20 BEST TRACKS OF THE MONTH – JULY 2026
The tunes that impressed Turn Up The Volume’s ears the most this past month
ALL TOGETHER
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TRACK BY TRACK
– 1 –
Band: CHALK
Who: Electro junks
from Belfast, Ireland.
Last March they released their
earthshaking debut LP Crystalpunk.
Track: GET FUCKED
A song they finished just after
the album’s recording sessions.
TUTV: Get Fucked sounds like a crushing hammer drill.
A supersonic stroke. A banging bomb. A fucked-up
fireball. Eh… sorry I’m getting out of breath.
WATCH
Go to YT
– 2 –
Photo by Josh Deangelis
Band: GARBAGEBARBIE
Who: 4-piece that has carved a space for themselves in Los Angeles’ DIY scene, gaining a reputation for hosting rowdy and oftentimes free, themed shows. Combining elements of Britpop, glam, punk, French disco, and garage rock, garbagebarbie’s confrontational racket refuses to be confined by genre.
Track: PUNK
Single from their
upcoming debut LP.
Dan Karasev (drummer): “The song holds up a mirror to ourselves. It pokes fun at the LA bar scene which even though we can make fun of, it doesn’t change the fact that we are still in that scene. “
Single artwork
TUTV: Prepare your eardrums for a punked-up motherrocker, a savage haymaker,
a sped-up barnstormer. The unyielding harshness increases with every second and
every time the clamorous chorus kicks in, it’s all hands on deck.
WTF! Zoinks! Mental!
– 3 –
Band: TRÄŠHBAG
Who: Hefty Irish duo from Dublin (where everyone seems to in a band lately).
They spent time playing in numerous bands together or standing in for each
other in various bands. They produce a volatile blend of visceral punk rock
and post-punk.
Track: MY WHITE VAN
Debut single.
TUTV: OMG! These two nice-looking guys aren’t that nice on record.
They smash, clash and trash with their white van. All hell breaks loose from the outset.
This noxious sledgehammer does your poor head in with non-stop industrial-punk slams.
Wham bloody wham bam! Throw some agitated vocals in the mix and
the volcanic eruption is complete. By far, best debut single of June.
“The white van is all powered by diesel, baby!”
– 4 –
Band: THE FLESHTONES
Who: Garage rock veterans from Queens, NY.
They released a huge number of LPs, studio
and live ones.
Track: FLOAT YOUR SHOWBOAT
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!
– 5 –
Press photo
Band: SUEDE
Who: London‘s glamorous pop/rock prodigies who
released their 10th LP, named Antidepressants,
last year, in September.
Track: SHARPENING KNIFES
One of the 5 bonus songs on
the LP’s deluxe edition.
TUTV: Best of the 5. Exhilarative Suede fuel.
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– 6 –
Band: TV PINS
Who: Indie five-piece based across London and the West Midlands.
They blend prog-pop, new wave, and Americana influences with a
distinctly British alt-rock songwriting sensibility – pairing 70s-inspired
vocal harmonies with a sharp, 90s-influenced energy.
They released their debut album Aircutter in 2024.
Track: VERSION OF LOVE
Cut from their forthcoming
self-released EP.
Grace Hinks (LGBTQ+ vocalist): “To me, it’s about accepting and standing up to
those who don’t embrace all forms of love – romantic, aromantic, and especially
queer joy. It’s about celebrating that openly.”
TUTV: Version Of Love is a perky pop pearl that promptly activates your dance-hungry
body. A sparkling guitar riff, summery vibes, warm-hearted melodiousness, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed vocals, and an infectious tunefulness come together to soundtrack an
all-inclusive love gathering.
John Lennon was right all along ‘All You Need Is Love’.
This way for cloud-nine, people, next to that vibrant
rainbow.
– 7 –
Band: BRICKHOUSE
Who: Fresh hit team from Manchester that evokes the uncompromising static
of The Jesus and Mary Chain and the measured rebellion of The Velvet Underground.
Track: ANGEL EYES
Sharp (vocalist/guitarist/songwriter): “Angel Eyes is, at its core, about being haunted.
Not in the supernatural sense, but rather the persistent melancholy. The lingering of
memories after losing a lover and being unsure as to how to help yourself let go and
be released from the curse of seeing someone in everybody else you meet.”
TUTV: Welcome to Brickhouse‘s remarkable debut belter. Angel Eyes is a psych-infused steamroller, going back-and-forth, motorized by alarming guitars, a pounding beat, jittery vocals, and a trenchant chorus that keeps coming back to haunt you with force – think
The Velvet Underground ripper ‘Run Run Run‘, but slower.
Intoxicating.
– 8 –
Photo by Bjarki Guðmundsson
Band: PAPER TIGERS
Who: Noisy indie alt-rock trio
from Boston & Iceland.
Track: GO OUT
Their first music in 3 years.
“‘Go Out’ is essentially from the perspective of an anti-social individual in
a relationship with a social butterfly. Basically, the older we get the more we
enjoy staying home and we’re tired of apologizing for it.”
TUTV: Full of vim and vigour guitar pop at its riveting best. Big intro, big sound, big melody, very big chorus. Got up this morning with the wrong leg? Put this enlivening tune on your headphones (on repeat), go out and embrace the day.
Now. Here.
– 9 –
Photo by Luke Bovill
Artists: ARAB STRAP
Who: Trippy Scottish electro-pop vets, Aidan Moffat and
Malcolm Middleton (1995–2006, 2011, 2016–present).
Track: GLAMOUR MAGICK
Newest single from their new full-length
Half-Told Tales, their 9th, out Sept 4th.
TUTV: Age doesn’t matter for these Scottish vets.
They still kick ass with uplifting flair and verve.
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– 10 –
Photo: @waltereneuman
Band: HAIR CONTROL
Who: Canadian art-pop duo.
Track: SEEING IN THE DARK
2nd single from their debut album, named
Electric Pleasure, out October 30.
“Originally inspired by a dream melody that arrived complete with the phrase “We The Ugly People,” recalling the classic Leonard Cohen line, “we are ugly but we have the music” as well as Pulp’s “Common People,” the chorus lyric drew from this sly sense of solidarity.
Drawing influence from the spiritual yearning and melodic immediacy of classic mid-’70s power pop, particularly Dwight Twilley Band’s “Looking for the Magic,” “Seeing In The Dark” emerged as a celebration of collective connection and shared resilience.”
TUTV: From the kick-off, with its thudding drum/bass beat intro, your eager ears know that Seeing In The Dark is a vivacious and vigorous guitar pop feat. Brisk duet vocals intensify the kicky vibe. A sonic trill for common people like you and me.
Let’s roll.
– 11 –
Band: DOGHOUSE ROSE
Who: 5 hepped-up rockers
based in Toronto.
Track: IT GETS WORSE
New piece from their forthcoming 3rd album, called
Born To Break Even. Out July 31. Tracklist and order
info here.
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.
Blimey!
– 12 –
Photo credit: Arann McCormack
Band: GUSH
Who: Frantic Belfast 4-piece who released their cooking
5-track debut EP Exposure Therapy in 2024.
Track: CONSTANCE
New single.
TUTV: Courtney Love is back with her band Hole. Well, not really, but
there’s definitely a sonic and attitude connection with this roasting Irish
engine. Constance rocks you off your socks in just under 3 minutes.
They race with high-voltage speed from the blitz start on, gas-powered by furious
guitars, a raving mad drummer and Chelsea Andrews‘s spiteful vocals. WTF! Fasten
your seatbelts. Gush turns you upside down with this torrid turbocharger.
Spot-on.
– 13 –
Band: THE GOODS
Who: Power pop outfit
from Oakland, California.
Track: SUMMER’S ALMOST GONE
Single from their forthcoming album, titled Goodbye Summertime.
Out September 16th. More info here.
“Now is all we have. The present is slipping away, the
future isn’t guaranteed, so what are we waiting for?”
TUTV: Expect a brisklt paced and jangly earworm electrified by a flood of jangly riffs, with melancholic vocals floating all over it. Think The Drums and Tame Impala teaming up in the studio together. No brakes, no breaks. We all know we live in chaotic, bodeful times, so
I propose we play this bracing gem on repeat and extend the careless, summer feel.
– 14 –
Photo Andreas Neumann
Band: QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
Who: Stoner rock bigshots fronted
by architect Josh Homme
Track: EASY STREET.
Homme: “It’s kind of a funny song. It’s like hitting your funny bone, where it’s funny because
it hurts and it hurts because it’s funny. You’re serious, but it’s funny. We made it the way you’d make a demo. No click track, mistakes left in. It speeds up, it slows down, the claps aren’t great, but they’re not bad, and a bad clap adds this human thing you can’t fake.”
TUTV: Certainly another kind of feel-good summer hit than the one from 2000. No bragging about taking a ton of drugs here. No macho riffs. No astronomic power speed. Easy Street is an acoustic pop nugget. Infectiously melodic, spiced with duet vocals here and there. Let the freaks and the birds sing.
Beautiful.
-15 –
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.
Track: I GOT A PILL
Single from the band’s new upcoming LP, baptized Asha.
It’ll come our way on August 26th.
Album cover
TUTV: Weird intro, weird end. But in between we get an organ-flavoured and lively guitar psych-pop gem. An energizing and hopped-up foot stomper. Elephant Stone know, for a long time, how to groove and move exhaustively, how to please your aural appetite for galvanizing gems. Take this pill three times per day and shake your booty.
– 16 –
Artist: RELUCTANT BOB & THE LONELY LOVERS
Who: The musical moniker of singer-songwriter Robert Baker.
Track: CARRY ON WITHOUT ME
“The song introduces us to a possibly unreliable narrator who is nearing the end of the road and is saying goodbye. The song was recorded live at Black Mountain Studios in Co. Louth and captures the energy of the band’s live performances.”
TUTV: Eels have a new album out soon. This is one of the instantly recognisable tracks. Well, it easily could be. Carry On Without Me‘s funky flow, lazy vocals, relaxing ambiance, breezy sparkling guitar glow and perky duet vocals on the contagious chorus lift this song
to E’s magnetic level.
Press play.
Enjoy.
– 17 –
Track: I’M YOURS
Single from his new 15th full-length
Different When It’s Silent.
TUTV: Chilling masterstroke. Spine-tingling, enigmatic,
and bursting on the prodigious chorus. Mind-blowing.
It’s all yours.
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Album on Spotify
Instagram
Linktree
– 18 –
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.
Track: SCAMMER
New piece from their upcoming 28th full-length,
called Renascent, out on July 31st. Order info here.
TUTV: Reilly‘s vulnerable voice carries this both melancholic and spellbinding musing designed with warm background synths and shiny guitar sparks. Just beautiful, really beautiful. Can’t wait to hear the comeback album.
Enticing.
– 19 –
Credit: Eels
Band: EELS
Who: Singer-songwriter
Mark Oliver Everett‘s combo.
Track: I’M ON STANDBY
Newest single from new album, their 16th, named
Cookie Happened. It’ll land on October 16th.
“If you’re lucky you have a friend you’re always there
for and vice versa. Bitch, I’ve always got time for you.”
TUTV: Vintage Eels musing. Simple, but
efficacious straight away and sickly sticky.
Go E!
– 20 –
New album artwork – photo by Travis Shinn
Artists: TWIN TEMPLE
Who: Los Angeles-based spouses who
describe their music as Satanic Doo Wop.
The pair will launch their new, 3rd album, named
Doomed Lovers on October 9th. More info here.
Track: DOOMED LOVERS.
The first single & title track of
the upcoming full-length.
60s teardrop love melancholia.
Think Nancy Sinatra and Brenda Lee.
