, UK
who made an instant impression in their home country with
their festive 2023 debut LP Crisps, followed by a couple of EPs.
“This song is really about friendship and betrayal, getting stuck in a dynamic and letting things fester. It’s about pain and confusion — no one trains you for the ups and downs of a friendship between two women — but it’s also about a love so enduring that you find compassion no matter what.”
“It’s a song that feels hopeless on its first listen, but if you look at it more deeply it’s a call to action, no one is going to rise up if everyone expects someone else to do it. We all have to do our part in creating the change.”
TUTV: Bedazzling post-punk corker. Infectiously nerve-racking.
These Irishmen continue their indie-supertop quest. You bet.
