Extented Plays

ALREADY DEAD – Massachusetts’ Pit Bulls Rush And Race On New Blitzkrieg EP ‘I THINK IT’S TIME TO LEAVE…’

Posted on by JL

3 July 2025

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.

So far, they have released 2 albums.
My Collar Is Blue (2022) and
Something Like A War (2024).

NEW EP: I THINK IT’S TIME TO LEAVE…

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.

STREAM

BUY


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Instagram – Website

DOWN THE LEES – Canadian High-Voltage Trio Return With Their New Hectic 7-Track Roller Coaster EP ‘DIRT’

Posted on by JL

13 May 2024

Band: DOWN THE LEES
Who: The post-rock noise project of seasoned Canadian singer/songwriter/guitarist
Laura Lee Schultz. DTL released 3 albums, so far. Their towering 2019 debut titled Bury
The Sun still is my aural favourite. It was recorded with Chicago‘s legendary noise expert Steve Albini who passed away last week, only 61. Sad, really sad loss.

New EP: DIRT

“Bewitching tracks in their respective rights, the songs showcase the band’s
broad sonic strengths and highlight their range and versatility. Recorded and
mixed by Jesse Gander “


EP artwork by Mirabelle Van de Put

TUTV: Backed by a merciless bass/drums tandem LL Schultz does again what
she and her band do best. Building up a sonic fever, slowly but surely, up and
down, forth and back, left and right, until the accumulation of volcanic emotions
erupts with a colossal amount of deafening decibels sending shivers down your
spine. A hectic roller coaster that turns your ears’ perception upside down

Schultz‘s voice stars throughout the 28 minutes of thunderous mood swings.
Her compassionate timbre and high-octane tone causes goosebumps, and all
around this commanding trio has a hair-raising impact. Sometimes I wonder if
DTL wants to scrape the sky above, or challenge hell down below.


Laura Lee Schultz – Photo by Turn Up The Volume

‘Douse’ and ‘Dead Over’ were the singles for a obvious reasons. Two standout
tour-de-force accomplishments. Both deserve a gold medal (yep, the Olympic
Games are nearing).

Another remarkable feat is closer ‘Since La Vie En Rose’. I would never expect a tribute
to the iconic French chansonier Edith Piaf (1915-1963). Thanks to my parents I discovered the flamboyant, turbulent, emotional and artistic coeur-et-âme honesty of Piaf. And why do I love DTL? For their own way of flamboyant, turbulent, emotional and artistic heart-and-soul honesty. So this tribute isn’t a real surprise after all, it’s only about a difference in musical approach.

STREAM

BUY


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DTL: Instagram

Experimental And Enigmatic And Accessible – JEFFF The Brotherhood Dropped New EP ‘YE OLDE…’

Posted on by JL

Extended plays

11 March 2022

Artists: JEFF The Brotherhood
Who: American two-piece rock band consisting of brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall and guitarist , hailing from Nashville, Tennessee.
Active: Since 2001 / 11 studio albums so far

New EP: YE OLDE…

Along with the release comes this message from the bros on their Bandcamp page
(if anybody knows what they’re talking about, give me a call. Thanks.)

“I imbue thee, my divinely favored brother, to ride eastward from the Gates of Alexandria, two moons on palfrey across an ancient sea of cracked earth, o’er a valley with two yellow rivers, ascending upward through the pass between the snowy spade and the rocky twin daggers. There, opens a vast plateau filled with white sand and black stallions, a kingdom without a king, where heretics and saints share prayers in pure faith. Sire, you know of my abstention from the mystical, my shrewdness to decipher the flesh of meat from the scents of hunger, yet I assure you, my worshipful master, that I have reached the Land of Cockaigne!

Sugary smoke and distant drumming waft through palm trees, drawing throngs of Wakoku warriors, Persian nymphs, and Daimo shamans around a trio of musicians. A Jacobite monk, cloaked in a hooded robe, kneels against the earth and blows into a gemshorn, inside which the tootle-too transforms into an herbal potion that flows into the mouths of naked pilgrims. A squirrelly jester donned in bright fabrics with motley patterns, pounds his feet against goat skins, while with strings tied to his fingers, pulls the wind to a standstill and holds back the sun itself from setting beyond the horizon. Sitting on a silk pillow, a swarthy alchemist, his neck wrapped by a sleeping snake, plucks sounds from metal strings that form streams of pink smoke, lifting into the sky and falling down as morsels of soft cheese.

I defy you to ask upon yourself, o faithful priest, whether our brotherhood is bound, not by the oaths we pledge to wars of the flesh, but rather to the communion we share while we await the eternal spirit beyond. Farewell, my all.”

Turn Up The Volume: Both experimental and accessible,
jazzy and psychedelic, enigmatic and within reach.

Stream/buy the 5-track EP here…


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JEFF The Brotherhood: Facebook

TURN UP THE VOLUME’s 5 Best EPs Of 2021 (So Far)

Posted on by JL

The 5 best of 2021 (so far) according to Turn Up The Volume’s ears…

Band: DEAP VALLY
Who: The two charismatic rock queens Lindsey
Troy and Julie Edwards from the city of angels,
Los Angeles.

EP: AMERICAN COCKROACH
Released: 18 June 2021

Turn Up The Volume: After the equal top-notch Digital Dream EP
Deap Vally shine again on this follow-up, with some help from their
friends. Put the two 4-track EPs together (I did) and you get nothing
less than the amazing amazons’ best album (so far)! A gloriously
varied and high-quality pop/rock/blues accomplishment. Please
come back to Belgium (asap)!

Stream/buy here…


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DEAP VALLY: Facebook
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Band: ULTRA SUNN (Belgium)
Who: Cold/darkwave duo – Sam Huge
and Gaelle Souflet – from Brussels

EP: NIGHT IS MINE
Released: 5 March 2021

Turn Up The Volume: Combine D.A.F.‘s industrial vibes,
Sisters Of Mercy‘s gloom and doom hallucinations and Depeche
Mode‘s pop-noir thrills and you have the soundtrack for midnight
summer parties.

Listen/buy here…


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ULTRA SUNN: Facebook
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Band: EMPTY HEAD
Who: Up and coming hit team from Liege, Belgium. They cultivate the contrasts
and hold both the visceral intensity of Seattle’s grunge and the bewitching fever
of California’s desert rock. The resulting blatant firepower is then used by singer
Simon Galloy as a support for his dark and intimate lyrics, which evoke topics such
as dreams and delusion, introspection, and the anxiety of the passage of time.

EP: EMPTY HEAD
Released: 15 May 2021

Turn Up The Volume: From supersonic prog-punk-rock to towering primal screams
and psychedelic ax riffage, from mind-crushing paranoia and muscled turbulence to
swing moods emotions. Your ears will not feel the same again after listening to this full-headed whirlwind.

Check/buy EP here…


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EMPTY HEAD: Facebook
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Artist: NICOLE MARXEN
Who: Dallas-based musician and visual artist.
Known as one of the shiny dark innovators behind
acclaimed avant-garde pop band Midnight Opera.

EP: TETHER
Released: 26th February 2021

Marxen says “In many ways, it was a crucial first step in my own grieving
process and self-discovery as a songwriter. Being so rooted in showmanship,
I hadn’t explored such vulnerability in my work before. when I began to shift
my efforts inward, I found that my truth very much needed to be expressed.
The song serves as a reminder to hold space for myself.”

Turn Up The Volume: You actually can feel Nicole Marxen‘s pain of losing
her mother as titanic industrial synth wallops petrify your perplexed mind.
She wants to ease the gloom and doom impact of her dramatic loss so her
wounded heart and restless soul can breathe free again. Chelsea Wolfe is
around the corner, listening in the shadow.

Stream/buy here…


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NICOLE MARXEN: Facebook
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Artist: HANNYA WHITE
Who: Musician/modern art painter and video maker,
based in London creating an unusual combination of
the playful and the dystopian.

EP: NO PREVIEW
Released: 23 February 2021

Score: 4 love songs for those who want to explore the dark side of their
inner self by watching David Lynch movies. I’m sure Hannya White is one
of them. The way she infiltrates your worried thoughts with electro-scapes
boggles your psyche. It’s a puzzling experience. Expect the unexpected.

Chaotic music for chaotic people in chaotic times.

Listen/buy here…


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HANNYA WHITE: Facebook