Good Busy

Turn Up The Volume’s 20 BEST ALBUMS OF 2023

Posted on by JL

1. ‘Heavy Heavy’ by YOUNG FATHERS

This sizzling Scottish trio nailed it big time with their 3rd LP. Heavy Heavy is one of those rare remarkable records that arouses from start to finish, with the cliché no fillers, all killers all over it. You hear its sonic brilliance, you feel its dauntless vocality, you realise quickly that this album is special, very special.


(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Antwerp 2023)

An undisputable first-class work where vitalizing soul, ecstatic pop melodiousness
and self-willed hip-hop come together in an organic way. A spiritual happening.

Funk-punk drunk virtuosity with astonishing vocal teamwork.

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2. ‘Sea Of Mirrors’ by THE CORAL (Liverpool, UK)

The seasoned psych-folk-pop-rock ramblers launched their 11th album, named
Sea Of Mirrors last September. Unquestionably one of their best in their succesful
career.


(Press photo via Maintain Perspective PR)

Expect a non-stop sequence of reflective pop fantasies, of tantalizing tunes
with a laid-back resonance and meditative musings that cause a welcome,
lazy state of mind.

Blissfully feelgood vocality, with a melancholic timbre, everywhere.

Gently weeping strings. A seamless sonic marriage of acoustic and electric guitars.
It’s vintage The Coral as we know them, but even more yearning for romanticism than before. So they left their island and travelled to their fictional Western reality where all
sorts of misfits try to survive. Americana, the Liverpool way.

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3. ‘Fronzoli’ by PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS

The turbulent psych-rock team from Perth, Australia hit bullseye with
their 6th full lenght Fronzoli (meaning ‘something unnecessary added
as decoration’).


Press photo

Uppercut after uppercut, corker after corker, jackhammer after jackhammer and two breathers with Cpt. Gravity Mouse Welcome and the short acoustic beauty ‘Illusions of Grandeur’). Your ears need to be in great shape to absorb
this whirlwind record.

If PPC were animals they would be hungry wolves wandering in the deserts of Australia looking for prey. Their melting pot of glam metal, pithy punk, high-voltage pop and other noisy shout-outs results in an ecstatic body of infectious. Btw, am I the only one who thinks McEwan‘s voice resembles Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner one (now and then) and vice versa, of course.

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4. ‘War Is Obsolete’ by THE BARBITURATES (Northern Island)

These Northern Irish political punk guerilla’s launched
a fully topical record titled War Is Obsolete
this year.

Here’s a message from their HQ in Londonderry.

“Some of The 1% are investors in the great big industrial war machine – the clearing / repairing of war torn cities / countries and rebuilding them along with there big pharma – food n supplies companies ect they make massive profits on all levels of war from the bullets n bombs fired to the food n medicine and everything you can imagine in between – this collection of sound scapes and anti war songs on this guerrilla ontological discordant meditation Ep are our SMALL way of trying to help raise money for the innocent human beings being punished and hurt because of other people’s ignorance – hate – fear – oppression!! ALL THE PROCEEDS OUR DIGITAL SALES NOW AND UNTIL THINGS INPROVE WILL GO TO THESE PEOPLE!!”

The Barbiturates care about our messed-up society, about humanity, about the weak, the poor and the outsiders, about tolerance, about inclusivity, about the desperate need for global peace. Couldn’t agree more.

Unfortunately, all the caring in the world can’t avoid (another) dirty war. After Russia invaded Ukraine early last year, Israel and Palestine started a filthy, deadly war in Gaza two weeks ago. Horrible, just horrible, again. One day a devastating world catastrophe will end it all.

War Is Obsolete is an intruiging, versatile and bone-chilling journey. Sonically with its experimental electronica psych jams and ambient, spacey orchestrations. The evil terror caused by war-and-power greedy scumbags needs to be stopped. The late great pacifist John Lennon never understood these murderous maniacs either, as we know it.

Purchase this record, digitally, 5£ or more.
All proceeds got to PCRF – Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

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5. ‘Ignore Grief’ by XIU XIU (California)

This Californian experimental act, founded in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart surprise every time they come up with new music. Also with Ignore Grief, already their
13th full length, XX impress mightily.


(Press photo)

Ignore Grief is not happy music, it’s grim reality music, it’s mind-boggling music.
Inventive, capricious and ideal as the soundtrack for one of David Lynch‘s hallucinatory films. Although after a couple of spins, you’ll find out that Xiu Xiu‘s spellbinding sonic exorcism is more accessible than you thought at first. Their orchestral manoeuvres in
the dark are flabbergasting.

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6. ‘One Man Band’ by MILES KANE (UK)

British retro-mod rocker Miles Kane, half of The Last Shadow Puppets
(the other half being his great friend and Arctic Monkeys’ maestro Alex Turner)
released his 5th LP, titled One Man Band’ last summer.

As he said himself multiple times Kane loves the swinging 60s/70s pop, rock
and soul splendor. So again, you hear here those flamboyant influences from the past. And he always comes up with upbeat tunes that stick and put a big smile on your face. Guitar pop at its cacthing best.

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7. ‘Songs Of Silence’ by VINCE CLARKE (UK)

The synth-pop musician/songwriter who started his career with Depeche Mode,
who he left after their 1981 debut album to form Yazoo (1981–1983, 2008-2011)
with grand voice Alison Moyet and later on he started Erasure with singer/songwriter
Andy Bell launched his solo debut LP with Songs Of Silence.

TUTV: If you don’t pay attention to the author of this record when you’re listening
to it, there’s a great chance that you think that it’s another ambient Brian Eno album.

The relaxing ambient atmospheres Clarke creates (Cathedral / Passage / Imminent / Last Transmission) are similar to the ones Eno composes/composed (29 solo LPs, so far).

Clarke paints synth-scapes with an overall symphonic sonority, with both classical
and futuristic sounscapes. This is the sort of cosmic music that calms me down after a busy day. Its relaxing effect soothes my buzzing mind. Tranquillizing, instrumental (except for Blackleg which is infused with eerie chants) uncomplicatedness for dark winter nights.

Silent majesty.
Sonic ear-massage.

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8. ‘God Games’ by THE KILLS (US/UK)

Seasoned blues-rock duo THE KILLS – Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince – are finally back with a new longplayer, their first in 7 years, following the swirling Ash & Ice album in 2016.


(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Amsterdam, 2016)

God Games features fewer fireworks than on previous LPs, but the pair still move and groove with sonic fervour and melodramatic tunes, as we know them. Sultry, delirious and passional.

When Mosshart sings the blues, her heart-and-soul vocality draws all attention. Her tantalizing timbre and her midnight hour tone combined with Hince‘s edgy riffs and roasting hooks are what made me a Kills fan from day 1.

This 12-track record is a slow grower. Take your time, it’s all worth it.

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9. ‘Praise Of The Iconoclast’ by MORLOCKS (Sweden)

Swedish post-punk-Goth turbo MORLOCKS were formed last century by mastermind J.Strauss, and had several line-ups over the years. The trio operate around the borderlines between the collective subconscious, paradoxical multiverses and the bad conscience of the world, as we know it.

They travel either like sinister prowlers through the shadows, or like a raging
bulldozer, sneaking and bolting through and between the Cold War, radioactive wastelands, the catacombs of Rome and unspeakable dimensions beyond
the Unknown Kadath.

They care about humanity, they haunt everybody who doesn’t care, and they
embed their anger, frustration and hope in titanic, intimidating and cast iron
industrial bombast with loud and clear messages. Think Rammstein and NIN
having a sonic fight with riot guns. Doomsday is just around the corner and is
orchestrated by Morlocks.

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10. ‘Islands In The Sky’ by DEATH VALLEY GIRLS (California)

The L.A. garage rock fury led by vocalist/guitarist/organist and natural-born
charismatic front-Amazon Bonnie Bloomgarden triumphed with their 5th LP
this year.


(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Brussels, 2023)

Islands In The Sky is, without a shadow of a doubt, according to my trained ears, their
best achievement (so far). When you combine pop/rock songwriting quality, richly layered orchestrations, Bloomgarden‘s full-hearted vocal dynamism and tons of tunes (if anything else tunes are key) wrapped up in party-igniting vibes, you have a winner.

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11. ‘Good Busy’ by THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY (The Netherlands)

Dutch humanistic rock unit The Irrational Library is a pretty special affair.

A band with its roots firmly planted in both the regional and international
counterculture. They produce a raw, dirty groove influenced by punk,
provo, punk icons and spiced with sultry saxophone here and there.

Their poetry is packed with social criticism. They drew my ears’ attention with their 2021 album We Are… Doomed. An open-minded-plainspoken-asskicking-anti-establishement-and-other-scumbags opus.

The same biting spirit is present on their brand new full-length GOOD BUSY. Moody reveries and blasting belters alternate creating an overall stirring/roaring record in the end with, once again, a main role for highly dedicated and caring America-born frontman-punk-rapper-poet-storyteller Joshua Baumgarten.

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12. ‘The Crack And The Light’ by CMON CMON (Belgium)

Belgian guitar pop/rock band CMON CMON started their second coming
about two years ago, driven by sheer love for music. Writing it, recording it,
sharing it, playing it live, and enjoying it along with their fans.

No masterplan whatsoever to conquer the world, no commercial pressure.
They restarted with one and only one goal. Making the best album their
experience and their hearts and souls could come up with.

A balanced mix of amplified guitar-infused dream pop tunes with a melancholic
and soothing touch. References? R.E.M, Dinosaur Jr., Teenage Fanclub, Sparklehorse
and The Chills, to name a few. I’m sure you get the sonic picture.

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13. ‘A Headlong Fall Into The Vast Ocean Of Anxiety’ by EYEMOUTH (Sweden)

Expect atmospheric synth-scapes for soundtracks of sci-fi movies, mellow Pink Floyd echoes, dark-electro-wave surrealism, and an overall synth-symphonic sonority.

All mesmerizingly orchestrated with both classical and venturesome music structures. Now and then composer Marcus Lilja‘s ghostly voice adds an extra mysterious touch to
the instrumental grandeur at play. The power of nature in selectronic motion. Cinematic music that triggers your imagination.

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14. ‘Back In The Room’ by THE DHARMA VIOLETS (Wales)

THDV embed 60s psychedelia in a blistering mix of flaming garage rock mania,
swaggering mid-tempo grooves, an impressive, amplified slo-mo jam right in the middle and a stunning opener with horns snippets of Primal Scream‘s e-tastic classic Loaded.

Overall I hear Beatles-like harmonies, multi-layered guitar extravaganza à la Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, steady drums/bass horsepower, sizzling six-string solos, psyched-out space steamrollers, 24 Karat riff-rushing rockers, some slow ones, and echoing vocals
from the eight miles high past. Final result: a hell of a must-hear record that I added to
my best-albums-of-2023 list. The Dharma Violets should be huge. FACT! Don’t miss them.

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15. ‘Secret Life’ by FRED AGAIN… and BRIAN ENO

Weird collaboration? No, certainly not. The very popular EBM/house/hip-hop/DJ Fred and the legendary ambient wizard Brian Eno complete each other here perfectly. They create a sonic labyrinth where Eno‘s hallucinatory ambient waves progress in slow motion, causing a trance trip in a foggy environment while Fred‘s phantasmal vocals seem to come from an unknown universe.

Secret Life is a hushed, soothing companion for late-night mind entertainment after
another busy day and too much noisy music. Soothing, calming and triggering lazy dreaming.

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16. ‘Shook’ by ALGIERS (US/UK)

With Shook this American/English outfit drew tons of critical praise. Rightly so.
It’s a tremendously varied work. They jump from zestful hip-rap-hop to forceful
post-punk-rock, to soulful lullabies, to arresting spoken-word protest, to sparkling
gospel. 54 minutes long, but you get sucked in every second. Wowzers!


(Press – FB Algiers)

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17. ‘Venom’ by WARGASM (UK)

London‘s nu-rap-metal sensation WARGASM – Milkie Way and Sam Matlock – shocked the indie punk world with their debut album, titled Venom.


Press photo

A vicious motherrocker of an album. A monstrous collection of left/right uppercuts.
A schizophrenic series pf brain-breaking slegdhammers you can win sonic wars with. Holy smoke!

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18. ‘The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons’ by THE HIVES (Sweden)

The Swedish amazeballs punk clowns The Hives are back in town. They unleashed
their new LP, called The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons (I have no clue who that guy is?)
last summer.


📸 Bisse Bengtsson

Be ready for a tsunami of Molotov cocktails, punk-o-rama riffage, and yell-along
refrains spit out by primal screamer Pele. No rest for the wicked. Beware, this explosive record can damage your speakers. On the other hand, it’s the ideal soundtrack for banging your poor head against the kitchen wall and/or jumping up and down like a kangaroo on ecstasy.

Alert your neighbours before you start the deafening razzmatazz
and watch out for the anti-decibels police. Lots of LOUD fun.


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19. ‘This Stupid World’ by YO LA TENGO (US)

Yo la Tengo is all things indie. They follow their own capricious path, for almost
40 years now. They create uncomplicated melodies and then give them an edgy touch
that guides them in different directions. From acoustic to electric and back.

Different moods, different sonic tones. It’s old news that we live in a stupid world where political me, myself, and I leaders use the 2000-year-old trick of divide and conquer. YLT know too, of course, but reality as it is, obviously inspired them to make another rad record.

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20. ‘Clear Pound Road’ by KRISTIN HERSH (US)

The stirring Throwing Muses legend Kristin Hersh released
her new solo LP, titled Clear Pound Road last September.


(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Belgium, 2022)

Expect Krautrock dynamics with an acoustic guitar and a mellow cello. Song by song,
the repetitive/rotating rhythms have a magnetic power. 10 intro/outro-spective sparks glowing, like the lights on the LP’s cover. Hersh‘s voice is singular, a bit hoarser than before, think Marianne Faithfull. I love both voices

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THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY – Dutch/American Dropouts Dropped 3rd Single Off Their New ‘GOOD BUSY’ Album

Posted on by JL

New striking strokes

10 November 2023

Dutch/American socially caring and politically outspoken unit THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY, fronted by America-born frontman-punk-rapper-poet-storyteller Joshua Baumgarten launched their 4th LP, titled GOD BUSY last September. A stirring/roaring record with a mix of moody musings, badass belters and sharp-teethed cry-outs with anti-establishment rants and social criticism as the main lyrical themes.

TUTV recently had a chat with Joshua about their new opus. You can read it here.

To stay good busy TIL dropped their 3rd single off the album.

BREADCRUMBS FOR THE GLUTEN FREE is “an intense
cathartic wall of sound/text and fury” says Baumgarten.

Intense indeed. You expect the track to explode any second. Anxiousness grows menacingly for 3.15 minutes, pumped up by a flustered beat and a brassy saxophone, while Baumgartenis is a word waterfall again.

We are all just commercial content
How can we be living free
when all the cameras see
what we can’t see


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GOOD BUSY


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TIL: Facebook – Instagram
TUTV: Blog – Facebook – Instagram – Spotify

THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY Have Their 4th Album ‘GOOD BUSY’ Out – Their Frontman JOSHUA BAUMGARTEN Talks About It With TUTV

Posted on by JL

10 October 2023

Dutch humanistic rock unit THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY is a pretty special affair.

A band with its roots firmly planted in both the regional and international
counterculture. They produce a raw, dirty groove influenced by punk,
provo, punk icons and spiced with sultry saxophone here and there.

Their poetry is packed with social criticism. They drew my ears’ attention with their 2021 album We Are… Doomed. An open-minded-plainspoken-asskicking-anti-establishement-and-other-scumbags opus. The same biting spirit is present on their brand new full-length GOOD BUSY. Moody reveries and blasting belters alternate creating an overall stirring/roaring record in the end.  Perfect occasion for an interview.

The band’s highly dedicated and caring America-born frontman-punk-rapper-poet-storyteller Joshua Baumgarten will tell us in-depth about being busy in a very good way. But first, as usual, we start an interview with a slice of steaming music from the new LP.


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Hello Joshua,
Welcome,

When and how did TIL got together?

“I guess we got together around 2016. I was then running my own secondhand subculture shop in Haarlem under the name The Irrational Library. It was filled with books, music, film, posters, random weird stuff. We had two barbers, live music, a fridge full of beer, and was an open door to all those who crossed its threshold.

It was via the shop I met Tom (baritone saxophonist and guitarist), and Mishal (bassist). Lars (drummer) I knew from the bands he was then currently playing in. Mishal offered to put some music behind a poem I had called “The Don’t be a Dick About It Doctrine’s featured on our first album Now That We Still Can


Cover of 2017 debut album Now That We Still Can

What he did really blew my mind. We had a chance to do a 15-minute live set on a local festival that spring. Mishal and I and two other musicians did something that I felt was really unique and special. A few months later I told Mishal that I wanted to do this more as a real band. I knew Tom played baritone sax and I liked him as a person, so I said I wanted him in the band.

We did two tryouts for drummers. Lars was the second and from the first beat, he and Mishal clicked as rhythm section. Like most things with us, it happened organically. Wasn’t forced, it just was meant to be.”

What’s the story behind the band’s name and why
you’re described it as a counterculture act?

“I have been using the name The Irrational Library since 2000 as a publishing title for small self-made books of poems and art. When I started living and working in Haarlem I started using it as the name for performance evenings with local bands, poets, performers of all sorts. Then the shop and then the band. It just has a ring to it and it covers everything we are.

A long time ago I lived in Los Angeles and my roommate and I had a very vast and diverse collection of all different types of art. An Irrational Library is the idea that you don’t have to be into just one thing but the beautiful combination different genres, forms, styles make a person a more well-rounded versed person. And being able to recognize the links in music, poetry, art. Self-expression doesn’t need to be single minded but continuous searching into whatever it is that calls to you.

As far as being a counterculture act, I guess the base of what we do comes out of a punk ethos. Push against the grain. To define your own style. To cut and paste your own creative vision. The Irrational Library members grew up feeding off of those great creative visionaries that came before. We aren’t re-creating the wheel per se, just spinning it at our
own tempo.

Plus I like to write a lot about what a fucked up world we all enjoy. I guess that is somewhat counter to the accept it as it is culture. It is a label put upon us so people
can grasp on to an idea of what we do. In the end, this is who we are as a band and this
is what we do.

Which track would you play to the people who never heard of you?

“Interesting question.

Huevos Rancheros, the first single of the new album Good Busy. It is so out of leftfield for us. It was one of the first we came up with after our last album We…are Doomed. It is fresh and vibey, shows the growth of Tom’s guitar work. The groove just picks you up and carries you along. And lyrically I am very fond of the poetics in it. Somewhat surreal, stream of consciousness but also very pointed.

I can remember sitting down to write and telling myself to just let go and free form something. Huevos Rancheros is what came out. It is a fun and freeing song to play live as well. And it opens the door to the surprises of the new album. We stay true to what we do but are never afraid to follow something that just feels good to us.

It is a song that can make people say, “well now, what was that?” And then the rest will make them think, “well, what is this?” Each track stands alone and is equally part of the whole essence of the album.”


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Your 4th album GOOD BUSY is out now. What is
it that you want to express with the title?

“I am an American living in the Netherlands for 23 years. I love playing with the two languages of Dutch and English. Incorporating Dutch words or references into songs.

GOOD BUSY is translated from the Dutch saying, Goed Bezig. Dutch people say this to one another when they are more or less busy with doing something productive. It can also be used sarcastically when you are busy fucking something up. During practice one day we were just doing what we normally do and it just came out, GOOD BUSY.

After our last album We…are Doomed, it was fun to flip the coin and play with something sounding more positive. Also the fact that even during corona we came out with our 3rd album/book together with graphic artist TRIK and also wrote the majority of GOOD BUSY.

Staying busy with what motivates you will pull you through all the ups and downs in life. Giving in, giving up, turning over and going back to sleep won’t fulfill your days. Take a power nap and then get back to it. Stay GOOD BUSY.

We also played around with the title ‘Full On Rock Show!‘.
But figured we could save that for out best of compilation.”

The album’s artwork is impressive in a weird/funny way.
Who designed it and what’s the connection with the songs?

“TRIK, the graphic artist who did the artwork and book attached to
the We…are Doomed project did GOOD BUSY as well. Mishal, our bass
player had an idea of putting a photo of Lars’ dreamy face on the cover,
a sort of homage to Iggy Pop on the cover of Lust for Life.

Mishal made the photo and TRIK did his thing. Not everyone was into it at first. Took a bit of convincing to get all four of us on board. I think it is a beautiful, life-affirming illustration. It stands out. It POPS. TRIK created the letter type as well and the distinct colors. How it connects to the songs…maybe the cover portrays a state of being, blissfully aware? Smile into the face of stupidity? Take from it what you want.

Some people comment that my lyrics/poems are anything but positive. I disagree to a large extent. They are more rallying cries then critical commentary. With a wink and a smile, we can all get by. In that way, the album cover art, the words and music all come together.”

Which music/artists inspired you when writing/making the record?.

“Music is for all of us a daily inspiration. I myself was listening to a guy named Sheafer McOmber who makes epic sort of stoner rock under the name Bloodshot Buffalo as well as Deer Lord. I call it mountain music, cause it makes me want to keep climbing mountains, though Holland has an eternally flat ass landscape.


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I reached out and made contact with Sheafer, who lives out in Northern California.
Funny, rad dude who is just doing what he loves to do. It is great to just chat/message
with people about being creative, sharing outtakes of music, etc.. getting inspired by like-minded people who are out there in the world.

And as always when I need a bit of poetic inspiration, I grab the book The Journal Of Albion Moonlight by Kenneth Patchen. Open it to any page and my mind is locked in and lit up.”

Was every member involved in the writing process?

“Yeah, what we do is like I said earlier, for lack of a better word organic. I do my writings when the moment is needed. Then I bring what I have with me to practice. As we are setting up usually Mishal is ready first, so he just starts laying down a groove. His playing is so unique in that he is actually a guitar player. For the band he wanted to do bass. So, what he comes up with it so different than the standard bass playing. Lars is usually next and starts laying out a beat.

Then Tom feels out if it is something at that moment for guitar or sax. And then maybe Tom will switch. It is all a feeling at that moment. And I just shuffle through the poems and wait to jump on to the train. Jams can evolve into songs of course and most times they do. But there are plenty of moments when I am digging something and when we finish the rest just say, nope. I am easily satisfied when I hear the other three play. They make my job very easy.

Once we have a sketch of an idea, then we start puzzling. Looking for B parts, trimming extra fat off the text…killing those darlings. This is my favorite part of being in the band. The puzzling, the figuring out where the words should bounce and land on the beat. Pushing and pulling against Tom’s baritone. The baritone is the counterbalance to my voice. So, we are always listening to one another to see where the space can be filled and left open.”

Are all songs in some way lyrically connected or do they all stand on their own?

“I think they stand alone but are also connected. All the poems are written during
a certain time frame. So, a state of mind can be picked up upon. But as I often write
about what is going on in the world, the stories evolve and change even as they stay
the same.

Every album is a sort of time capsule that encapsulates the here and then but
hopefully can also be stand the test of time and be relevant to the “here and now.”

Single HUEVOS RANCHEROS is one of the LP’s highlights. What’s the song
about and how is the colored air balloon in the video related to the song?

“Like I mentioned earlier Huevos Rancheros is a stream-of-consciousness poem that became about, I guess, just about being alive. There are so many fun twists and turns in the wordplay that sometimes that is also just it. But unconscious to me while writing the poem, the wordplay does its own dance. Words have a tendency to pick their own dance partners.

Like these lines… “And as landscapes unfold like origami untold and newspaper swans
are just yesterday’s news, well, I saw extinction walking secondhand alligator shoes.”

I just dig how those words puzzle themselves together and create such a fun vision. Whenever I doubt my own poetic capabilities, I just think of those lines and smile.

The video of the colored hot air balloon was like lots of things with us, a mix of randomness and opportunity. We are not a video band. Who has the attention span to watch a full music video these days? Plus, Huevos would be a tricky one to try to set out and make a video for, unless there were some chemicals involved.

My barber and an old partner in the Irrational Library shop, Rob (now named the Mad Daddys Barbershop) gave me a good tutorial about putting shit online for promo. Insta, Fbook, YouTube, all that stuff that I can never really get into for promo reasons.

But he convinced me of the benefits it can have of at least making people aware of what you are doing, like a candle in the middle of a clusterfuck. Anyway…my family were at the camping we hide out at during the temperate seasons here in NL – and often during the summer, there are hot air balloons passing by in the sky in the early evening. This one sort of hovered for a bit above the camping, then dropped out of sight, then just made it over the tree line to finally set down in the farmland behind us.

I just started filming cause it was kinda cool looking. Later on that night, I thought that it would be a good fit for the song. Plus the length of the video pretty much matched the length of the track. Oppurtunity and convenience.”

Suppose the record would be the soundtrack for a movie, which one would it be?

“We have always thought that our music lends itself to cinema quite well. Maybe one day we will end up on a soundtrack. Qua soundtrack to an already existing movie…hard to say since I feel like we are so based in this time period of existence. For sake of the interview, I will say SLACKER, the first film from Richard Linklater. How the story weaves seamlessly from one character and discussion to the next. I miss the quality of filmmaking from that era of the early 90’s. Our music is also a product of that period.

Lots of rough and tumble edgy work came out during that period. From film (early Tarantino, music like Morphine, writing like Chuck Palahnuik) I feel fortunate to grown up in a period of time that was looking towards the future but still in tune with and open to learn from the past.”

What is an IRRATIONAL LIBRARY gig like and which
band/artist would you love to tour with and why?

“A gig is a coming together. A happening. And for us, an evening or day out with the boys. We come to play. And be that for five of five hundred, that is what we do. We go hard. Even in the softer numbers, we reach deep. We want people to get with us as we want to get with them. Has to be a give-and-take. I aim to hit the people in the head by what I say and th band is responsible for the neck down. Best compliment I ever got was when a woman told me that “we were the only band that made her dance and think at the same time.” Get loose, get lost, get yourself free.

In December we will be heading to the UK for our first time to do one show with the band Dead Anyway and label mates Rick & Rudie (Floprecords.com). Dead Anyway were here last winter for a show with us. We met when both bands were featured on the playlist of an online radio program called Bagel Radio out of New York from a super cool dude named Ted Liebowitz.

Dead Anyway reached out to us to say hello and how much they dug what we did. It was again just a pure and inspiring moment of contact. I like doing things with people I see as contemporaries, like minded searchers. Also helps that we are all grown ass adults with very few illusions about what we do and why we do it. In the end doing shows with people you champion as much as they champion you is a gift.”


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What’s the band’s ultimate goal?

“Me doing interviews that contain much shorter answers.”

Thanks a bunch for this interview, Joshua.
May the road rise with The Irrational Library.

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THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY – Counterculture Collective Returns With Electrifying Pop Gem ‘HUEVOS RANCHEROS’

Posted on by JL

15 August 2023

Band: THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY
Who: The Irrational Library is a Dutch-American rock band with its roots
firmly planted in both the regional and international counterculture. The
Dutch-American band produces a raw, dirty groove influenced by punk,
provo and punk icons. Their poetry is packed with social criticism.

References: The Minutemen, Gil Scott Heron, The Mekons, The Fall, Iggy Pop

Back in January, the IL collective released their
3rd full-length, titled We… Are Doomed.


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Turn Up The Volume wrote: “The rap and roll venom of Rage Against The Machine,
the fuck-you-hypocrites grimness of Black Flag, the punky saxophone of X-Ray-Spex,
the sharp poetic spit and sneer anarchy of Mark. E. Smith, the challenging spirit of an
open-minded-plainspoken-asskicking-anti-establishement-and-other-scumbags force
of doom and gloom.”

Well, it’s a great day today. The IL just announced their 4th LP and the news
came in that former POTUS, criminal Donald Trump is indicted (again) along with
his 18 accomplices (including several lawyers!), for attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat in the state of Georgia. Maybe these Dutch mavericks should write
a crushing song about it.

Anyway the new LP is named Good Busy and will be released via
Floprecords, digitally on 11 September and physically (vinyl/CD)
4 days later.

Ahead of it comes the first single.

HUEVOS RANCHEROS is a song about seeing life clearly
through all the haze and confidently strolling through
the daze.

It’s a tremendously catchy and melodic tune that mesmerises from the kick-off.
Stimulated by a sparkling and melancholic guitar riff à la Kurt Vile, a footstompin’
beat and word-smith Joshua Baumgarten‘s expressive storytelling it becomes an
electrifying pop gem, after a couple of spins. One for which the repeat button was
invented for. One that invites you to stop for a while and look around to find the
light at the end of the tunnel.

LYRICS

I got awareness in my back pocket
and my lovelight is turned to high beam,
I can’t see so clearly now that the fog has rolled in
and reality is not as it seems.
Well, it’s not the first time I’ve been caught
in the shadows of self-confidence,
I’m a dual man wasting time wondering
about this abscess of excess.

Cycle human drama recycled karma
there is a glitch glitch glitching in my memories
well, I know it is built in there to make me blind
to what you don’t want me to see
And as landscapes unfold like origami untold
and newspaper swans are just yesterday’s news,
well, I saw extinction walking secondhand alligator shoes

Well, that’s right, you gotta slice the pie
to feed the need that you choose

Division inclusion graph the usual grift
dispersal of equality gone adrift.
So, what, sore losers
rub your eyes, grown men so often cry
about what you were never taught in school,
that as you get older the burden of proof falls
upon the shoulders of the fool

Yeah, that’s right, as you get older
the burden of proof falls upon the shoulders
of you the fool.

Now, every gender and very race
count your chickens,
eggs smashed in the basket of the commonplace.
Huevos Rancheros is a good friend of mine,
and I do like to scramble my brains
from time to time,
yeah, from time to time
from time to time

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Do you wonder what ‘Huevos rancheros‘ actually means, well I did wonder and after some googling I found this: “It’s is a breakfast egg dish served in the style of the traditional large mid-morning fare on rural Mexican farms.”

TIL: Facebook – Instagram