Standout longplayers

10 July 2022

Band: THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE (San Francisco)
Who: The gang of psychedelic music expert Anton Newcombe
Active: Since 1990 / 19 studio LPs incl. new one.

New Album: FIRE DOESN’T GROW ON TREES
Order info: here

Anton Newcombe: “When you are compelled to do the right thing, when you live by some internal code, and you don’t shy away from standing up to and in the face of adversity or against the mob or the man no matter what that might mean to ‘your fame or prospects’,
it’s doing the right thing…for some it might be taking a knee, or even a baton or bullet.

That’s a fire inside you, and it doesn’t grow on trees. I create my own culture because it is what I need and what I feel isn’t being provided. It doesn’t exist unless I participate… A lot of the album is about affirmation by just living. Existentially, this time period has felt pretty dark so it’s about fighting the good fight. I’m singing to empower other people. First of all, I’m getting whatever I need out of it, but I can see it as something other people can identify with.”

(Anton Newcombe – photo by Turn Up The Volume)

Turn Up The Volume: Best BJTM album in years with a lot of familiar BJTM fuzz/buzz, fervent feedback, and jingle jangle brilliance, as we know for years now, but with a richer, yes even poppier and more mellow resonance at times (like on ballad diamonds Whats In
A Name? and Before and Afterland) and overall with feverish and impassioned vocals that affect me more with every spin, sending shivers down my spine.

On the other hand, it’s another BJTM record that easily could have been recorded in the mid-60s when psychedelic pop/rock was all over the place. That’s the sound-exploring decade Anton Newcombe loves so much and inspires his own sonic universe so much.
From the past to the future.

But, as ever, with great albums – whether musically influenced by the past or not – it’s always about containing top tunes that you’ll listen to for a very long to come. And here you get 10 standout ones out of 10. The cliché ‘all killer, no filler‘ is totally applicable here. Trust me, this is one of the best LPs of 2022. FACT!

Stream full album on Spotify

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