A stream of rattling rippers, jagged jams, and magnific musings

All 20 on Spotify

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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

Turn it up!

IGGY POP: Facebook – Instagram
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Last April grime-rape/punk-rock duo BOB VYLAN caused noisy waves
with their second longplayer Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life

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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Band: DEAD PATRONS
Who: British noise trio

Debut single: LOVER

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

New single: CAN YOU BELIEVE IT

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.

Dance into the night here…

ULTRA SUNN: Facebook – Instagram
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Toronto label We Are Bodies releases Remix The Universe on 27 January 2023.
It’s a compilation of new perspectives on The Upsetter’s final collaborative LP, 2021’s acclaimed Lee “Scratch Perry’s Guide To The Universe by NEW AGE DOOM.

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.

New single: SIGNS & EXIT

Middle-finger to bullies. Stay home, dress funky, paint yourself up,
turn up Bugeye, pirouette yourself in a trance and let the sweat flow.

The clip is directed by Laura Jean Marsh and inspired by psychological
drama movie We Need to Talk About Kevin from 2011.

Watch it here…

BUGEYE: Facebook – Instagram
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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!

Tune in.

FEVER RAY: Facebook – Instagram
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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

New single: LEADER

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…

MEMES: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter

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(photo by Turn Up The Volume)

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!

Stream/buy
the track here…

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DVG: Facebook – Instagram
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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.

Press play here…

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CROSS WIRES: Facebook – Instagram
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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

Track: TOGETHER AS ONE

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.

Get puzzled.

JUSTIN PAYNE & CO: Facebook – Instagram
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NOEL GALLAGHER and his HIGH FLYING BIRDS
return with a new single, titled PRETTY BOY.

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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Band: VAZUM (Detroit, Michigan)

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.

New single: THE PRECIOUS ONES

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!

Buy/stream here…

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VAZUM: Facebook – Instagram
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Band: ONISM E
Who: Committed indie quartet based in New York, fronted
by wholehearted singer/songwriter Eline Chavez

New single: IT’S NOT OVER.

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.

Onism E are survivors.
No doubt about that.

Listen.

ONISM E: Facebook – Instagram
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(Photo credit: Keira Anee)

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.

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FERAL FIVE: Facebook – Instagram
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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.

New single: WRONG SIDE OF THE MIDNIGHT

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.

Here come the bloodthirsty villains…

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VV: Instagram – Facebook
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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!

Check it out.

TAPE TRASH: Facebook – Instagram
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(Photo: Josh Cohen and Max Marren)

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.

News single: IN GOOD HEALTH

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, named Shop,
It lands on 27th January 2023 via Memorials Of Distinction.

Listen/watch and feel in good health…

SUEB: Twitter – Instagram
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Band: THE SHORT CAUSEWAY
Who: Three young indies from
Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, UK

Debut single: TRIPPING DOWN THE STAIRS

TUTV: Both wayward and playful. I hear early Talking Heads guitars, vibes
from Manchester’s legendary Factory Records (A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column,
Section 25) and also from Welsh daydreamers Young Marble Giants (1978-1982).
All indie music that never ages and still is around today.

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.

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THE SHORT CAUSEWAY: Facebook – Twitter
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American nightdreamer GREG GONZALEZ and his combo
CIGARETTES AFTER SEX shared their first piece of new music
in over two years.

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.

Listen/buy here…
Lit a candlelight
and listen…

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CAS: Facebook – Instagram