Artist: MAVIS STAPLES Who: Legendary soul/blues/rock voice who, along with family, had a long and
greatly accomplished career under the name ofThe Staple Singers (1948-1994).
She’s 86 now, singing and swinging like a 36-year-old.
Band: CHARM SCHOOL Who: The latest project from singer-songwriter Andrew Sellers
who, originally from Louisville, has paid his dues in both the
NYC and LA DIY music scenes.
Band: MCLUSKY Who:Welsh notorious post-punk noiseniks featuring future of the left iconoclast Andrew Falkous, who made a loud and clear mark on the indie list of max decibels
producing acts between 1993 and 2004 with three ear-piercing and politically loaded albums. The it was time for other projects.
In 2015 Mclusky suddenly returned for a benefit gig in London and played
some more here and there. In 2023, they released a new 4-track EP, called Unpopular Parts Of A Pig / The Digger You Deep to fund a delayed US tour.
Kerrang says: “The highlights are plentiful, from the misanthropic maelstrom of ‘People Person‘, to the lolloping ‘The Digger You Deep’ and the Pixies-esque ‘Hate The Polis’, but you don’t need to pan for gold when there’s so much of it. When The World Is Still Here And So Are We was announced last year, it came as a surprise to many; that the resulting opus is such a remarkably consistent collection after 21 years probably should be too, but somehow isn’t, as mclusky always offered a safe – and strange – pair of hands.”
Andrew Falkous, Mclusky in Brussels – May 18, 2025 – Photo by Turn Up The Volume
TUTV: The world is still spinning and Mclusky decided to come back after 21 years
to see what’s going on and let us know what they experienced/experience in their
own tumultuous way. To be honest, it’s Mclusky by numbers, but their numbers still
slice and slash as a first class Swiss knife. And that is what matters.
Primal screamers, guitarist Andrew Falkous and bassist Damien Sayell spit and sneer
their 4 lungs out while they rip puppet politicians to shreds with razor-sharp axes. Chainsaw guitars everywhere, backed by a hellacious drum/bass duo. They’re maniacal
masters when it comes to search and destroy punk havoc.
And they still come up with daft song titles like ‘unpopular parts of a pig’, ‘kafka-esque novelist franz kafka’, ‘the competent horse thief‘ and ‘autofocus on the prime directive‘. Welcome back, noizz freakz.
Furman: “Twelve songs, twelve variations on the experience of completely losing control, whether by weakness, illness, mysticism, BDSM, drugs, heartbreak or just living in a sick society with one’s eyes open. These songs are vivid with overwhelm. They’re not about someone going off the rails, they are inside that person’s heart.
The songwriting here is a revision to William Wordsworth’s famous proclamation that “Poetry
is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” I can agree with that, except for the tranquility part. This poetry, my poetry, arrived in the midst of the storm. It was written as I teetered toward the edge.”
DIY Magazine says: “It’s a textured tapestry of overwhelm that’s as desperate as it is defiant. She employs a string section across much of the record, and yet also dabbles in sampling for the first time; with its skittish drums, eulogic cello, and haunting vocals, ‘You Mustn’t Show Weakness’ is the potent pinnacle of this new frontier. Lyrically, too, ‘Goodbye Small Head’ is some of her finest work.”
TUTV: Furman‘s records are all soaked in emotional tenseness and troubled sensitiveness, lyrically and sonically. Her all-consuming voice is the perfect instrument to emphasize all her ardent eagerness.
And it works thoroughly on expressive highlights Jump Out, Power Of The Moon, You Hurt
Me I Hate You, A World Of Love And Care and closer I Need The Angel. Ezra Furman puts all of her heart and soul in her mesmerizing music. It makes Goodbye Small Head a formidable accomplishment.
Kerrang‘s verdict: “The Painful Truth sounds eye-openingly fresh for a band with such
history. Everything about this is new, except its heart-on-sleeve honesty. They’ve never
released an album that embraces creativity this openly. My Greatest Moment, for example,
is full of ear-catchingly extracurricular sounds – the sort of thing artists in the NIN-to-Starset bracket specialise in, but without sounding like either. Life’s truth might be painful sometimes, but it’s rarely sounded better.”
TUTV: SA return less raw, rough and heavy as usual, even poppy at times. Mind you,
there’s still enough sonic vehemence and inflamed volume to challenge the decibels police, especially when Skin‘s voice reaches for the sky. As always she put all of her heart and soul into her performances. Overall, there’s more emphasis on melody and harmony than before, resulting in a top drawer record.
Artist: PETER MURPHY Who: Former Bauhaus‘ goth
icon, now aged 67.
Album: SILVER SHADE.
It’s produced by renowned producer Youth (Pink Floyd, The Verve, Crowded
House, member of Killing Joke, The Orb, The Firemen w/Paul McCartney).
SPIN Magazine: “Artists age differently, it comes through in their work. Some turn contemplative, some opt for acceptance, some even refuse to admit they’re getting older (looking at you, Rolling Stones). On Silver Shade, famed Bauhaus vocalist and post-punk
pioneer Peter Murphy reveals how he chooses to face his golden years: with an album of
grand, baroque defiance you can dance to.
TUTV: Murphy solo is as relevant as Bauhaus was. He’s still as rhapsodic, motivated and
ambitious as he ever was. Silver Shade is stuffed with big, bombastic and melodramatic tunes to draw goth fans to gloomy discos with. Banger after banger, stompers after stomper. Gloriously orchestrated, anthemically constructed. His phenomenal vocal performance lifts this remarkable record to an astonishing level. Class!
AllMusic: “Radio Armageddon is intended for an audience who has been listening to Public Enemy for most of its life, but the album continues in the group’s tradition of delivering timely, empowering messages with dense, confrontational barrages of revolutionary noise.”
TUTV: Chuck D is at his razor blade sharp best when he fulminates against the rotten powers that be. And with that egomaniacal idiot Trump back in the White House there’s
a lot to get furious about. America wasn’t as divided as it is right now because of that deranged hate-preacher who normalizes sexism, racism, and overall intolerance.
Chuck D hips and hops, raps and claps, with knife-edged rhymes and riot-gun tirades, forth and back, left and right. He turns 65 in August, but he will never shut up and mouth off when it comes to expose all sorts of injustices. With or without Public Enemy he will always speak out against the oppressors in charge.
Single from the upcoming album, baptized Talkin’ To The Trees. It comes our way on
June 12th.
TUTV: No pension whatsoever for the incomparable rocker in the free world.
Middle-finger straight up, in the face of the ‘Me, myself and I‘ POTUS and his
arse-licking billionaire monkeys.
The lead single from their upcoming album #10,
named Antidepressants. It’ll arrive on Sept 5th.
New album artwork
TUTV: Disintegrate is a badass barnstormer revved up by radioactive guitar riffs,
a colossal drum beat, and, of course, Anderson‘s feverish vocals. Suede sound like
young dogmanstars once again. Take notes, all you ambitious rock snotnoses out
there.
2nd shared single from their forthcoming self-titled debut LP, out on July 18th.
TUTV: Party! Party! Party! These Welsh punkettes drive you bonkers with this
bass-insane punk ‘n’ roll uppercut. Kick-ass band, kick-ass attitude, kick-ass blast.
A cover of Mickey Lee Lane‘s 1965 firecracker, which, along with a remix of their 2022
song Jamie C’mon went digital last weekend and will be out on 7″ vinyl this summer.
TUTV: This is the kind of instant-affecting tunes that get all of your lazy limbs excited.
165 swirling seconds of punchy punk ‘n’ roll. An irresistibly uplifting upper. Bass and drum produce a battering beat, guitar riffs fly around and Linda Pardee‘s vivid vocals trigger you to get up, stand up and scream your lungs out when the ridiculously catchy chorus pops up.
Artist:JEHNNY BETH, Who:France-born, former frontwoman of female post-punk band Savages (2011-2017), who released her solo debut LP Love Is To Live
back in 2020.
Second shared piece from their upcoming debut LP ‘A Mass In The Water, which lands on 14 November.
Single artwork by Maxime Rouquart
TUTV: This new slam dunk’s ominous mid-tempo dynamics, distorted vocals,
and riff-roasting razzmatazz resonate like if you are listening to the goosebumps
theme song of a horror movie.
Creepy tension in the air, melodrama about to happen. Yes, at the 2.30 minute
mark all hell breaks loose. Decibels up, amps up, temperature up. From a whisper
to a scream. From planet Earth to Dante‘s inferno. Helter skelter.
TUTV: Lover is a vintage big Ashcroft tune. Sirenic
power pop, with Ashcroft repeating the track’s title
non-stop.
The song samples English singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading’s
1976 hit Love And Affection. When RA let Armatrading hear ‘Lover‘
she gave her blessing to release it.
Artist:MARK STEWART (Bristol, UK) Who: One of the most adventurous/inventive/original post-punk & dub artists/performers
ever, who passed away, unfortunately, 2 years ago, aged 62. He was a founding member of genre-bending new wave group The Pop Group
2nd shared piece from the upcoming album The Fateful Symmetry,
which Stewart completed in early 2023. It’ll arrive on 11th July.
. Mute Records
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– 11 –
Act: DICE MACHINE Who: Tandem Michael Daks & Drew Five. Their music is shaped by a wide range of
influences, from punk to electronic, making them sound both familiar & refreshingly unpredictable. Combining Daks‘ narrative artistry with electro-pop act Feral Five‘s Drew’s innovative production, they craft songs that resonate on multiple levels.”
TUTV: DM take you on an adrenalized punk ‘n’ roll ride from the kick-off.
No brakes, no breaks. Full steam ahead, pushed by a rip-roaring salvo of
guitar riffs and infused with intoxicating vocals. High-voltage magnetism
all the way through. Second single, second bullseye!
Band: MODEL/ACTRIZ Who: Electro act from Brooklyn.
Track: VERSPERS
Opener from their brand-new
2nd album, named Pirouette.
TUTV: A hyperkinetic electro/guitar-riff beat ticks on your head non-stop. It drives you crazy, and pushes your poor mind into a chilling daze. Sounds challenging, right? You bet.
Single from his brand-new 8th
solo longplayer Strawberries.
TUTV: Forster‘s motto is keep it simple, shake and swing your hips to the swirling rhythm, ignore the outside world, love your loved ones, and have fun, it always helps you to get you through the day.
TUTV: Lots of dance-fueled tunes this month. Even daydreamers Elbow have one to jump and down to in your bedroom/bathroom/kitchen/wherever, while you stay sober.
Lyrically, Donatella delves into her past to help vanquish demons that circle from previous trauma of manipulation and abuse. Through this primal scream of emotion, she is able to find liberation and rebirth.
TUTV: Spellbinding, riveting and fetching. This melodramatic discharge holds
your aural attention all the way. Moon‘s engrossing vocality works like a magnet.
Very promosing stuff.
A collaboration with Spanish
EBM producer Nightcrawler.
A track that exposes the puppeteering forces behind the system and
the disappearance of authenticity in a world shaped by fabricated
idols. It’s both a protest and a purge.
TUTV: Think techno experts The Chemicals Brothers with eerie vocals by a demon.
A maddening 90s master blaster for 24-hour parties where stroboscopes spin you
into a trance. To hell with all authoritarian politicians and meaningless celebs. Living
our lives the tolerant way we want is what we all should do, while going mental to bombastic beats and blustery bangs. It’s hammertime, folks.
The lyrics paint a picture blending imagery of horror and cannibalism. The song
portrays a character adrift in a world without moral boundaries, a being driven by
thirst and pleasure. The themes explore unrestrained hedonism, the loss of control,
and the banality of evil.
TUTV: Be ready for a sonic Stephen King -esque nightmare. Diabolic, bone-chilling and bloodcurdling. Perfect to play to your zombie friends. Play this tormenting serpent of
a track loud, and scare your neighbours.
Artist: TROUSER DRESS Who: East Yorkshire’s Carden Mucklin. A young genderqueer writing songs about random thoughts and feelings, pouring their lived experiences of being queer & trans, as well as their journey through the mental health jungle, into songwriting and photography.
“This was my first time creating a track that I didn’t have a plan for, or a set sound in my head. I wrote the four lines & guitar part but then shelved the song as everything I added didn’t feel right. When I brought it to producer Adam, we decided to keep the lyrics simple and to build it up with other sounds and layers. I wanted the song to feel almost like ruminations that spiral around but start from just a few sentences. I think we created the perfect sound!”
TUTV: Old Soul is an intriguing, trancey, and multi-instrumental chant.
Think folktronica siblings CocoRosie. Wayward and fascinating. Top piece.
In order to not miss a beat TURN UP THE VOLUME scans the musical
horizon daily, for 10 years now, to pick ace tracks and add 5 new ones
twice per week, to the one and only JUKEBOX playlist that matters.
ALL TOGETHER
The 5 fresh ones TRACK BY TRACK
Artist: EZRA FURMAN Who: Flaring singer-songwriter from Chicago. She started
her career with a band called The Harpoons who released
3 albums.
Band: COMMON CULTURE Who: Rousing, fiddle driven alternative folk band from Barnsley, England.
They fuse traditional and contemporary elements into an upbeat and energetic
sound, their songs are full of catchy hooks, infectious rhythms and a party spirit.
TUTV: As said before CC have the lively drive of the Levellers and the catchy melodiousness of Mumford & Sons. This fiddle-energized pop gem, spiced with frisky harmonies, is another vivacious example of their high sonic spirits. Plenty of emotive encouragement to face your personal storms.
Lyrically, Donatella delves into her past to help vanquish demons that circle from previous trauma of manipulation and abuse. Through this primal scream of emotion, she is able to find liberation and rebirth.
TUTV: Spellbinding, riveting and fetching. This melodramatic discharge holds
your aural attention all the way. Moon‘s engrossing vocality works like a magnet.
Very promosing stuff.
Track: RISE UP
The title piece of their brand-new
4-track EP. Stream it here
TUTV: Imagine Green Day and Dropkick Murphys teaming up for a fist-pumping chant. Forget all BS going on, on our screwed-up planet for 190 seconds and jump right/left, up/down and forth/back on your pogo-stick. We need to celebrate life now and then,
to avoid paranoia.
Band: FELLOW MORTALS Who: Trashcan Sinatras’ Francis Reader and Noonday Underground’s Simon Dine
who reunite for an expansive creative project celebrating poet and author of Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift most emotive verse Stella’s Birthday
“This project is a tribute to language, to storytelling, and the quiet, powerful ways
human beings have always found to connect with each other. Swift’s birthday poems
to Stella are powerful, funny and touching, and we have tried to amplify their beauty
and create an album that will draw listeners into this fascinating and ambiguous love
story.”
Track: SOME LASTING PLEASURE
Piece from their upcoming album, named Stella’s Birth-Day, out on 12th September.
TUTV: Poetry in lyrical ballad motion. So beautiful. Like daydreaming, carelessly and romantically. Velvety synths, smooth bass lines, relaxing rhythm, melancholic vocals.
The kind of heartwarming reverie you’ll cherish for a long time.
Furman: “Twelve songs, twelve variations on the experience of completely losing control, whether by weakness, illness, mysticism, BDSM, drugs, heartbreak or just living in a sick society with one’s eyes open. These songs are vivid with overwhelm. They’re not about someone going off the rails, they are inside that person’s heart.
The songwriting here is a revision to William Wordsworth’s famous proclamation that “Poetry
is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” I can agree with that, except for the tranquility part. This poetry, my poetry, arrived in the midst of the storm. It was written as I teetered toward the edge.”
DIY Magazine says: “It’s a textured tapestry of overwhelm that’s as desperate as it is defiant. She employs a string section across much of the record, and yet also dabbles in sampling for the first time; with its skittish drums, eulogic cello, and haunting vocals, ‘You Mustn’t Show Weakness’ is the potent pinnacle of this new frontier. Lyrically, too, ‘Goodbye Small Head’ is some of her finest work.”
TUTV: Furman‘s records are all soaked in emotional tenseness and troubled sensitiveness, lyrically and sonically. Her all-consuming voice is the perfect instrument to emphasize all her ardent eagerness.
And it works thoroughly on expressive highlights Jump Out, Power Of The Moon, You Hurt
Me I Hate You, A World Of Love And Care and closer I Need The Angel. Ezra Furman puts all of her heart and soul in her mesmerizing music. It makes Goodbye Small Head a formidable accomplishment.
Furman: “Twelve songs, twelve variations on the experience of completely losing control, whether by weakness, illness, mysticism, BDSM, drugs, heartbreak or just living in a sick society with one’s eyes open. These songs are vivid with overwhelm. They’re not about someone going off the rails, they are inside that person’s heart. The songwriting here is a revision to William Wordsworth’s famous proclamation that “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” I can agree with that, except for the tranquility part. This poetry, my poetry, arrived in the midst of the storm. It was written as I teetered toward the edge.”
Who: A new brother-sister party duo, from South London colliding the raw unfiltered energy of punk, with the overflowing ecstasy of pop. With fierce tempos and ferocious energy, their music is an explosively cathartic release of raw intensity and unapologetic fun.
Track: I’M NOT YOUR PUNCHBAG
From their upcoming debut EP. Details TBA.
It was written before they came up with their
moniker Punchbag.
TUTV: Ecstasy. Elation. Euphoria. Exhilaration. Yes, this electro-smack makes
you bounce and jump like a pogo-stick. Two singles in and Punchbag are already
a punky EBM sensation. They kick you in the teeth without asking while having
fervent fun.
Who: 2-piece from Birmingham (UK) – Euan Woodman (drums/vocals) and Tom Rhodes (bass/vocals) – born in late 2023 over a shared love of noise, literature and late night shebeens. They write music about love and hate. They’re good for your soul.
TUTV: Warning. This insanely groovy punk blast will bulldoze all over your shocked speakers. Expect a superheated funky firestorm that attacks the Richter scale with a shattering impact. A manically jagged jackhammer it is. Trust me, you’ll think you like them, very much, while you bang your head into your fridge’s door.
Who: British red-hot-steaming misfits, Isaac Holman (lead vocals, drums) and Laurie Vincent (backing vocals, guitar, bass) started their rowdy ride back in 2012,
named Slaves. They have fabricated 3 earthshaking LPs so far.
Who: A collective with members scattered across the UK and the Netherlands. This group, now comprising seven members, has its roots in a trio that expanded over the past four years. The current lineup includes both current and former members of notable bands such as IDLES, Sex Swing, Tall Ships, Manatees, Do Me Bad Things, Pulled Apart By Horses, Petbrick and Mugstar.
New track: WET LEATHER
Piece from their upcoming, sophomore LP Total Technik,
out on April 18th. Pre-order info here.
TUTV: Kraut-rock and roll with an intoxicating impact. A wall-of-guitar-pyrotechnics rollercoaster. An overpowering tempest of rambunctious riffs. Voltaic psychedelia at
its spine-chilling best, bombarding your ears the way you like it. Fascinating, right?
You betcha.
TUTV: Raucous Royal Blood riffs, hard-hammering drum beats, a mean
bass machine, gutsy vocals and a knockdown chorus combine for a jagged
jackhammer that you’ll play louder with every spin.
Who: Flaring indie duo – Carrie Clark and Pam Peltz – who found each other on
the edge of the delicately ramshackle playground of the 1990s Austin (Texas)
music scene. They released their 4-track debut EP Let It Be So in 2023.
TUTV: Hallelujah! The pins do it again. Gold is a hip-shaking bluesy garage rock thrill
that has an instant impact on your greedy ears with its solid swagger, its gloriously cracking guitars with a feverish solo somewhere in the middle, and its cool duet vocals. Play it to your unicorn, and have a dance together.
Who: Legendary indie group from Rhode Island founded in 1981, in by two musically marvelous stepsisters, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly who later co-formedThe Breeders with Kim Deal but soon afterward she started her own group Belly.
Who: Canadian post-punk outfit from Calgary, Alberta.
They formed in 2012 under the name Viet Cong, a name
they dropped in 2016 following lots of criticism related
to the Vietnam War.
Track: BASTARDS
New single from their upcoming 5th LP,
titledIII At Ease. Out on May 9th.
TUTV: Never heard Preoccupations going
this synth-poppy and it works 100%.
Who: A group from North Wales piloted by brothers Cynyr (guitar & vocals) and Dion Hamer (drums & vocals). They produce material from their home studio on
the hills of Eryri, splicing together elements of surf guitar music, kraut-rock grooves
and hypnotic psych tinged vocal harmonies. Last year their released new album Back To The Begining.
TUTV: From the first chord on, Exploding! swirls irresistibly fueled by heated guitars,
a magnetizing, bouncy bass riff, a non-stop, repetitive and footstomping drum beat and moody vocals, that bring former Super Furry Animals‘ frontman Gruff Rhys‘ smooth voice tone to mind. Bullseye.
Who: A duo with contrasting yet complementary artistic journeys. Giulia born in Sesto San Giovanni, infuses the project with her vibrant soul, creating intense melodies, profound lyrics, and a captivating voice. Marco born in Monza, brings an instinctive and meticulous approach to crafting their signature electronic sound.
Track: LAUGH
Second single following last year’s
excellent debutFaded Flowers.
The song is inspired by a true story. It tells the story of a woman who, after 30 years of domestic abuse, laughs at her husband’s funeral—not out of joy, but as an uncontrollable, cathartic release.
TUTV: Think Sharon Van Etten at her most heartfelt. Laugh is a purifying and soul-freeing rumination, invigorated with passional vocals, synth-shining orchestration and a steadfast drum beat.
TUTV: Heaven is a powerhouse ripper, that gets under your skin without asking
permission, fed by inflammable guitars, intense vocals and a titanic chorus. Americana rock pschydelia at its hypnotzing best.
Who: Synth-driven power-poppers from Seattle, Chicago and Vancouver. Since their inception, The band have performed throughout Canada, Mexico,, the US, the UK, and Europe. References: The Fixx, The Cure, 20/20, The Dickies, Duran Duran, The Cars, Devo,
The Go-Go’s.
TUTV: Diana comes out for the gates like a speed train and never looks back.
Dynamizing synths start the whirlwind trip, the powerhouse drum/bass engine
pushes the rotating rhythm with vivid vigour, and zippy vocals complete the
accelerating sonic picture.
Track: CRINGE
The first single taken from the upcoming second album,
named ‘A Love Letter To Your Yearning Heart’ which comes
out on May 30th.
TUTV: The alternating dreamy female and sinewy male vocals create
an intriguing contrast and give this speedy, puissant stroke a kinetic
twist. Dashing energy that makes your finger reach for the repeat button.
David Wildman (guitarist/lead vocals) “I think there is a rock renaissance in progress.
This is a Margaret Thatcher-ruining-England level of trauma we’re experiencing. Trump and Musk have taken over in what was basically a (barely) legal coup, and it has ignited a wave of rage not seen in years, translating into important and meaningful music being made all over, and mostly under the radar so far. We’re proud to be part of that.”
Credit Dan Saltzman
TUTV: This guitar-frenzied riff buzzer resonates like an alarming wake-up call to counter Trump‘s Divided States Of America. The Times They Are A-Changin’ warned/sang Bob Dylan way back. And they drastically do, lately, but obviously, in the wrong direction. Tell are aware of the new blank generation, and let us know it, loud and clear, with puissant panache.
Who: Group formed in Leeds (UK) by three schoolmates and a ‘drummer wanted’ poster on a lamppost. They turn rough-and-tumble, high-energy sound–injecting indie rhythms into punk sensibilities and subjects.
TUTV: Imagine The Fall fronted by Iggy Stooge. These cocky hound-dogs know all you need to know about indie (post)punk history to get up, stand up and form a band with an eager mission to kick ass. Great news, music junkies.
TUTV: Gloriously affecting and steadily boogielicious with musing duet vocals
all over it until sinewy guitars, slowly but surely, augment the intensity of this witty
mixed emotions tune.
Musically, this track encapsulates the typical joy and experimentation within its composition – something for which, Pete is very much becoming renowned for.
All My Friends Are Wasters is an ode to the bohemian friends that would never
be understood by this stranger at the party. Someone who could never understand
the square pegs in round holes all trying to catch a wave – and that just makes Briley
love the people in his life all the more.
TUTV: Compelling, profound and transfixing reflection.
Subtly and emotively arranged with fetching piano play
and expressive vocals.
Artist: EZRA FURMAN Who: Glittery singer-songwriter from Chicago. He started
his career with a band called The Harpoons who released
3 albums.
New single: JUMP OUT
Second shared piece from her upcoming 10th full length,
named Goodbye Small Head. It arrives on May 16th.
New album artwork
Furman about the new song: “Do you ever feel like the car is going too fast and you need
pull over and get out? But the driver won’t stop. You ask again, you ask louder. You plead.
They won’t even turn the music down. I’m thinking about whether I might have to jump out
of a speeding vehicle.
That is how it feels. Hey driver where are you taking us. Am I overreacting. I wish for everyone a deep sense of safety and calm, and the feeling of strength to defend those who are unsafe. But for moments when things don’t feel that way at all, I need music like this.”
1. ‘Twitchin’ in The Kitchen’ byWARMDUSCHER (London)
This punky-funky disco corker is the perfect pick-me-up tune for all the wacky
weirdos who are always in the kitchen at parties waiting for free drinks and waiting
for Warmduscher to come in and kick their lazy asses. Big stroke, big chorus, big fun!
The Scottish dance-funk-punk trio YOUNG FATHERS launch
their 5th LP called HEAVY HEAVY on 3 February.
Ahead of hit came this ridiculously sticky stunner I SAW.
A master blaster that makes your blood stream faster
through your veins. The addition of a choir in the back
works on the spot.
This London post-punk team unleashed their 2nd scorching album Beware Believers, last April. One of TUTV’s best full-lengths of 2022.
Slowly Separate is a schizo sonic serpent generating a mind-blowing backwash
while chainsaw guitars turn up the decibels to an illegal peak, and vox-in-the-middle James Fox rages and blazes through his teeth.
The by now legendary passion rockers from Cincinnati, Ohio with mastermind Greg Dulli leading the troops. Their new 10th LP How Do You Burn? was voted Best Album Of 2022 on Turn Up The Volume.
I’ll Make You See God was the lead single. A sturdy steamroller, a red-hot-heated juggernaut, an unstoppable cannonball going everywhere fast. Manic blitzkrieg
guitars, ruthless drum/bass attacks, Greg Dulli‘s rush of blood vocality, and a brutal
finish. Flabbergasting.
Dulli: “That’s one of the hardest rock songs we’ve ever done.
It was written and performed on sheer adrenalin.”
This frenetic Brit force hit big time with their dazzling
debut album The Great Regression last March.
Single I Am Kate Moss is a cast-iron brainbreaker. It’s a poignant, biting, and
anxious uppercut. I’m pretty sure Moss would love this hit-and-run drone when
it would hit her ears. She is, after all, the Femme Punk Fatale of fashion.
The Prophet progresses like a vicious viper sliding to its prey until a horrific explosion strikes you in the face. Next is a titanic bass riff that keeps the roller coaster turning with scary speed. This flabbergasting monster is part of their 2nd notable longplayer Trust No Leaders.
About: “As a story or metaphor, we are all ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ – made up of
other people’s opinions and parts that don’t belong to us. That we were born
perfect but people, in their own conditioning, come along and can make us feel
undesirable/inadequate/the monster. But we can choose to be real instead.”
This is without a shadow the best debut single of 2022.
A towering tune going low, high and back. A sickly sticky pop gem wrapped in
a big-boisterous wall-of-sound. And up front, Sianna Lafferty‘s phenomenal voice
causes goosebumps when she reaches for the sky on the chorus. The ardency of Porridge Radio comes to mind.
“I am not what you want me to be
Uncle Sam won’t even point at me
Even the eyes of the Virgin Mary wall
hanging won’t even stare at me.”
Kill Me Again, one of three pieces shared so far, is an infectious groove
propelled by a pounding synth/bass riff, spiced with Coxon on saxophone
and mesmerizing (duet) vocals. Splendid stuff. Bring on the LP.
This power pop sensation impressed big time with their self-titled debut album. The outstanding dingle Chaise Longue – catchy, funny and witty caused choirs of thousands of sing-along people at festivals this past summer as I experienced myself, not at Glastonbury (below), but in Belgium at Hear!Hear! fest.
After releasing her sterling debut LP last year, songstress Ilayda Cicek and her band
came back this year for a series of riveting concerts (I saw 5 of them) and this sublime single. Her passion, her vivaciousness and vocal fervency push this electrifying pearl
way up to the stars.
Where We Sleep is the alter ego of Beth Rettig,
former front force of electro-rock band Blindness
On this boiling groover Rethig rants non-stop with anger and frustration.
A nasty bass riff is the backbone here, while layers of menacing guitar
electricity augment this ripper’s rowdy roll.
A crystal clear statement, a menacing projectile.
“They Don’t Want The Truth / They Just Want The Power”
12. ‘Nothing Good Comes Easy’ by DEAD LEVEE (Canada)
What a wowzer! This uplifting motherrocker boosts your state of mind with
fired-up dynamism from the get-go. Rapid-fire rawk and roll riffs switch on
a fervent feel of euphoria. It did it in the past, it does it in the present and
it will do it in the future.
Despite all the BS we have to endure (pandemic, Ukraine, natural disasters,
and other threats) it’s never too late to get back on track and why not start
with 4 and a half minutes of heart-warming guitar-fueled boogie-woogie
that triggers hope and assurance.
Stoogefather IGGY POP still wants to be your dog.
He has his new – 19th – LP, named Every Loser
lands out next week, on 6 January.
Lead-single was the perfect harbinger. 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
It’s been two years since these Scottish hound dogs made
my speakers tremble with their furious Johnny single.
But on their steamy comeback stomper they still have the same barnstorming groove and move drive. Something Good is a nasty rip-roaring-riff jackhammer,
annex agitated vocals, rotating in your head in an ear-blink. Think NYC’s darlings Interpol playing The Fall. Something good? Way better, something ace!
Geordie Greep (vocalist, guitar): “Almost everything I write is from a true thing, something
I experienced and exaggerated and wrote down. I don’t believe in Hell, but all that old world folly is great for songs, I’ve always loved movies and anything else with a depiction of Hell.”
A screwy zig-zagging haymaker it is.
From their head-spinning 3rd LP Hellfire.
“A paean to taking your foot off the gas and letting things slide, or a warning of the perils of procrastination, perhaps? It’s hard to tell whether ‘Mañana’ is meant to serve as a confessional regarding Domestic’s own perceived lack of willpower, or a celebration of idleness. It could be either of these things; and that’s one of its many joys.”.
A sirens intro, David Bowie‘s saxophone, and steel drums straight from Trinidad. Sounds like an exotic swing and shake ditty is coming up. No folks, it’s a lazy rap-sody you can play the morning after a booze marathon to get up and sober up, slowly.
Soul voice Clare Gillet takes care of the chirpy chorus.
These Welshmen released their new excellent album Druids and Bards
displaying mastermind Scott Marsden high-quality songwriting.
This impassioned hard-luck story is my fav cut. It grows slowly but surely into a soul-stirring and mesmerising heartbreaker with an epic finale. Glowing guitars, a steady drumbeat, and mixed-emotions vocals all come together for a poignant performance.
‘Love Is Cruel / The Hurt Within’. You can feel it.
This wholly charismatic and fast up-and-coming darkwave duo mixes Gothic Depeche Mode beats, with sonic Human League echoes, bass-synth-riffs à la German legends D.A.F. and spice it all up with spooky vocals. And it looks like 2023 will even be bigger than 2022.
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.
“It’s a warning, an unflinching assessment of the vastness and insignificance of this
life, is precisely counterbalanced by their lesson, which models the resilience that this understanding demands. ‘Demolition Row’ is persistent, concise, and alarmingly physical.”
This blustery belter is vintage Metz. Full blast ahead. The track
featured on a split 7” with London-based group Adult Life.
From Dylan’s Desolation Row
to Metz’s Demolition Row…
Once I learned that this startling belter is about the horrible exploitation of human
beings by ferocious money sharks this jagged jackhammer blew my mind even harder than I heard it the first time before knowing about the band’s inspiration for this slam.
Expect rabid guitars, doom-and-gloom vocals, and frantic
twists and turns until the chaotic finale. Post-punk at
its razorblade best.
Jeen: “It’s about letting yourself drift in the flow of everything and hanging on as hard as you can to what makes the shitty parts more tolerable…I was thinking of that Hunter S. Thompson quote, “buy the ticket, take the ride.” It was written in April 2021, which was a rough part of last year for me. I needed to write something that reminded me to tread lightly, to forget about the heaviness of everything.
After only one spin, my ears told me that Chemical Emotion is an bewitching pop doozy. Jeen‘s emotive voice bewitches right away, the mid-tempo cadence emphasizes the meditative reflection perfectly, the compelling chorus brings Alanis Morissette to mind, and overall the orchestral sonority and the layered harmonies lead to a thrilling triumph.
Oscar Mic wrote this song after witnessing the horrific violence of
psycho Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine on the news. All proceeds of
the song weent to Save The Children’s Ukraine Appeal.
We Are Ukrainian is a vivid hp-rap-pop anthem featuring steel drums
and timpani balancing somewhere between Roots Manuva and Mr. Scruff.
“Fleeing people running scared, so tell me Where’s the justice? Our leaders say they care,
tell me can you trust this? Urban warfare, your home’s done and dusted, Aiming at the
public, they wouldn’t? They just did,”
TUTV: Greg Dulli‘s pipes reach for the sky throughout this new standout LP. His unique rock voice is the unwearying motor of this heart-and-soul opus. And when the songs are of supreme quality, as all 10 terrific tunes here are, and your bustling band are on a raucous roll with the vitality of young wolves you end up with the undeniable best album of 2022.
2. ‘Cave World’ by VIAGRA BOYS (Stockholm, Sweden)
Turn Up The Volume: The more our world gets fucked-up the more inspiration Viagra Boys have to write absurd, hilarious, sarcastic, crazy, monkey-ish songs about
all the related mess, embedded in their by now familiar filthy punk and roll grooves.
Never a dull moment with punk rock loser Sebastian Murphy in the middle. And they
played the best gig to my ears/eyes a couple of weeks ago in Antwerp, Belgium.
Turn Up The Volume: After playing opener Clocks to the max, with its Blitzkrieg grinta, it feels like the band and I are already out of breath as you can hear on the post-explosion outro. I felt wrong, as several KO Killers (Ded Würst / The Warden / I Am Kate Moss and the JAWDROPPING missile closer No Thanks, I’m Full) follow and do your head in. Ditz is a mean manic post-punk machine. The first minutes of the slower pieces (Three / Instinct / Teeth) are misleading, halfway they explode like grenades. No rest for the wicked, no rest for Ditz, no rest for your ears.
Turn Up The Volume: Back in 2016 Crows blew my mind when they played a small club
gig in my hometown of Ghent, Belgium. A memorable one cemented in the aural side of my
brain. The immense intensity and their frenetic furiosity were no less than jaw-dropping. On Beware Believers, their high-powered passion is still intact and its sizzling sound evolved further into a mean Herculean rock machine.
Blistering hammer blows like Garden Of England, Slowly Separate, and Room 156 are already noted in my end-of-the-year list of best 2022 knockouts. And reflective reality checks like the Joy Division-esqueHealing, Moderation, Wild Eyed & and Loathsome, and the fucktastic Meanwhile have the sonic vehemence to burn holes in your stereo.
TUTV: Musically and lyrically, this 3rd LP is moony, mellow and pensive with frontman Grian Chatten becoming a modern-day crooner who touches sensitive hearts, especially Irish ones as this album is about their Irish past/present/future identity in and outside of their beloved country.
TUTV: Weirdly exciting and capriciously inventive. This new LP resonates like a Zappa-esque rock circus. A sundry potpourri of symphonic jazz-prog-rock twists and turns, building up/breaking down constructions, forth/back and vertical/horizontal saltations with head-spinning orchestrations. Welcome to Black Midi‘s hell.
. Turn Up The Volume wrote: Prepare your ears for brawny industrial bombast (No Yes More less / Veni Vidi Vici / Feed The Wound / Taranatula), nightmares in slow-motion (Limbo / Sugar My Pill / The Judas Chair), wham-bam-glam drones (Glitz Krieg / The Dark Room) and the fantastic slow-burning gospel chant of the title track. It’s all there to have yourself a merciless head-banging pig trip. File next to Rammstein’s new opus Zeit.
TUTV: The result of the collaboration of wordsmith and poetry lover Peter Doherty and French composer Frédéric Lo who wrote the music, is a sparkling thing of beauty. This is the record to play when you’re feeling lazy, and in the mood for doing just nothing but daydreaming while lying in a green field enjoying the sun. Expect romantic lullabies with violins, piano and smooth horns, sweet little pop ditties, and sepia-colored tunes that transfer you to a place far away from our cruel reality.
9. ‘All Of Us Flames’ by EZRA FURMAN (Chicago, US)
TUTV: Definitely her most complete accomplishment to date. Majestic songwriting quality. Top-level tunes in orchestration, arrangement and vocal emotiveness. Here and there songs’ structures and Furman‘s fragile voice (Train Comes Trough / Throne / Poor Girl A Long Way From Home) bring, yes, Tom Petty to mind. Un-Americana Americana splendor with an artist who’s slowly but surely finds her way as a human being on this frightful planet.
TUTV: Disco fuel for 24-Hour misfit parties in obscure nightclubs for SM fans, physically unsatisfied individuals looking for sexual healing, gangbang addicts, nudists, lost sex workers, manic David Lynch characters, neurotic Brexit victims, acid-house junks, erotic lovers, lobotomized politicians, trashmouth artists, Andy Weatherall junks and all other messed-up souls who hate reality and want to dance/party/fuck/hallucinate to stripped-down techno beats. E-tastic.
Turn Up The Volume: Check in on a Saturday Warmduscher Fever Night, ladies and gents, at the club called The Hotspot. Feel the sultry ambiance, have a couple of cocktails at the bar, dance to some banging boosters and some funky Sly Stone vibes, and go twitchin’ in the kitchen now and then.
Turn Up The Volume: JO-JO is the flamboyant Amazon in the middle. She sings the
blues with the vigorous vitality of eternal legend Janis Joplin (We’re Just Animals / Moon Child), she rocks her multi-colored tail off with the gusto of Grace Slick on a roll (My Babe / No More Good News / Don’t Get Too Heavy), she has the groovy guts and the glamorous looks of eccentric punkette Nina Hagen and to close the show she affects with a gripping candlelight reverie for the midnight hours (Oh Brother).
Mind you, she’s not alone. Her bang-on band The Teeth know all the 60s/80s/80s
rock ‘n’ blues ‘n’ glam ‘n’ punk ‘n’ roll classics. They back Jo-Jo with a mood-and-cadence fitting firework of Jimmy Page riffs, John Lee Hooker hooks and Slash licks. Retro injected electricity.
Turn Up The Volume: As I said several times before, Samara and Animal are
adventurous architects in sound and vision (watch the singles’ spectacular videos
below / also the artwork for their releases is always a reflection of vivid visual inventiveness).
On this new, bone-and-mind chilling, longplayer both high-tech DIY artists keep
on challenging sonic and thematic boundaries. It’s also the first time we hear poetry fanatic Samara sing instead of reciting her poetic chimeras, as on psychoanalytic
discharge Shaman and on doom-punk sledgehammer Human Sacrifice.
There are so many layers, so many different directions, so many pendulum movements and so many unexpected turns at play here that you need several spins to get a grip of their poetallica world fully. This record as well as their debut are voyages of discovery.
Turn Up The Volume said: Damon Albarn was the first name that popped up in my head when The Early Years impressed my ears on first hearing. At times I thought he was a guest singer on Vanwymeersch‘s debut longplayer, with his pondering voice and his musing songs . Check Drama I, Who Can Tell, I’m Wide Awake and you’ll find out why.
Vanwymeersh also, like Albarn, is a song architect. All lullabies, reveries, and tunes at
play here stick quickly. But with every listen you discover how rich and subtly layered the musical arrangements and feel-good orchestrations (hear that playful banjo sound on Part Of Me ) are. Then again he invites you into his sonic labyrinth where he goes left, right, and back in one and the same song (When You’re Old And Grey And Full Of Sleep / Fall From Grace).
15. ‘Carrion Repeating’ by JAMES DOMESTIC (Essex/Suffolk, UK)
TUTV: Domestic is a story-telling Cockney wordsmith, tackling politics, daily life shit, gobbling business sharks, and other related mess.
Musically anything is possible. Screechy guitars and 60s sounding Hammond organs to inflame tirades such as Itchy Itchy, Faze Out, Bean Counter and Push on Trough. Saxophone and steel drums straight from Trinidad on Mañana. Soulful female voices and Le Freak C’est Chic riffs on Never Enough. A reggae vibe with xylophone touches on Is Thay You?. Dub Jah Wobble bas on Weekend Carbs and Giblets. He just does what his ears like.
Turn Up The Volume:Dim Gray float in a universe where the poignancy and
starry-eyed melodrama of Sigur Rós and the spiritual vocality of day-and-night
dreamers Fleet Foxes become one. This heart-and-soul stirring trio reverberates
like a full orchestra. They’re cinematic pop architects working with a drone flying
up high like an eagle and showing us where the ocean meets the sky.
Symphonic pop splendour. Firmament is a shiny diamond of a record.
I really can’t say more about this multi-faceted record and its from lost soul to ‘fuck it, you only live once’ author does herself.
Koan: “This record sounds like I’m schizophrenic in a way coz there are so many mad emotions in the songs. They are all very real, which took some guts to vocalize but I’m proud that we managed to bring it all across in a raw and real way. It’s not as sexually charged as my first album.
This new album COCOON was written during the lockdown, so many emotions that were pent up inside had time and space to surface and they sure came out with a vengeance. Anger, procrastination, questions about the way we C/O-exist in this society, and some new relationship issues like jealousy, infidelity, breakups. So it’s a more grown up album with more grown up topics.”
Turn Up the Volume: A striking work of top-notch tunes, written by mastermind Scott Marsden, that get under your skin slowly but surely until you see/hear the whole picture and realize that this is one of the most gripping albums of 2022 in my book. And lots to learn about Wales’ history.
Turn Up The Volume: Liam says that he is happy with his rock formula. So nothing new? No, just a bunch of new songs from good to very good. As much as I love our kid I enjoy him the most when he’s a rock ‘n’ roll star on stage. That’s his habitat. That’s what he does best. Entertaining a crowd/choir of 50.000 in a green field. See you in Belgium in August, Liam, on a green field of course.
The greatest Belgian singer-songwriter ever past away this year. A passionate chansonnier, a blues man, a rocker, a goosebumps crooner, a charismatic personality, and a one-of-a-kind live performer. I saw him about a 100 times, mostly solo, but also with his fantastic band TC Matic and one-time side projects.
Opex is his final longplayer. Vocally you hear him suffer from that deadly
disease that killed him shortly after recording the LP. I miss him, really hard.
