Band: ALREADY DEAD Who: Over the past three, very loud years, AD have often been described as a “sampler platter of punk.” The Massachusetts band has dabbled in various strains of the genre, all while brashly tackling a spectrum of social issues and human causes, since first crashing the scene in 2022.
From ska-punk, activist folk, and hip-hop crossovers to rallying for workers’ rights and calling out the absurd cost of living, the constantly evolving project has continued to embrace the unexpected – and take a sledgehammer to expectations.
Dan Cummings (frontman): “These were the first batch of songs we had after
‘Something Like a War’ and we were really happy with them. All five felt pretty
cohesive together, and it’s five songs in 10 minutes. All killer, no bullshit. It felt
like the right move after the long process of making an album.”
TUTV: Holy smoke! Punk rock is already dead? Go away, or rather stay and hear/experience why you’re fully wrong. Massachusetts’ blustering pit bulls’
new EP is one you can split concrete with. It’s a riot-punk-gun explosion of
supersonic steamrollers.
They rush and race through five burning Molotov cocktails, five riff-insane hellraisers,
five wild-and-woolly knockouts. Except for closing track Nothing Wrong all songs have a Ramones playtime. All in all a sonic blitzkrieg with 5 crushing torpedos in 10 minutes and 44 seconds. If you think it’s time to leave, you’re wrong again. It’s time to pogo yourself
into oblivion. Right here and now. Gabba gabba hey.
Lead piece from their upcoming, 2nd album, called ‘Something Like A War’, out July 26.
Info: “With boots on the ground and a fist in the air, the confrontational track finds the Boston punk band canvassing the different sides of life that exist along the notable and winding 16-mile stretch of Eastern Massachusetts roadway, connecting the posh suburbs and tidy colleges with the grittier side of life in the city. Every town in America has a Massachusetts Avenue.”
Dan Cummings (band leader): “The song is an observation that just one road can be two separate worlds caused by social structures and allocations of resources. And it delivers a very deliberate ‘%$#@ you’ to those who have the power to change things in one of these worlds for the better, but choose not to.”
TUTV: Already Dead got already alive a couple of times here on TUTV.
Talking about getting alive. This new manic missile speeds up across the Massachusetts roadway with all engines on. Feet on the gas pedal, going everywhere fast, motorized by Blink-182 echoing guitars, fearless drums, intertwining shouts-and-screams and a flaming chorus.
This is a great moment to get your hot rod out of the garage, pretend you’re an easy
rider, pull-up like a Formula 1 bolide and raise your middle to all the bad guys along
your trip. Fasten your seatbelt, the race starts here.
“My brother may die by a hospital sign
Clinics closed tonight
Getting fixed by a streetlight
Getting a fix or fixin’ to die
But you really don’t mind
Because you set your sights
On the prize and your minds
On the minds that arrive
With a cash influx
Can’t spare a dime
Progressive ideals end at city limits
Till one of your own gets wrapped up in it
Cause we all win or lose
It’s your fucking problem
Together we can choose
Miles won’t solve it
Cause we all win or lose
It’s your fucking problem
Together we must choose
But you won’t solve it
Across the Charles, Cambridge side
Great minds they thrive
Past back bay through South End
Seems worlds apart
Till you realize then
Can you even conceive it
Must be hard to believe it
No answers here but I question how
We can celebrate one leave the other down and out”
The celebrated British indie rockers prepare for the launch
of their 6th LP, titled ‘Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations’, with this
new stonker, bringing the sonic euphoria of The Killers to mind.
This synth-pop duo is warming up for their third full length ‘A Kiss of the Mind’
Lead single ‘In Slow Motion’ is dark-synth-wave pizazz at its haunting best.
Booming beats rotate on and on towards a full orchestral plangency while
shadowy vocals add even more sinister vibes.
These masked synth-punk freaks from Vancouver (CA)
produce lots of mayhem on their new album Play Cobra.
One of the 5 best albums of the month on TUTV’s list.
Mouth Yellow is one of the crazy corkers.
Fasten your seatbelt, folks. It’s a rough ride.
The veteran superstar born Leonard Albert Kravitz in New York City 59 years
ago has his new longplayer – a double one – dubbed ‘Blue Electric Light’ out
on 15 March 2024.
On the video for the first taster ‘TK421’ Kravitz
drops his towel and shakes a lot of body parts.
6. ‘Downtown Operation’ by DUBINSKI (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Four brothers who’ve literally been through everything together – from childhood
through adolescence, success and grief – using music as the gel to hold them in place.
This first cut from their forthcoming 2nd album is a pure not-so-happy
pop pearl about the doom and gloom era we’re living in.
Its whirling groove, its ebullient beat, its glistering synth flashes, its vivacious
harmonies and last but not least its tremendously infectious chorus combine
for a top-notch earworm. Think Everything Everything and/or Hot Chip turning
up the heat.
Beginning as a solo project and growing into a band, Millie Milner & The Deadnames
of Manchester, UK was forged with a stronger mission at the heart to be the queer representation that the band’s members struggled to find in their own teenage years.
Lie was inspired by a breakup of Milner‘s and co-penned by a friend. It tells of
a need to take ownership of their life and their choices and the newfound element
of fun and recklessness they found themselves surrounded by as a newly single
person.
It’s indie at its vivid best. Sparkling guitars going berserk now and then, firm
drum hits, crystal clear vocals/harmonies, evocative lyrics, and a steamy chorus.
10. ‘Dead Moon Rising‘ by CACTUS FLOWERS (Houston, Texas)
This psych-rock act is fronted by Jessica A.M., whose mother photographed bands for
the legendary Rolling Stone music weekly during the magazine’s counter-culture heyday.
Their new sultry mid-tempo garage blues-rock corker is fuelled by echoing, rollicking
riffs, steady drum hits and bewitching Jessica A.M. vocals. Dead Moon Rising resonates
like glorious legends The Cramps with a mean machine vibe, rock-and-psycho-billy
swagger and footstompin’ dynamics. From bad moon rising to dead moon rising.
The Libs met in the studio once again for a new LP.
It’s been 8 years since the release of their 3rd album Anthems For Doomed Youth, which was their first
in 11 years back then.
Their new one ‘All Quit On The Easter Esplanade‘
and comes our way on 8 March 2024.
Run Run Run is a sickly sticky runner.
A vintage Libertines anthem.
Two years after the release of their charged self-titled debut EPEmpty Head are
back with a brand new follow-up EP named Tales Of A Modern Man. A 5-track
one anchored by the overarching theme of the Modern Man and bristling with
a wiry tension.
Opener Violence sets the tone with its hammering beats, its inflammable
guitar galvanism and frontman Simon Galloy‘s sky-scraping vocals.
This Belgian/Iraqi launched their excellent debut
full length The Shedding Of Skin, last year.
Their new piece is “a cynical “c’est-la-vie” anthem, set to a heavy 95 BPM beat and a disarray
of fucked up samples & sounds, about ten little wanderers who wander kilometers from home trying to belong. But home is where the heart is. And the House will never share its wealth.”
The release was initiated before the brutal reality of the genocide happening in Gaza.
Now, the cynical message must make way for solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
Expect a both haunting and hypnotic trip, with ominous slo-mo beats pounding
relentlessly with eerie chants all over it. Dark clouds in the air, calm before the storm, subdued electronic anger. It’s an alarming beast of a track.
Carter and Co release their fifth LP Dark Rainbow on 26 January 2024.
First single Man Of The Hour is a gorgeous surprise. Sonically and vocally
we get the softer side of the post-hardcore punk and tattoo artist. A super
duper ballad.
Abdelbarry: “The song reflects on having a friend who is acting in immature
ways you’ve outgrown, but knowing they still need your support and friendship.”
Birthday Cake is slow-progressing musing that appeals instantly with its
rudimentary PJ Harvey-esque guitar play and Abdelbarry‘s affectional voice.
The song has both a romantic and wistful sonority that captivates and moves.
And halfway melancholic synths accentuate the overall ruminate timbre in
an endearing way.
Caleb Orr is a young skilled country-pop-rock singer-songwriter who grew up in Helena, Alabama. He found his passion for music at a young age. He and his two older siblings were raised on music legends like Alan Jackson, Van Halen, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.
Great voice, great musicality, and great guitar play, echoing classic country
melancholia, and proving that the genre is simply timeless. As we all know, music can
have a healing, comforting and cathartic power and it also works here as Orr wants
to shake off bad habits of the past and want to focus on the future as a compelling
singer-songwriter.
This is the brainchild of seasoned Norwegian singer-songwriter Hans PetterGundersen
Dusty Road is a smooth mid-tempo country musing with a bluesy feel and both
a melancholic and yearning sensitivity. Warm voice, captivating melody, vintage
pedal steel guitar charm. All the matching ingredients for a warm sepia-colored
nugget.
Dan Cummings fronts Boston’s rowdy trio Already Dead
No wall-of-Already-Dead-dynamite electricity this time. Cummings
picked up his acoustic guitar and wrote this bone-chilling cry-out
about living on the edge of drowning or surviving.
Imagine British leftist/political activist and terrific veteran songsmith Billy Bragg
raising his voice or equally politically driven folk legend Woody Guthrie killing fascists
again with his wooden guitar. Landlord‘s profound emotions go from hope to despair
and back, and Cummings‘ anxious vocals send shivers down your spine.
Band: ALREADY DEAD Who: Hefty punk rock trio
from Boston, Massachusetts led
by singer-songwriter Dan Cummings
Cummings: “I guess you could say ‘Landlord’ is all about a feeling. The feeling of just getting
by in life, with the looming knowledge that you’re one bad month, or even week, from falling behind. I’ve certainly lived with this before. Bills are paid, life is stable, but you still know that if you take any type of hit – financial, personal, whatever – it could still fall like a deck of cards. But you keep pushing, and keep those lights on.”
TUTV: No wall-of-Already-Dead-dynamite electricity this time. Cummings picked up his acoustic guitar and wrote this bone-chilling cry out about living on the edge of drowning
or surviving.
Imagine British leftist/political activist and terrific veteran songsmith Billy Bragg
raising his voice or equally politically driven folk legend Woody Guthrie killing fascists
again with his wooden guitar. Landlord‘s profound emotions go from hope to despair
and back, and Cummings‘ anxious vocals send shivers down your spine.
Band: ALREADY DEAD Who: Hefty punk rock trio
from Boston, Massachusetts.
The trio don’t pretend to be working class, they just are. Daniel Cummings (vocalist/guitarist) is a union pipefitter, bassist Brandon Bartlett is a union
ironworker; and drummer Nick Cali is a CDL operator in his hometown.
They made Turn Up The Volume‘s ears tremble last October
with their smoking debut album My Collar Is Blue.
Turn Up The Volume said: “7 working-class punk anthems for working-class people who wear their working-class identity on their sleeves. Loud and proud. 7 sucker punches about and for natural-born blue-collar workers.”
BOS (pronounced ‘Boss’) “It’s about traveling, the desire to move and see new places and being restless when you’re stuck in one spot. I love an open highway at night, driving and seeing the bright lights of a big city I’ve never been to creep towards me. Something inside always wants to be some place I haven’t seen, having a beer with someone I haven’t met. It’s about dreaming of music being the vehicle that makes it happen, touring and performing in buildings we might ever see again.”
The Boss (pic by Berto Medoa)
TUTV: The 3-motor Boston bulldozer steam again on this blistering haymaker.
A two-headed beast, starting with a rotating riff and a mid-tempo groove, and
working its way with an ominous pace to a sudden blistering acceleration around
the 1-minute mark. A head-spinning process that repeats itself afterward. Agitated
vocals rush throughout and add a sharp-teethed edge.
Already Dead are alive and kicking hard again with this blue-hot-blooded
steamroller everybody with an open mind can go nuts to.
An inspired and eclectic rock n’ roll album of booze- and brass-fueled passion, raising a colorful glass to friendship and fun in the darkest of times. Record release party with Rum Bar Records, Erica Mantone, and The Devil’s Twins goes down tonight at Faces in Malden.
Stream/buy here…
. RUIN THE NITE: Instagram – Facebook
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“Four guys with russian drinking habits, with an endless love for rock n roll acts like Girlschool, Motorhead, Tank and Venom. They all bow to the altar of little Richard and totally obey Scandinavian Hardcore from the 80s. This is what happens when those 4 guys meet up, write some tunes, and finally record em. Like it or not, we dont give a dog’s ass. We are the hawks of war and our prayers go’es for all out of it.”
Band: ALREADY DEAD Who: Hefty punk rock trio from
Boston, Massachusetts
The trio don’t pretend to be working class, they just are. Daniel Cummings (vocalist/guitarist) is a union pipefitter, bassist Brandon Bartlett is a union
ironworker; and drummer Nick Cali is a CDL operator in his hometown.
Daniel Cummings (vocalist/guitarist): “My Collar Is Blue’ is about working-class men and women who dedicate their lives to being just that. Also, the notion that while it may seem like other more ‘elite’ classes control whichever city they are in, it’s the working class who directly affect the growth, advancement, and even the daily function of that city. It’s is an ode to the past, present, and future of the working class.”
(photo by Roberto A. Terrones)
TUTV: This working-class punk turbo canned 7 working-class punk anthems for
working-class people who wear their working-class identity on their sleeves.
Loud and proud. 7 sucker punches about and for natural-born blue collar
workers.
They switch from a raw-riff-roaring hammer blow (Stability) to head-spinning
rocka-punk-billy (Talk About It), to a Celtic rock chant à la Dropkick Murphys, to
anti-hypocrites hard-core, to The Clash-like amplified reggae (City’s Burnin’) and
end with a sax-y groover (Something Of Freedom). Fists in the air for the workers!
Middle-finger for all greedy employers out there!
Singles/clips:My Collar Is Blue / Stability
– MY COLLAR IS BLUE –
– STABILITY –
Warning: Check your stereo’s speakers, oil your pipes
and alert your neighbors, before you unleash Already Dead.
Band: ALREADY DEAD Who: Fresh punk rock trio from Massachusetts
Debut single: STABILITY
Also their first piece from their upcoming
debut LP My Collar Is Blue, out in October.
“‘Stability’ is a wanderlust song about chasing a dream or a life while still
maintaining the life you’ve built. It’s about the need or desire to go out and
pursue something but still knowing where your home is.”
Turn Up The Volume: Holy smoke! This is a red-hot-boiling racecar
exploding from the very first chord. A non-stop speedball stirred up by
a merciless rhythm section, riff-insane guitars, and in-your-face vocals.
At times, it feels as if this punked-up bolide is about to crash. I swear
you will be out of breath after these 3 1/2 minutes of never-looking-back
vociferousness.
Already dead? Absolutely not!
They’re a turbulent turbo
