After spell-binding album Darkness Rains, their third album released two years
Los Angeles garage rock devils DEATH VALLEY GIRLS return from their graves
to record new longplayer UNDER THE SPELL OF JOY.
The band’s wonderful prima donna Bonnie Bloomgarden revealed details
about the new LP, besides the fact that it was inspired Ethiopian funk, in a
statement: “‘Under the Spell of Joy’ is a space-gospel record. We believe we served
as channels for what we think are guides. As we learn what the songs are about we
realize they are meant to be sang like chants, hymns, or spells. Most of the songs
were recorded with 12 voices, including a kids choir! We are learning that words with
intention and energy hold so much power, especially when said or sang with a group.”
Lead-single THE UNIVERSE “is a song to sing, a space to be, a time to think, remember,
and truly feel that not only are we all connected, but we are also being guided.”.
The grandly organ orchestrated and sax-stirring sound tells me that this far-out reflection is about the Death Valley Girls own universe. A still uncovered place in rock space where nothing is what it looks like or resonates like, where the band secretly prepares future actions for their ultimate goal: world domination. Yes, THEY are the vampire loving superhumans who actually guide us, the unsuspecting eartborns. Trust me, their next sonic move will disclose more about their master plan.
Let’s go back today to 2016, to my favorite DEATH VALLEY GIRLS album ‘GLOW IN THE DARK‘. A boiling record with blazing rock bangers such as Death Valley Boogie, Disco, and I’m A Man Too. Never a dull moment with utterly cool front lady Bonnie Bloomgarden and her turbulent gang who combine The Stooges‘ raw power, The Cramps‘ rockabilly lunacy, and Black Sabbath‘s metallic insanity while injecting the whole hullabaloo with a voodoo-ish sense of humor. Rollicking electricity is what you get, going berserk is what you should do. Right here, right now…
Time again for another series of Turn Up The Volume‘s
yearly hot summer playlists. A mix of new and old tunes.
A mix of adrenalin-infused dance bangers and some
feel good musings to close the party.
Clamorous frontman Alex Edkins of Canadian noise engine Metz and Graham Walsh, keyboardist of dance punks Holy Fuck, got together for a project of their own, named, Noble Rot. They have their debut ‘Heavenly Bodies, Repetition, Control.‘ out next month.
They just dropped first single Casting No Light. A motorik Krautrock-like mindfucker that circles around like forever, pushed by a pumping synth/drum/guitar riff-boom-beat that grows in hypnotic intensity along the way. Fucktastic!
This Scottish dance-funk-punk trio is on an unstoppable roll. Their new, 3rd LP Heavy Heavy is a total triumph (Turn Up The Volume‘s Album of the Month) and their swirling concert in Antwerp (Belgium) blew the roof off the building.
One of the standout tracks on the album isDrum.
A flamboyant, head-over-heels stormer.
The Belgian Gods released their new longplayer How To Replace It?,
their first in 10 years, a couple of weeks ago.
The title song is a phenomenal piece. A mid-tempo stunner, driven by big
drums and frontman Tom Barman‘s bewitching vocality. It advances with
swelling orchestration toward the grand symphonic climax.
The amazing Los Angeles Amazons delivered their
best album (so far) Islands In The Sky only last Friday.
The title track is a blissful guitar-pop earworm that sticks from the get-go
with Bonnie Bloomgarden‘s spell-binding vocals inviting you to her island of joy.
I’m on my way. Join me.
You’re in charge of your perception of your life
You can choose what you keep
And what you leave behind
This Seattle-based Cyberpunk duo – Wesley and Jewels Foster – nailed it with this arousing mid-tempo, electro-drum-beat-driven knockout from their upcoming full length World’s End. It’s sexy, catchy, trippy, and makes your blood pumping through your heart.
Newest single Scatterbrain is a riff-roaring rocker that grows on your ears
with every spin. It has a moody, shoegazy resonance annex reflective vocals.
Striking stroke. Bring on the album.
This fresh high-energetic trio features members from Shudder To Think, Guided By Voices and The Dambuilders.
Their self-titled debut LP will see the day of light on 17 March.
What If? is a freaked-out, riff-drunk sucker punch that could
easily come from a Hüsker Dü LP. Herky-jerky electricity with
a steamrollin’ sticky chorus. Wowzers.
This dark-Goth-wave duo from the City of Angels look like vampires,
they sound like vampires and they fabricate vampirish stuff.
The torrid tandem unleash their
new album KRYPT on 28 April.
Ahead of the release, to get us in the right make-up mood, they hit us
with first single I Expire. A punked-up electro uppercut to set batcaves
on fire with. One listen and the brisk beats will haunt you all day long.
In the accompanying video, Male Tears get straight in
your scared face and suck you into their wicked world.
His new song is a groovy love-drunk gem featuring the sensuous voice
of his ex-partner. It gets under your skin from the kick-off. Two spins and
you’re hooked.
NECRØ is the latest project of Portuguese musician João Vairinhos
featuring idiosyncratic singer and keyboard player Sara Inglês,.
The title track of their 6-track EPDeath Beats
is Turn Up The Volume‘s favorite.
A dark-techno-wave rumbling that stomps and whomps with intense
impetus doing your head in from the get-go. Doomed beats for twilight parties.
The tenebrous vibe at play here sends shivers down your spine, while Sara Inglês‘s
ghostly wailing is reminiscent of shadowy Siouxsie Sioux moments.
This Charlotte-based collective seduced my sensitive ears with the title track of
their 3-track EP What A Day. The harbinger for upcoming 7th LP ‘Haunted Organic Machines’.
Feel-good tunes like these are always welcome on my headphones. What A Day is
a breezy synth-scintillating vibration that triggers sensual body moves. Its featherlight tonality causes a dreamy state of mind with trancy tinglings. And when that sweet flute came on, I swear, I saw a Spring bird flutter in the blue sky.
I’ll be a pretty special one as the pair wrote a collection of bilingual duets, with both of them singing in English and Spanish and explore a variety of European music cultures. First single Lonely Town is a sweet, little pop ditty. You can sing/hum/whistle along.
17. ‘I Remember What You Said’ by Artist: DYAN VALDÉS (Cuban-American)
(Photo credit: Petra Valdimardottir)
This Cuban-American singer-songwriter, living in Berlin, played/plays
in several bands and works as a solo artist too and has now a new single
out, named I Remember What You Said.
It follows her last year’s excellent debut album Stand.
The pretty poppy song is about a nightmarish memory of a poisonous
relationship. With its agitated words-flowing drive it feels like Valdés
wants to wash away all the BS and move on. Mission accomplished.
Summit Of The Big Low is the moniker of British musician Toby Uffindell-Phillips,
who was a member of the early 00s folktronica group Sound Sanctuary.
This new piece, from his self-titled album out on 19 May, is an affecting folk-pop reverie that streams as a brisk brook. Sparkling, crystal clear, and glimmering in the sun. Its wistful tone, smooth vocals, and frisky finger-picking guitar play combine for a sweet little pearl.
This 4-piece from Nashville produces a mix of metal, opera & 80’s rock.
Their new single Prisoner is about being captured and trapped by someone’s love.
It’s a mid-tempo power ballad that slowly but surely infiltrates your ears with its
anthemic dynamics, impassioned vocals, and weeping guitars.
This musical project started in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2014 and presents a soundscape based on electronic backgrounds and a more classic rock instrumentation blended with mellotrons, vibraphone, santur, harmonium and other alluring sounding instruments. In short, atmospheric psychedelic darkness with occult undertones.
Five new firecrackers to bang-up your favorite 48 hours…
‘Under The Spell Of Joy’ by DEATH VALLEY GIRLS (Los Angeles)
I just love this!! Big choir, booming beats, far-out sax, titanic tune, crazy finale. Surprise, surprise. It’s Death Valley Girls. Yes, the coolest graveyard garage rock band on the planet used to put a nightmarish spell on you, not one of joy. Listen up, you’ll love this too! FUN!
‘Moment In The Sun’ by SUNFLOWER BEAN
The NYC darlings return with a perfect piece of passionate pop. By far the best thing
they ever put on record, to my ears. Funky, sparkling, and sickly sticky. A 24-Karat hit!
‘7 Seconds’ by PORRIDGE RADIO (Brigthon,UK)
Earlier this year this amazing Dana Margolin fronted band released their contender-for-best-album-of-the-year tour de force Every Bad and they shine again on this brand new catchy stunner.
‘Get Famous’ by THE MOUNTAIN GOATS (North Carolina, US)
This steamy horns driven stroke compresses the Mountain Goats’ fervor into
a backhanded benediction, a three-minute pop entreaty to reach for the stars.
Their new album ‘Getting Into Knives‘ arrives 23rd October via Merge Records.
No fillers, the 160 killers of the
past 2 months all together.
Shake and swing, twist and twirl, move and groove…
.
With… Underworld/Iggy Pop, The Liminanas/Anton Newcombe, A Certain Ratio, Millionaire, Death Valley Girls, Partefacts, Bugeye/Feral Five, The Human League, Warmduscher, Crystal Castles, Rich Girls, Porridge Radio, deux furieuses, Black Needle Noise, Chemtrails, Night Haze, The Chronicles of Manimal and Samara, Joe Cocker, John Cooper Clarke
The Kills, Patti Smith, Placebo, Golden Earring, Broke Bldgs, Pins, The Moods, Sleigh Bells, Leftfield, The Chemical Brothers, Sinead O’Connor, The Honeyrunners, Stay Lunar, Girlboy J, Wilder., Devan, Black Grape, International Teachers Of Pop, Peaches, Sleater-Kinney, dEUS,
Death Valley Girls, Parquet Courts, The Charlatans, Vampire Weekend, Autogramm, Jenny, Headshrinkers, Timothy and the Apocalypse, Peaches, Pink Diamond Revue, T.C. Matic, U2, Caroline Rose, Girl K, Mechanimal, Thrillhouse, The Waterboys, Dropkick Murphys, Kill Chicago, Robert Plant, Kings Of Leon, Internet Friends, The Peach Fuzz, Keith Richards, Wolf Alice, Temples, Lucy Dacus, The Dandy Warhols, Partefacts, Where We Sleep, Gareth Sager, Pesh, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elefant, Saving Jackie, The Bankrobber, Trickshooter Social Club, The Parrots, Tricky, M. Exen, LCD Soundsystem, Suicide, Alan Vega,
Hey Colossus, Ramkot, Public Enemy, Yard Act, The Irrational Library, Tom Morello & Pussy Riot, Hideaways & Tiny Dyno, Texas & Wu-Tang Clan, La Jungle, The Horrors, Sleaford Mods & Amy Taylor, Bilie Eilish, Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul, Attawalpa, I The Mountain, Bleachers feat. Springsteen, The Fun Lovin’ Criminals Leftfield feat. Roots Manuva, The Chemical Brothers, Tiny Magic Pets, Tone-Loc, Paul Weller, The Prodigy, The B-52’s, Gruppo Sportivo, Todd Rundgren and Sparks, The FlaviansCurses, Massive Attack, Cypress Hill, Misled Convoy/Kat Five, Unruly Girls, Twist Helix, 9 O’Clock Nasty, Plastic Sun, Ghostlawans
After a series of stormy singles Berlin-based, turbulent trio LOBSTERBOMB released
their debut LP, titled LOOK OUT. A manic mixture of left/right punk uppercuts, garage
rock swagger, and riot grrl dynamics, stoked up by roaring riffs, a frenetic bass/drum tandem and high-pitched vocals, think of Poly Sterene, Kathleen Hanna or Bonnie
Bloomgarden. All ingredients you need for a bonkers moshpit.
If you never heard of them read on as loud and clear vocalist/guitarist Crayon Jones
will tell us more about the band and their debut longplayer. But as usual, we start an interview with a slice of music. Open your ears and eyes for one of the album’s top cuts.
When and how did LOBSTERBOMB got together?
“We met via the instagram page ‘We formed a band’ which was run by the band Gurr.
It was a page where you can post handwritten notes looking for people to play with.
Once we connected we had a few practices together and then the pandemic hit.
So it took a while before we could really get going but we were
all super motivated to make some music and play some shows.”
What’s the story behind the band’s name?
“We can’t say exactly what it is, but we can
confirm it has nothing to do with the B-52s.”
Which track would you play to the people who never heard of you?
“What About Never is our most recent single and it gives a pretty good idea
of what we are about. Lots of energy, personal lyrics and fun visuals.”
Your debut album is out. It’s titled LOOK OUT.
Who or what have we to look out for?
“It is both ‘Look Out, we are here!’ and also about our lyrics, which are quite
observational. We look out onto the world around us and write songs about
what we see and feel.”
How does it feel to have your first album on vinyl?
“It was definitely a little magical to listen to the test pressing
on vinyl for the first time.”
The LP’s image shows the band at its glamorous best. Do you want to express something about the band or your personal yourselves with your flamboyant
looks?
“There is no overall concept of our image, but we are all visually oriented people and find it fun to dress up. We each bring our own style rather than having a defined band uniform.”
Were all three of you involved in the writing/recording process?.
“Usually one of us will make a basic demo with the bones of the song,
but it doesn’t really develop into a full song until we play it together
and we all add something to it.”
Are all songs are in some way connected or do they all stand on their own?
“We wrote these songs over a long period of time so certain songs reflect different
times in our development as a band. For example No No No and Hitting The Wall are
among our oldest songs and have quite a raw and rocky feel, compared to What About Never, Gravitation or Dragonfly that are a bit more post-punky and have extra elements
like synths added.”
. Were you listening to other music while writing the album?
“We all have a diverse taste in music. The playlists we listen to when driving
to shows are always a chaotic mix ranging from psychedelic to punk to pop.”
The album sounds as if it was recorded live
giving it a genuine raw/rough edge. Was it?
“We recorded it ourselves in our rehearsal room in Neukölln, rather than a fancy studio which is perhaps why it has a rawness to the sound, but we recorded each instrument separately rather than recording live.”
GRAVITATION is one of my fav tracks. What is
the song about and where was the video shot?
“It is about a moment when the universe seems to take control and connect you with another person. We shot the video with Unlost Films at Velodrom and CheckpointBravo in Berlin. We wanted locations that matched the 80s post punk vibe of the song that had some elements of brutalism and decay.”
What’s a LOBSTERBOMB gig like?
“We always try to make every show feel special and we love to connect with the audience. We want people to have fun, as it makes it even more enjoyable for us when the crowd is making noise and dancing.”
Which band would you love to tour with and why?
“We were already lucky to play with a lot of very cool bands such as Death Valley Girls, Pabst, Itchy and Laura Lee & the Jettes. A dream would be to play with Kathleen Hanna whether its with Bikini Kill or Le Tigre, we aren’t fussy!”
Suppose the album would be the soundtrack
for a movie, which want would it be?
“The Barbie movie as it would have made the whole marketing
the album thing so much easier. We have plenty of pink outfits
in our closets already.”
What’s the band ultimate goal
“We just want to write songs, play shows and meet nice people really! That’s why we formed a band so we try to keep that in mind whenever the ‘work’ aspect of being in a band gets too much.”
Thank you for this interview, Crayon.
May the road rise with Lobsterbomb.
A stream of rattling rippers, jagged jams, and magnific musings
All 20 on Spotify
. Track by Track
Stoogefather IGGY POP still wants to be your dog.
Next January he launches a new album, named Every Loser.
First lead single FRENZY is a motherfucker of a punk bomb
featuring an all-star band including Watt, Guns N’ Roses‘ Duff
McKagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith.
I’m in a frenzy
Fucking prick
I’m in a frenzy
Goddamn dick
But they’re not done yet this year. They teamed up with Laurie Vincent
of London‘s punk duo Slaves for a brand new hammer blow called THE DELICATE NATURE
It goes like this…
BOB VYLAN: Facebook – Instagram
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Both a gloomy and foot-tapping drum/bass are the backbone of this ominous post-punk stroke. Haunting guitar layers inject this jaw-dropper with edgy electricity, grim vocals add a kind of dark tension, while the sickly catchy groove rattles on and on, before a surprising finish with a weeping violin.
The video features the English comedian Sean Walsh in a much darker tone than his usual TV appearances, as he is seen battling his inner demons through the bottom of a whisky bottle.
DEAD PATRONS: Facebook
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Band: ULTRA SUNN Who: Cold/darkwave duo – Sam Huge
and Gaelle Souflet – from Brussels
Turn Up The Volume: Can you believe this? Even before the music comes
on I’m already moving furniture to make room, because with ULTRA SUNN
it’s always shake your booty time.
The tantalizing combination of boosting beats, shadowplay sound textures,
reverberant vocals, and a pumping chorus at work here, attract you to act the
whole way through. Just irresistible. With ambitious artists like ULTRA SUNN
darkwave music will never age.
First taster LIFE IS AN EXPERIMENT (Cloud Climber Version) is vintage dub electronica honoring Lee “Scratch” Pery wonderfully. The Jamaican dub music pioneer who gave reggae another vibe with his revolutionary studio wizardry and visionary production technics. He passed away last year, aged 85. R.I.P.
Hear the ghost of Perry at work…
NEW AGE DOOM: Website
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(Keira-Anee Photography)
Band: BUGEYE Who: Female pop quartet from London blending cherry-liqueur lyrics,
bubblegum-kneecap bass electrics, goth-heavy drum compactions and
hi-rise guitar sculptures.
Swedish electro-pop artist FEVER RAY (born Karin Elisabeth Dreijer, 47 years ago)
canned her 3rd album and named it RADICAL ROMANTICS. It comes out on 10 March 2023. More info here.
Spicy taster CARBON DIOXIDE is an edgy
Björk-esque disco-pop stomper. Bingo!
Band:MEMES Who: A noisy Glasgow duo (cousins) called John and Paul – not that John and Paul, obviously. And as band name John Paul II would be ridiculous, they called themselves Memes, and hit the scene in 2019, and have been twisting heads ever since
After their eponymous bonkers debut EP (2020) followed by some staggering singles,
the high-decibels tandem nail it with another sucker punch. Leader is a funk-punk riff ripsnorter that kicks forth and back before a freakish guitar outbreak slashes and
trashes its way to the end.
Watch out for the pigman,
he looks like a meme in disguise…
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS, the garage rock fury from Los Angeles, led by vocalist/guitarist/organist and charismatic voodoo doll Bonnie Bloomgarden,
who love to doom boogie while glowing in the dark, have their new – 5th – album,
baptized ISLANDS IN THE SKY out on 24 February 2023. Pre-order info here.
Along with the great news, DVG spoil our ears with the first single WHAT ARE THE ODDS.
It’s a ridiculously sticky juiced-up power-pop chant triggering your limbs to get up and move. And when the under the spell of joy choir joins Bonnie Bloomgarden on the elated chorus you just feel that the odds are huge for the simulated Californian girls having another top album are huge. Fact!
We are living in a simulated world
And we are simulated girls!
Band: CROSS WIRES Who: fervid post-punk 4-piece
from Romford, UK.
Single: MOURNING
The first piece of the band’s
upcoming second longplayer.
TUTV: Great news for all Cross Wires fans, including myself, out there.
Their 2nd album is finished/recorded and ready to leave its vault early
next year through Culture Wars Records. It follows the band’s album A Life Extinct. One of the most poignant debut records of 2019.
Lead single. Mourning is not a happy story. It’s a post-break-up cry out,
a cathartic shout out. Sixties psychedelic-sounding wah-wah guitar fuzz,
alternated with cutting six-string fervor stoke up the energy of this crackerjack
all the way, along with a steadfast drum/bass tandem, and back up frontman Jonathan Chapman‘s harrowing confession of lovesickness.
Band: JUSTINE PAYNE & CO. Who: Musician, composer and performer, describing himself
as a “natural born underdog.” With over 15 years of experience
in the industry
Payne describes how his life is changing throughout the song, but no amount
of fame or distraction could deviate him from the one he loves. The tender lyrics
contrast in the baddest way possible with Justine‘s gritty delivery.
TUTV: Expect a slow-burning slacker cracker with poignant Dinosaur Jr echoes and
garage rock reverberation stoked up by cranked-up guitars. As the song progresses Payne spellbinding voice takes over. Breathtaking.
A speedy psych roller featuring guitar lines from Johnny Marr.
The song is the first piece The Chief shared from a new album
coming next year. Details follow later.
Gallagher:“For this new record it was the first thing I wrote, the first thing I demoed and the first thing I finished, so it’s only right that it’s the first thing people get to hear. Massive shout out to my mainest man Johnny Marr for taking it somewhere special. Oh… and watch out for a cameo from me in the video… first one to spot me wins a bag of Flamin’ Hot Wotsits Giants!!”
Music, maestro, please…
NOEL GALLAGHER’S HIGH FLYING BIRDS: Facebook – Instagram
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Who: Zach Pliska and Emily Sturm. The project started in 2017.
They describe their sound as deathgaze, combining the raw energy
of deathrock with the depth of shoegaze. So far the duo released
four albums and a handful of singles and EPs.
TUTV: Vazum ventilate their anger versus the money-greedy corporate music industry
with this brutal straightforward shocker generating a wall-of-fuck-the-elite-labels sound that bulldozes its way on repeat with schizo guitars, a non-stop spiteful rant and Emily Sturm‘s freakish backing vocals. Bang-on!
Lyrically and sonically it follows Lin Manuel closely. Lyrical guitar play
stars along Chavez‘s fervid soul/blues voice. She still has hope for the
future. No, it’s not over yet.
Artists: FERAL FIVE Who: Electro-punk dance music duo – Kat and Drew Five – from London
with bite, fusing snarling guitars, sparkling synths, and ferocious beats.
Single: GOLDEN RULE
Fresh piece from their long-awaited debut album, named The New Truth Is Gold out on 10 February 2023 through Reckless Yes.
FF: “‘The golden rule is people come together. This is a shimmering
anthem of renewal, and a clarion call for people to come together.”
TUTV: Golden Rule is a desirous pick-me-up pop tune. Airy, breezy, instantly catching and an invitation to get together in these troublous times. Kat Five‘s vocals float all over this romantic reflection and glossy synths sparkle throughout. The most notable component, to my ears, of this new piece, is the distinctive Cure-like guitar sonority. Feverish, shadowy and arresting. Pretty cool. Bring on the album FF.
Band: VOGUE VILLAINS Who: A hard-rocking alternative band from Vancouver Island, Canada with a musical foundation planted firmly in catchy melodies and multipart harmonies. Set on making music that feels unique, yet unafraid to wear the boys many influences on their sleeves, this powerhouse of a band has created a sound that is undeniably and unmistakably VV.
TUTV: Hells bells! This nasty motherrocker of a hammer blow speeds up your adrenalin machine from the kick-off. VV mix blues rock, classic rock and hard rock seamlessly into a red-hot-blooded wall-of-riff-sick sound. A boiling mishmash of intimidating guitars, a powerhouse rhythm section, a Herculean chorus, boogie-woogie flashes and vociferous vocals is what your stereo speakers will spit out. Just what you need to bang your head against a wall. Hells bell, indeed.
Band: TAPE TRASH Who: This new duo project draw inspiration from the music they listened to when
they first picked up their instruments as enthusiastic teenagers: Indie rock induced with infectious choruses, catchy guitar riffs, and huge drums. After an involuntary break due to the corona epidemic, they have spent the past year working on their debut album.
Single: OLD HIGHS
2nd piece, following lead-single Not Going Home,
from their upcoming debut longplayer
TUTV: Expect a multi-layered, towering and schizophrenic wall-of-guitar-electricity propelled by a pushing rhythm section. When they take the decibels a bit down it’s
only a foreplay moment for a stormy finale. Breathtaking stroke!
Band: SUEP Who: A stubbornly high-spirited combo creating oddball music with
a touch of theatrical storytelling. Fronted by Georgie Stott (Porridge Radio,
Garden Centre, The GN Band) and Brain Wastefield. SUEP is born out of a
near-decade of wearing silly clothes and deconstructing pop together.
TUTV: I love the vivid vibe here. In Good Health resonates like a comforting chant with friends, hand in hand, taking care of each other. It’s a frisky tune that plays instantly on your inner stereo in your head. It’s an all-together ditty that puts a big smile on your face.
More of that is expected when SUEP release their debut album, namedShop,
It lands on 27th January 2023 via Memorials Of Distinction.
The Short Causeway are a notable 2022 example. They zig-zag their way through
this debut single with capricious tempo changes, with glimmering guitar sparks,
breezy melodiousness, and moony vocals. Welcome!
Tune in.
. THE SHORT CAUSEWAY: Facebook – Twitter
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PISTOL brings together all of the elements that have made CAS such a celebrated band, while also introducing a subtle yet impactful increase in tempo. Equal parts transportive and romantic, the song’s driving rhythm meets a stark, minimalistic atmosphere that is given dimension by dreamy, washed-out guitars, swelling synths, and intimate, yearning vocals from Greg Gonzalez.
Fifteen Knockout Tracks on repeat this past month!
A fervent fusion of robust rippers and striking strokes.
Here’s Turn Up The Volume‘s Knockout August Team.
‘Vote That Fucker Out‘ by WRECKLESS ERIC and AMY RIGBY (UK/US)
An anger-fueled uppercut, the whole wide world should scream along. A firm middle-finger knockout. Let’s get together and shout at the top of our lungs until the elections
in November. Exit Trump is the world-saving goal, ladies and gents! Let’s act! Let’s sing…
‘A Hero’s Death’ by FONTAINES D.C. (Ireland)
Rollicking title track from the Irish post-punk misfits’ second album.
An unquestionable contender for longplayer of this science-fiction-like 2020.
‘Hail Taxi’ by METZ (Canada)
These Canadians deafening noiseniks have slash and trash chromosomes in their DNA. Don’t even try to resist this wall-balls-breaker, just surrender. New LP Atlas Vending arrives 9th October.
‘Fixer Upper’ by YARD ACT (Leeds, UK)
A mind-twisting crackerjack that’ll do your head in the way you like it. This funky as bloody hell banger sounds as if Mike Skinner and Sleaford Mods joined forces to experiment with intoxicating guitar riffs and turn up the decibels on for once. Cuts like a Swiss knife…
‘Hold My Hand’ by DEATH VALLEY GIRLS (Los Angeles)
Gloriously catchy, peppery and poppy with a cool vintage organ, shake and swing beats, 60s garage glow and Bonnie Bloomberg‘s peek-a-boo vocals. “Love is just like the ocean.”
‘You Say’ by MADAME SO (Paris/London)
A spunky standout. A warning message for all hostile killjoys out there. Kicking off
with a powered guitar riff, soon followed by Madame So‘s vox hitting the roof with
the titanic You Say chorus. Smoking stuff, ladies and gents…
‘The Soul Singer’ by THE WATERBOYS (Scotland)
High-energy stroke! A horns fueled belter from amplified folk troubadour Mike Scott and his band’s new – fourteenth – solid album Good Luck, Seeker.
‘Late At A Festival’ by BLUE STRAGGLERS (Sussex, UK)
Razorblade melodiousness drenched in a pool of kamikaze guitars, going forth and black like a roller coaster on the run. Blur‘s Britpop flair pumped up with tons of illegal decibels. Don’t come late at a festival with Blue Stragglers on the bill or they will find you and make you beg for mercy. You have been warned!…
.
‘Trump’s Still In Washington’ byBROKEN SOCIAL CONTRACT (Washington, US)
A razor-sharp rant about that 24/7 idiot in the White House. One-man-band Justin Donnelly delivers the fitting belter to ventilate our own fury. Play it loud,
play it on repeat, play it until a new real POTUS arrives in Washington.
‘Everybody Will Be Forgotten’ by FAST FRIENDS (Bay Area/Boston/Denmark)
This paranoia punk punch sounds like Weezer on dope, like Green Day kicking that American Idiot in the face, like the mental result of a lockdown psychosis, like if there
is no tomorrow. Jump and yell along before it’s too late. Right now, right here…
. ‘Forever’ by FOLK DEVILS (London)
Once a devoted indie rocker always a devoted indie rocker. Even are all these years you can hear and feel this band’s beating heart and feverish soul burning with strong-willed bravado and hungry desire. Dynamite sound, dynamite tune. Seems like Folk Devils are back forever despite the taste of life going wrong…
. ‘My Faith Is Larger’ by SAVING JACKIE (San Antonio, US)
A hot-tempered sucker-slam triggering every single nerve, every single muscle, and every single vein in your shuddering body. If you’re still mourning the loss of Rage Against The Machine, dry your eyes, rise from your bed, and go mental to Saving Jackie. Now!…
‘Burn’ by TEROUZ (Montreal)
This stunner wouldn’t be out if place on a Sisters Of Mercy album, while Terouz’s voice balances between Interpol‘s maestro Paul Banks and Editors‘ frontman Tom Smith.
Get up, stand up, and pirouette yourself dizzy…
. ‘Dirty Little Sinner’ by REGENT (Southampton)
This cracker blends Oasis‘ northern flair and Blur‘s power-pop catchiness. A steaming kinetic stomper to play to the max on your stereo so the neighbours can jump around
like doped monkeys too when the boiling chorus kicks in. Pump your fists in the air…
‘It’s OK To Bleed’ by HEAVY SALAD (Manchester, UK)
A trippy, mantra-like chant that will set your free. Light a joint, steal your grandparents’ hippie outfits and join Heavy Salad up there, eight miles high and dream of better times…
