Turn Up The Volume’s 5 Best EXTENDED PLAYS Of 2020

COMMON SENSE by VIAGRA BOYS

This EP is the emotive, bluesy and saxy harbinger – with Lick The Bag as one of the best rollicking 2020 tracks – for the Swedish punks’ new album Welfare Jazz, out 8th January.

“I think our songs are mostly written about what’s going on in our lives. Not every band needs
to take themselves so seriously. I’m not very good at political commentary, so I’m not gonna go write a political song. There’s enough of that, in a way. You know, ‘Nazi punks fuck off’”
says sharp-tongued singer/songwriter/tattooist Sebastian Murphy.

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SPELLS by ATTAWALPA

Singer/songwriter Attawalpa is a South-American, London-based artist who’s “music
is the sum of his influences, a colourful and culturally rich Schmorgers board of sounds, textures, emotions, and grooves from eras across a multitude of genres, sitting comfortably
in between rock, alternative and pop spaces. His Peruvian heritage plays a part too.”

These four gracious pearls, with multi-layered orchestrations, shows an imaginative and
impassioned artist with a transcendent vox and the masterly gift to write absorbing songs with a sticking pop melodiousness.

Stream/buy here…


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BLUE STRAGGLERS by BLUE STRAGGLERS (Horsham, UK)

This rowdy Sussex turbo trio produces a fired-up blues-rock turbulence that electrifies
your body, makes smoke coming out of your ears and open up your sweat pores. Feel
free to bang your head against your living room walls, kick that coronavirus in the balls and let your locked up 2020 energy go its way with volcanic force. Yeeeeeeeeessss!


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PASTILLE EP by HMS MORRIS (Cardiff, Wales)

A collection of the 5 songs representing 2020 for this Welsh art-pop-folk duo.
“The taste of our particular flu pastille.”
says the pair.

Expect dream-pop in colors and mixed-emotions poetry in motion, embedded
in multi-dimensional arrangements and free-spirited patterns Kate Bush and
Florence Welch would definitely approve. Yes, that twinkling and sparkling good.

Stream/buy here…


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NEW EP by REMINGTON SUPER 60 (Norway)

If you want to get away from reality for a while than this Norwegian dream-pop act is the ideal partner. It’s romanticism wrapped in six lyrical musings – including one charming instrumental – with the near whispering, sensual voice of vocalist Elisabeth Thorsen having a soothing effect on your state of mind. The feel is tranquilizing, tender, idyllic like a sort of zen experience.


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Darkwave Act HALLOWS Dropped Brand New Single ‘THE CALL // RAVENOUS’…

New sonic impulses

28 March 2020


(photo by Daniel Kastner)

Band: HALLOWS

Who: “A darkwave/post-punk collaboration conceived in Minneapolis/St Paul in 2018, drifted to Seattle. The duo consisting of Dom R. (vocals, guitar, synth, drum programming) and Vanee D. (vocals, synth, bass) describes their music as layers of yearning sounds, bleeding into uplifting, sanguine beats, with an intimate message about modern day malaise told from an exposed, vulnerable lens.”

Track: THE CALL//RAVENOUS – brand new single – Dom R. said about the new cut “It
was the first song we composed as a band. We worked on this song for months, before we considered it complete. In essence, it’s about being on a dark journey, following this somber,
yet enthralling voice, you follow it to wherever it takes you. As you get lost in the night, it becomes home.”

Score: After their impressive debut single Subtle this haunting act nail it again with
their new nightmarish odyssey. A pitch black slo-mo trip into an overcast universe only they know the location of. Disturbing synths patterns, icy voices and shadowy vibrations infiltrate the dark side of your mind and open your doors of perception. Don’t fight it, it’s all worth it, I know I’ve been there.

HALLOWS: Facebook

(photo on top: FB Hallows)

Darkwave Duo HALLOWS Launches Pounding Title Track From Their Debut EP – Here’s ‘SUBTLE’…

New sonic impulses

13 February 2020

Band: HALLOWS

Who: “A darkwave/post-punk collaboration conceived in Minneapolis/St Paul in 2018, drifted to Seattle. The duo consisting of Dom R. (vocals, guitar, synth, drum programming) and Vanee D. (vocals, synth, bass) describes their music as layers of yearning sounds, bleeding into uplifting, sanguine beats, with an intimate message about modern day malaise told from an exposed, vulnerable lens.”

Track: SUBTLE – first single and also the title track from their debut EP

Score: Talking about a terrific debut! ‘Subtle‘ is an awesome, pounding darkwave killer.
The first affecting part starts with a vibrating synth riff, pounding drums and the spiritual voice of Dom R. Shortly after, the track enters a darker territory where The Sisters Of Mercy and German duo D.A.F also love to wander around, looking for obscure inspiration. The sound gets threatening, ominous and enigmatic, now with sombre vocals by Vanee D. heading its way towards a hellish end. Hallows definitely have a great gloomy future!

Enter the dark area right here…


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HALLOWS: Facebook


Debut EP SUBTLE out 3 April via Phage Tapes. More info here .