On Repeat

Melancholia At Its Magical Best – ‘ODE TO THE METS’ By THE STROKES

Posted on by JL

13 March 2021

ODE TO THE METS is the closing beauty on the brilliant 2020 longplayer
THE NEW ABNORMAL by New York City darlings THE STROKES. A truly
stupendous ballad that makes the hair in the back of my neck stand up
every single time I heard/hear this phenomenal pearl with a breathtaking
vocal exploit by JULIAN CASABLANCAS.

He started writing the lyrics after the 2016 National League Wild Card Game (baseball)
lost by his favorite team New York Mets. Over the years the title remained unchanged
but is not actually about the baseball team. It’s a reverie you can relate to the way you want yourself.

It’s melancholia at its magical best. I heard Ode To The Mets about a million times
so far and will listen to it about a million times more. It’s one of those rare genial
songs you just can’t get tired of.

The lines of the final part…

“Gone now are the old times
Forgotten, time to hold on the railing
The Rubik’s Cube isn’t solving for us
Old friends, long forgotten
They all wait at the bottom of
The ocean now has swallowed
The only thing that’s left is us
So pardon the silence that you’re hearing
Is turnin’ into a deafening
Painful, shameful roar”

The diamond…

THE STROKES: Facebook

The New Abnormal
in full…

ON REPEAT! Sky-High Soul Powerstroke ‘I FOUND OUT’ By OFFWORLD

Posted on by JL

9 October 2020

Band: OFFWORLD featuring frontman Richard Archer from
British band Hard-Fi and titanic voice Krysten Cummings
Track: I Found Out
Released: June 2020

Read here why Turn Up The Volume has played this sky-high
soul powerstroke about a hundred times, so far…

“The overwhelming Odyssey starts with an ominous groove, Ray Manzarek organ snippets,
and haunting duet vocals. Slowly but surely ‘I Found Out’ grows in spine-chilling tension and rage-filled fervency moving towards a sky-high wall-of-sound finale with a crushing Jimi Hendrix-like guitar solo and a reflective end evoking a ‘why oh why’ tristesse. Krysten Cummings‘s jaw-dropping performance causes goosebumps and leaves you behind, out of breath.”

Get my drift?

Here we go…

OFFWORLD: Facebook

(press promo photo on top via offWorld)

ON REPEAT! The Blasting Motherrocker ‘ULTRA PLUS ULTRA’ By ELEFANT

Posted on by JL

Belgian sound-exploring gunslingers ELEFANT scored big time with their
second album Bejahung. One of the best longplayers of this infected year.

ULTRA PLUS ULTRA is without a shadow of a doubt my favorite motherrocker
on the album. I lost track of how many times this top haymaker tried to crush
my poor speakers. It’s an ongoing motorik-like stomper, a steamy sledgehammer
with a wall-of-bloodthirsty-guitars-and-scary-synths sound. Capice?

Let’s roll…

While you’re here check out their intoxicating live force…

ELEFANT: Facebook


Photo on top: press promo via Elenfant / Live photo by Turn Up The Volume! February 2020)

ON REPEAT! Dancing Manchester Queens PINS With Third LP ‘HOT SLICK’

Posted on by JL

21 September 2020

Finally, after five years the utterly cool feminist Manchester ladies PINS released a new LP called HOT SLICK, last May. Their third full length following the punchy power-pop albums Girls Like Us (2013) and Wild Nights  (2015).

It’s a sizzling party record. A boosting happy-go-funky feast. A no brakes get-together shebang fueled by Saturday Night Fever beats and sensual vibes. A buzzing night-on-the-town soundtrack. An unquestionable contender for Turn Up The Volume‘s album-of-2020.

Keyline: “Lookin’ for some hot stuff baby this evenin’, I need some hot stuff baby tonight, Gotta have some hot slick, Gotta have some love tonight.” – Donna Summer

Key Tracks: Hot Slick / Bad Girls Forever / Ponytail / Ghosting

– HOT SLICK –

– BAD GIRLS FOREVER –

– PONYTAIL –

– GHOSTING –

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HOT SLICK on repeat here…


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PINS: Facebook

ON REPEAT! ‘The Doctrine Of Infinite Kindness’ by THE MIGHTY ORCHID KING

Posted on by JL

‘The Doctrine Of Infinite Kindness’ by THE MIGHTY ORCHID KING (St. Albans, UK)

A bold, existential, bizarro piece of psychedelic work. A sonic visualization of Stanley Kubrick‘s spectacular sci-fi vision ‘2020: A Space Odyssey. Otherworldly, metaphysical, mindboggling and rainbow-colored. Lose yourself in their nature caring stratosphere.

Without a shadow of a doubt a Top Ten album on Turn Up The Volume’s 2020 list!

Stream/buy here…


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THE MIGHTY ORCHID KING: Facebook

Infamous Thrash Rockers ROYAL TRUX Return With Cocksure And Brash New Album ‘WHITE STUFF’…

Posted on by JL

2 March 2019

Finally after 19 years infamous Washington D.C. rockers ROYAL TRUX – duo Jennifer Herrema and former spouse Neil Hagerty – return with a new gloriously trash ‘n’ roll
beast. It was catapulted on the Internet yesterday and I had it on repeat since. All the unleashed tracks that preceded the LP’s release confirmed loud and clear the duo’s new greedy appetite to rattle, rumble, roar, spit and sneer in chaotic duet. The first 2 singles, opener and stomping title track White Stuff and rowdy slam The Year Of The Dog are vintage Trux dirt. Nasty, brash, cocksure and in your face. Perfect shit to start the record!

To catch a bit of breath, turbulent mid-slow broken blues injected grooves Purple Audacity #2 and Suburban Junky Lady (obviously on too much White Stuff) kick in
and move like vicious serpents on a destructive mission. After the funky tumult of
Shoes And Tags comes a surprising rap beat Get Used To It featuring Keith Kool (and already previewed when the pair reunited in 2015). Next up, one of my faves, the greasy Sic Em Slow , followed by the droning Every Day Swan’ (also from the 2015 comeback) and tumultuous wallop Whopper Dave . Barbed wire stroke Purple Audacity #2 has a tumultuous Sonic Youth impact and closer ‘Under Ice‘is pure Royal Trux swagger. I need another couple of spins to discover all crazed hullabaloo details, but one bloody fact is already indisputable. Royal Trux flabbergasted comeback is a stunning achievement. Join me and get intoxicating yourself. Right here, right now…


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ROYAL TRUX: Facebook


Natural born trash ‘n’ roll rockers…

THE DANDY WARHOLS – New Album ‘WHY YOU SO CRAZY’ Out Today!…

Posted on by JL

25 January 2019

Portland’s famous groovers THE DANDY WARHOLS celebrate their 25th birthday as a band this year with their tenth studio album titled WHY YOU SO CRAZY released today. After a couple of spins it’s crystal clear to Turn Up The Volume‘s ears that this is simply one of their best longplayers ever. An eclectic record covering various genres of music’s history executed The Dandys way. From the nostalgic Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers intro to the classical piano closer and lots of psych grooves, catchy country, rockin’ crackers, darkish musings and electro funky beats in between. Different moods, different vibes. The most varied LP they ever produced. Press the button and join me on a sonic chameleon ride…

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THE DANDY WARHOLS: Website – Facebook –  Twitter – Instagram

DANDY

(pic: Turn Up The Volume!)

MODERATE REBELS Share Political Mantras On Brand New Spellbinding Album ‘SHARED VALUES’ …

Posted on by JL

When we can’t get enough of it…

1 December 2018

Almost one year ago Turn Up The Volume! had the debut album by London‘s psych-pop-art collective MODERATE REBELS on repeat. The Sound Of Security revelead an enigmatic project of various, yet unidentified musicians calling themselves anti-music. Their firstborn was/is an astonishing work of magnetic grimness that stood out because of its simple, yet crystal clear approach in sound and content. An ongoing indictment against the way of Brexit live as experienced by rebels watching from the side how things go terribly wrong.

“We’re trying to create conditions where the songs could write themselves
with minimum resistance, an automatic writing situation. We say it all the time,
but it’s important to note – we don’t intend anything. We don’t feel like ‘artists’
with grand statements to make.”.

After listening, several times the past few days, to the brand new, follow-up longplayer SHARED VALUES I hear a band inspired by a similar stirring spirit and similar bitter tone
as last year (what would you expect with Theresa May and her conservative, divided herd still in charge and fighting with Europe as if The British Empire is still alive and hitting), but this time the aural framework, in which our despairing rebels embed all their anxious anti-Brexit observations and related worries (‘who will save me from my government?‘ as the key question), resonates firmer, stronger, fuller and more euphonious as if this album was actually canned in a recording studio instead of a recording bedroom. All instruments and all voices are really tight now. They have become harmonious partners in crime in order to reinforce the spellbinding catchiness of their fresh mesmeric mantras. Oh yes, Moderate Rebels‘ sonic phraseology still is about the addictive power of repetition, about moving in dazzling circles, about psyching in repetitive grooves, about fulminating against narcissistic politicians who share a totally different kind of values. From the rollicking boogie-woogie rippers (The Value Of Shares / Faith & Science / I Love Today / Beyond Hidden Words / Eye In The Sky) to some calmer reflections (the folky ‘Stranded In Brazil’ and ‘Facade‘), from the angry ‘You Want A Fight’ to the DIY answer to the key question in ‘How To Save Myself’.

Join the fascinating crusade right here…


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MODERATE REBELS: Twitter – Instagram


DIY rebels…


Post-Brexit…