Meighan with Kasabian in Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2015 – photo by Turn Up The Volume
TOM MEIGHAN, former voice/face of British rockers Kasabian who
was fired back in 2020, released his first solo LP The Reckoning last
year and started to tour.
Last June he performed at the legendary Isle Of Wight.
Here’s a spectacular rendition of Kasabian‘s 2009 hit FIRE (more than 178 million streams on Spotify).
British seasoned rockers KASABIAN, one of the best bands of the past 25 years on
record and on stage in my book, unleashed their 8th longplayer, titled HAPPENINGS.
Pizzorno (songwriter/frontman): “‘Happenings’ is a pop record, in a way – it’s just
big song after big song. I wanted to make the point, then leave as fast as possible.”
NME says: “At just 28 minutes in length, Kasabian’s eighth studio effort is concise, precise and generally focused. This allows a vibrant emotional clarity to bleed through its swaggering fabric, adding up to Kasabian’s strongest album in some years.”
Frontman Serge Pizzorno – Werchter Fest 2023, photo by Turn Up The Volume
TUTV: Since former frontman Tom Meighan left the group in 2020, their wild drugs-fueled rockin’ days are over. Well, sort of. Yes, all 10 songs are disco-dance spiced stompers, but not the Taylor Swift way. Many decibels and pyrotechnics are still involved like on Call, How Far Will You Go, and Hello of It.
Half of the tracks are tailor-made for big festivals, stadiums’s and other mammoth happenings where fans want to forget the daily rat race for a while. As Serge puts
it : “Art, for me, is relaxation – I panic when I’m not doing it.”.
Daily noise that works faster than a stream of caffeine
22 June 2024
Frontman Serge Pizzorno – Werchter Fest 2023, photo by Turn Up The Volume
British seasoned rockers KASABIAN – one of the best bands of the past 25 years
to my ears and eyes have their 8th LP, titled HAPPENINGS out on 5th July. It’s their second one since former frontman Tom Meighan was fired.
Serge Pizzorno (bandleader): “It’s based on a long-lost film from the 1970s.
The music video is the trailer for this fictional film that was never made. It was
shot and made by a rag tag bunch of artists having the time of their lives.”
Since former frontman Tom Meighan left the group, their rockin’ days
are over. On previous LPs it was already clear that singer/songwriter Pizzorno moved towards becoming a spry, dance-orientated band.
It works marvelously live (as I experienced last summer) but on
record the songs haven’t the same high-energetic vitality.
Wake up people.
Here’s a lullaby
you can move your
feet to.
British seasoned rockers KASABIAN – one of the best bands of the past 25 years,
in my book, on record and on stage – launch, as recently announced, their 8th LP,
titled HAPPENINGS on 14 July, one day before their stadium show in their hometown Leicester.
The album features 10 tracks, for a total of only 26 minutes. “A minute
shorter than the Ramones’ debut,” says frontman Serge Pizzorno.
Today we get the 3rd appetizer. COMING BACK TO ME GOOD shows again how Pizzorno made a pure dance band with sing along stadium anthems out of Kasabian after former frontman Tom Meighan left in 2020.
Kasabian‘s general Serge Pizzorno is a master in writing sing/scream-along stadium/festival belters. And the lead single of new, upcoming longplayer Happiness Bastards, is another ecstatic call to arms.
2. ‘Welcome To Your New Future’ by LEG PUPPY 2.0 (UK)
If you’re a party animal and you don’t know the self-proclaimed best Techno/EBM act in
the world LEG PUPPY, it’s about time you will because a new LP is coming up, baptized ‘Humanity 2.0’, and will signify a totally new beginning for you and them.
Welcome to your new future, all you survivors out there.
These fast up-and-coming indies from Leeds (UK) fronted by wonderful
voice Lily Fontaine prove their huge talent once more with this new pearl.
R&B is another wayward slice of ET pop intensity. It starts a bit like a Dry Cleaning
song with a rigid bass riff and Fontaine‘s spoken word vocals, but turns quickly into
a strenuous stunner fueled by schizo guitar frenzy and jittery percussion.
Lily Fontaine, Brugge, Belgium, 13 February – photo by TUTV)
4. ‘I Don’t Understand What Any Of You Are Doing’ by DEAD ANYWAY (UK)
This British duo combine the dark lyricism of vocalist Kate Arnold
with music and soundscapes of Marc Symonds.
Their new album, Partially Eaten By Animals is the best indie one of the month
in TUTV’s book, with trip-hop thrills all the way. Think Massive Attack, Arab Strap
and Portishead. I know big names, but my trained ears told me what they heard.
‘I Don’t Understand What Any Of You Are Doing’ will draw your aural attention on the spot.
Yokophono is a Finnish duo that hit the scene in 2020. Their music consists of energetic
dance-punk/indie rock songs. Their sound has been compared to the likes of Royal Blood, Arctic Monkeys and even Queens Of The Stone Age. Consisting of just drums and guitar they also rely on their catchy melodies.
Their new single Red a is wham bloody wham bam disco-punk juggernaut.
This Finnish tandem make you jump around like a kangaroo on acid. Distorted guitars
and banging percussion work close together to create a filthy disco-punk juggernaut.
Red triggers your limbs’ actions from the kick-off until the final beat. Inbetween you
can go berserk every single time the clamorous chorus hits your greedy speakers.
After 3 albums the Canadian post-rock-noise project of seasoned Canadian singer-songwritter-guitarist Laura Lee Schultz, backed by a tremendous bass/drum tandem return with this scorching Herculean shocker from their new, upcoming EP, titled Dirt,
out on May 3.
The heaviest parts of this quiet/Loud/quiet/Loud uppercut resonate like if British blues rock turbo Royal Blood having a fierce sonic fight with post-industrial-punk legends Killing Joke.
These 4 young Irish bullpits take you on a tempestuous ride with this new blazing blast.
Just like their countrymen Gilla Band, they look like 4 regular guys from around the block. But when they open the gates for Dead Sound they become 4 not-regular guys storming fast forward. A bumpy bass riff takes the haymaker on its back throughout the full course of its speedy rush.
The vocalist spits and sneers like Mark E Smith did his whole jarring career. The clamourus chorus is one that’ll start mospiths and when a psychotic guitar works its way to the front we get pandemonium. It’s also a loud and clear harbinger of an out-of-your-fucking head finale. Bingo master’s breakout.
Molly Horses left their basements only a year ago.
They produce elements of post-punk, krautrock, and Albini-esque noise rock.
With King Dundalk they take you on a dazzling rollercoaster.
All burners, all cylinders on. No rest for the bad man. Hefty.
You really need to check out these maddening motherrockers.
This fresh 4-piece outfit from the North Wales nail
it right away with their first cut Mourning Sickness.
What a superb debut. It’s a slow-progressing psych guitar jam rotating around an intoxicating riff that creeps under your skin without asking. Think of early Radiohead
days. Engrossing and riveting.
There’s an eerie vocal and electrifying tension in the air that makes you wonder when
the song’s intensity will explode. But it moves on like a serpent on a mission until the last second.
The reincarnated Ramones are back among us as 4 Ramonas fronted led by Australian songwriter (now living in Los Angeles) and musician Romy Hoffman. They make schizo, synthy, paranoid, post-punk with a dash of dysmorphic desire.
An absolute standout piece from the L.A.’s psych-pop gem from their brand new
full-length Loss Of Live. It features Christine and the Queens and turns out to be
a match in heaven.
Portland‘s dark-dance-wave trio say about their new single Impetus: “While creating this track, we all pushed our creative boundaries to write a song that reflects our desire to grow
as artists and people. This song encourages the listener to reflect inward. We hope to inspire ourselves and others to stop hiding. Stop waiting. Take one small step toward your goals, then another, and another. The time is NOW. Stop hiding your gifts. The world needs your passion.”
Impetus is a sensual mid-tempo electro-pop tease. Seductive,
flirtatious and tempting. Dim the light and move in mysterious
ways.
Sukie Smith is a songstress from London who has collaborated widely with artists, musicians and writers creating cross-disciplinary sonic work, exhibiting and performing internationally. She has released three critically acclaimed albums with her band Madam and toured throughout the UK and Europe.
Into The Light is a new compostion from her upcoming 4th album, named ‘The Glass Dress
and a Ringing Bell’ and will land on 8 March via Smith’s own label Shillingboy Records.
A song about leaving a turbulent relationship Smith found herself trapped in during lockdown, as Smith succinctly says, “I wrote this, then escaped,” with its focus a celebration of the jubilation felt in newfound freedom and the liberation found in the enlightening processes of recovery.
Into The Light grooves and moves pushed by dynamic eurythmics from the get-go, and keeps on cruising throughout its ablaze 3.07-minute duration. Glowing jingle-jangle guitar play, rock-solid drumming and Smith‘s impassioned vocals combine for a striking stroke.
The iconic Jamaican pioneer of dub reggae passed away in 2021, aged 85.
His final album, titled King Perry is now posthumously released. It features
vocal guest performances from Greentea Peng, Shaun Ryder, Tricky, Marta, Rose Waite
and Fifi Rong.
The musical project of Bo Barringer and Reuben Bettsak, have since their project’s inception in 2020, surfacing through the haze of a global pandemic and illuminated by the city’s darkest corners, produced steady and prolific beats across underground dance floors.
Their 3rd album, called A Kiss of the Mind,
is waiting in the pipeline for its imminent release.
First new shared piece Spiral Down is vintage synth-pop pulsation. Utterly infectious. There’s a shadowy side to it, but its bootylicious vibes, its subtle guitar riff, its shiny electronic waves and moony vocals combine for a spot-on EBM thrill.
Common Culture is a 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.
The song serves as a poignant lament for the Earth’s dwindling natural beauty and a stirring call to action in the face of greed and injustice destroying the planet. It’s five to twelve, indeed. The majority of political leaders look the other way when these world-crushing issues come up. Some even don’t believe that our climate is changing drastically. More red-alert songs like this one are always welcome.
Bad Ritual is a Polish trio formed at the beginning of 2020 by three architects.
They play songs immersed in a dark and unsettling atmosphere. Their music is
a blend of indie-folk, swampy blues, and rock ‘n’ roll. It often evokes associations
with David Lynch‘s films, spaghetti westerns, and film noir.
They have their arresting self-titled debut album out now. Stream it here.
Standout track On The Road gets you in Bad Ritual‘s sonic/cinematic world. Its melancholic timbre and shiny guitar sparks, make me think of romantic glam legend Chris Isaak. Bad Ritual‘s idol David Lynch directed Isaak‘s Wicked Game video that featured flashes from
his 1990 Wild At Heart movie).
Leonardo: “I wrote this song after reading Nick Cave‘s reply (note: read below) to some of
his fans, who had asked him why he was about to attend the coronation of the UK’s king as
part of the Australian delegation. I love most of Nick Cave’s records and I consider him one
of the greatest songwriters ever.
I’m also a long-time Nick Cave fan. A truly remarkable artist. But attending King Charles‘ coronation? Disgusting. That guy nor his late mother never ever had something done to earn their status, they were born that way, they didn’t pay taxes for many years etc… It’s just as disgusting as Johnny ‘Rotten’ Lydon (the Sex Pistols‘ album the best punk one ever, in my book) voting for natural-born charlatan Trump. What is wrong with those millionaire artists?
That said Nicholas Palace is an infectious groove, a jagged jam, driven by an addictive riff with Leonardo‘s augmenting the funeral vibe of the song, think The Velvet Underground on a rainy day. Around the 1.30 min mark aggressive guitar play accentuates the ultimate end of Cave‘s birthday party.
In order to not miss a beat Turn Up The Volume scans the musical
horizon daily (doing it for years now, actually) to stay in touch with
all new things sonically great and shares the results on a weekly
basis.
Check the 10 new rad cuts just
added to this rad 2024 playlist.
The Nashville family is ready to hit again. Their 9th full-lenght,
titled Can We Please Have Fun comes alive on May 10.
Lead single Mustang is a roasting rocker that turns up the fever when the hefty chorus shows up. As the saying goes, ‘a return to form’. KOL still have entertainment on fire to offer.
This crazy-exciting British post-punk trio ignite the bass/guitar burners on this new cranked-up corker from their upcoming, second LP named Angeltape, out on April 5.
EPILL is the new single by NY-based singer-songwriter/producer Matty Marz.
“A song I always wanted to make but didn’t know how to articulate until its conception.
It’s a dark and seductive mid-ecstasy hit electronic record that explores the highs and
lows of a trip.”
Hello, all you nightclub addicts out there, pay attention, this
rhapsodic EBM banger will adrenalize your bloodstream.
Pin is a knife-between-the-teeth punk jackhammer. All cylinders on and full steam ahead. And every time the mental chorus kicks in you lose your marbles. Striking score.
Oblivion is part of a new upcoming EP. It’s a powerhouse piece with an orchestral sonority going sky-high, flying somewhere between symphonic-metallic rockers Within Temptation and Nightwish.
This Canadian musician makes songs that explore the mystery of pain, the release of demons and how through it all, life actually may be some kind of miracle. Imbued with infectious hooks and ferocious energy. In My Cave is a non-stop eruption of insane electricity and spooky wailing. Volcanic stuff to test your speakers’ resilience with.
British veteran rockers KASABIAN – one of the best bands of the past 25 years,
in my book, on record and on stage – have announced the upcoming birth of their
8th longplayer. It’s named HAPPENINGS and lands on 14 July, one day before their stadium show in their hometown Leicester.
The LP contains 10 tracks, only a total of 26 minutes. “A minute
shorter than the Ramones’ debut,” says frontman Serge Pizzorno.
Along with the news we get the first taster, titled CALL
Pizzorno about the song in an interview with NME: “It was the first thing that went down.
I had the riff towards the end of the last record. Certain riffs talk to you, and I was like, ‘Yes, there’s something special in this’. It informed how the whole record was going to be – these super tight, big tunes. It always felt like the first thing people should hear from the album. It’s such a unique tune. At the start of an album campaign, to have something that can only be Kasabian is important. I don’t really know what is, but I do feel like it just has those drops that will just go off in a live environment. Let’s start the year with a tune that gets everyone excited for the summer.”
Call is a funky dance booster to get the crowd going at festivals.
The accompanying video is a spectacular one. A phone – with Pizzorno on the screen, singing the song – falls out of a plane and swirls through the sky, hold by a skydiver.
The clip was filmed in Albania where aerospace laws allow sky-divers
to jump out of a helicopter with the video playing in real time.
This was the first single of their best album to date Islands In The Sky. A terrifically juiced-up power-pop chant triggering your limbs to get up and move. And when the under the spell of joy choir joins Bonnie Bloomgarden on the elated chorus you just know that this stunning tune is a winner.
We are living in a simulated world
And we are simulated girls!
The sassy spirit of fiery Riot grrls, the primal screams of X-Ray Spex‘s late genial vox Poly Styrene, the unbridled DIY mentality of The Slits. It’s all here to get in the macho faces of all macho males. Lads Lads Lads is a loud and clear clamorous uppercut. Trash and slash punk turmoil. Holy fucking smoke!
(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Brugge, Belgium 2023)
“The lyrics were related to whatever we were talking shit about that day.
Dirt-cheap ’baccy and annoying, invasive TikToks. It’s hard to recall.”
Riverstone is an excessive electro-industrial sledgehammer doing your head,
your ears and your mind in. Bang-bang-bang-bang. Deafening drones, psychotic
guitars, and schizophrenic vocals, it’s all here to have an electric brain-frying
chair experience.
All-round Canadian singer/songwriter nailed it with this efferscent swirling knockout.
This is the kind of 24-Carat gold banger that makes your day, that boosts your worried state of mind, that puts a big smile on your face, that works faster than any stimulant and most of all, that gets you on your feet, triggers your best rotating dance moves and make you embrace life. Reality is not all doom and gloom, as many (mostly politicians) want us to believe to push their own power-greedy agenda. To hell with them.
These vigorous Brits hit big time with this flamboyant ripsnorter.
It’s full tilt ahead from the get-go. No brakes, no breaks, and
creeping under your skin faster than you can say this is super-duper.
A whirlwind of scorching guitars, pounding drumming, a revolving bass line
somewhere in the middle, go-getting vocals and a dynamite chorus combine
for a badass belter. 2023 was the year for 32 Tens.
This contagious cracker celebrates forer Italian football star Roberto Baggio
Kane:“I was eight years old when I first saw Baggio on TV, it was during the
1994 World Cup. I was taken back by his presence, his look and his talent. It was
the first time I’d seen a man look so different and unique. Seeing Baggio led me to
e obsessed with that Italian football team for many years later.
Baggio is one of those typical Kane tunes. Immediately recognisable with its
uplifting 60s/70s beat and blissful melody. But it’s a glorious guitar fragment
and accompanying harmonious, backing vocals that lift the song to a five-star
pop level.
This new supergroup features Shaun Ryder & Bez (Happy Mondays/Black Grape),
Andy Bell (Ride/Oasis) and drummer Zak Starkey, yes Ringo’s son, who actually came up with this project’s idea and describes it as “a fantastic psychedelic groove from a band of misfits, outsiders and innovators.”
First single Gorilla Guerilla is a mind-boggling techno-rock stomper
to start and end all (il)legal raves with and fill dancefloors around the
globe with. This seasoned collective is a mean groove machine.
The duo launched their 12th LP, called UK Grim last March.
This rattling piece is my absolute favorite.
It’s Sleaford Mods by – very good – numbers. The mods still spit and sneer
against Tories‘ merciless pressure and devastating regime. And they still do
it with rappin’ vibrations.
The waterfall wordsmith from Hull (UK) released her tip-top debut EP Chaos Of Time
and followed it with this booming corker. Glittery, glammy and trashy (like the video).
Sing happy birthday to 6-year-old princess Jodie midway. Don’t worry afterward you
can continue to pogo around the table.
10. ‘Dicks In Tanks’ by MORLOCKS (Gothenborg, Sweden)
2023 photo by Krichan Wihlbor
This Swedish turbo founded by mastermind J.Strauss had
a new flabbergasting album out, named Praise The Iconoclast,
this year.
Single Dicks In Tanks features vocal efforts from Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM,
dark ambient electro queen Karin My and black metal maestro Heljarmadr
of Grá/Dark Funeral.
Morlocks‘ cynical take on war is sharp-cutting like a first-class Swiss knife
“Salute every hard on, a call to arms / this is my klaxon / sound the alarms”.
It all starts with warning war sirens and marching soldiers chants.
90 seconds later, it’s all hens on deck when this industrial rock missile
erupts with a blitzkrieg fierceness.
Think Rammstein and NIN having a fight with riot guns.
11. ‘An Individual Soul’ by PRINCESS UGLY (Portland, US)
This blitz duo – J. Christopher-Rome (lyrics/vocals) and Christopher Moncrieffe (music/instruments) mix post-punk, early 80’s goth, shoegaze, and new wave
into their own brand of sound.
An Individual Soul is a multi-layered serpent of a track.
After a short shock intro, psychobilly guitars take over and riff
and roll all the way through, surrounded by glowing synths waves.
Add Christopher-Rome’s creepy whispering and you’ll feel transported
somewhere into a twilight zone where Goths party. Princess Ugly’s ominous
mind mystifies and the enigmatic she-devil in the video is a misleading
magnet.
These Dutch-American misfits have their roots firmly planted in both the regional
and international counterculture. They produce a raw, dirty groove influenced by
punk, provo and punk icons. Their poetry is packed with social criticism.
Huevos Rancheros, from their new longplayer Good Busy is a song about
seeing life clearly through all the haze and confidently strolling through the
daze.
It’s a tremendously sticky 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 humdinger, after a couple of spins.
The singular psych-folk-pop-rock wanderers released, this year,
one of their best albums ever withSea Of Mirrors
Wild Bird is The Coral at its relaxing best. A characteristic psych-pop gem
that pleased my ears on repeat since it came out. Breezy and heartwarming,
causing an I-feel-so-much-better-now thrill in the end.
Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr worked in 1979 on the demo
of this previously unreleased John Lennon beauty, but didn’t finish it at the time.
Now, using advanced technology and a curatorial touch, McCartney
and Starr have completed what they started with George, and turned
it into a fully orchestrated nugget of a love song
This young outfit from Newport, Wales drew TUTV’s
attention in an eye/earblink with Nice To Say Hello.
It’s only their 3rd single, but this young team sounds as if they’ve been
around for years. Nice To Say Hello is a top-pop thrill. Irresistibly catchy
and captivatingly melodic. Layers of glimmering guitars with an endearing
resonance, that brings, yes, Noel Gallagher’s strumming play of his solo
work to mind.
The charming vocals and the infectious chorus
make the sonic picture complete. Fabulous feat.
Chic Choc are three musically seasoned Amazons from NYC using drum machines,
synthesizers, guitars, voice and a variety of sound filters and pedals to make
their point.
Freedom is their crystal clear debut single that criticizes, 200% rightly so, the fact that women still have to fight for so many fundamental rights. It’s bloody 2023 and so much female injustice is still a reality.
Sonically it’s a striking EBM earworm to fill dance floors with. Brisk beats, cool chorus, sensuous vocals and a protesting choir, combine for a spirited piece. Bang-on.
18. ‘You’re So Cool’ by KAT KOAN (Berlin, Germany)
This Berlin-based songstress released her arresting debut full-length LUSTPRINZIP last year. This year, she recorded/shared three rad singles.
You’re So Cool (me?) is one of them. A sexy dance stomper with an instant impact on your hip movements. And, as usual, Koan‘s sultry voice tickles your imagination and makes you light some candlelights, and seduces you to do some shadow-dancing.
The Vanity Project is a London-based queer freak pop duo featuring Flora Jackson and Rob Paterson. The project is a multi-instrumented, multi-genre fever dream fusing new-wave, modern art-pop and PC Music influences with dashes of jangle pop, Latin alternative and drum and bass, dazzling hooks, and wryly humoured dystopian lyrics. All accompanied by eccentric visuals.
‘Eureka!’ was one of the standout singles on their debut album, named We Never Should Have Come Here, that landed last September.
Combine the madcap vibrancy of Sparks‘ early days and some glamourous Queen bombast and you’ll scream out loud Eureka!. These misfits produce
eccentric pop pleasure, sonically and lyrically, without mainstream
restrictions.
They sound kooky and look kooky, but make no mistake, this tantalizing
tandem know perfectly well how to fabricate and construct entertaining
music.
One of my all-time fav bands, on record and on stage, returned, finally,
this year with their acclaimed LP God Games and this arousing bluesy piece
is one of the highlights.
21. ‘Dead Moon Rising’ by CACTUS FLOWERS (Houston, Texas)
Cactus Flowers is a psych-rock outfit from Houston, Texas fronted by Jessica A.M., whose mother photographed bands for Rolling Stone during the magazine’s counter-culture heyday.
With Dead Moon Rising we get a mid-tempo garage blues-rock corker fuelled
by echoing, rollicking riffs, steady drum hits and arresting Jessica A.M. vocals.
This raw cracker resonates like glorious legends The Cramps in slo-mo with a
mean machine vibe, rock-and-psycho-billy swagger and hefty dynamics. From bad moon rising to dead moon rising.
(Photo by Turn Up the Volume – Lokerse Feesten, Belgium – 2022)
The British guitar pop idols will make their fans happy with their new, sixth
full-length, baptized Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations out on 12 January 2024.
This is one of the 4 singles they dropped so far. It’s The Vaccines alright.
Sickly sticky guitar euphoria. Totally crazy.
With this year’s three-part rock operaAtum chief
pumpkin Billy Corgan released one of his sonic dreams.
And with Spellbinding the band delivered a robust rocker infused with radiant synths, exploding now and then into a feverish haymaker on the flaming chorus and ending
with a dreamy fade out.
2LIBRAS is a Seattle-based Cyberpunk duo that create dark, synthy beats infused with melodic guitars and vocal harmony since 2018. Their music infuses genres of industrial, dark electro, synthwave/synthpop and rock.
Heart On was one of the singles of their notable debut album World’s End.
It just was the best 2023 Valentine tune. An intoxicating mid-tempo groover. Both spicy and funky, lustful and provocative with hypnotizing vocals. Its slow-mo synth-bass beat crawls under your skin, and progresses steadily towards your restlessly pounding motor while your mind tries to figure out what is going on. Amorous communication isn’t easy, let your heart do the talking. It’s made for it.
Canadian singer-songwriter Jeen launches her 5th album
later this year and Just Shadows is the first taster.
“I wrote “Just Shadows” just thinking how the darker parts of everything can snuff
out some of the best people’s light. It’s about trying to get out from under it so we
don’t just become casualties of our shittiest days.”
Just Shadows is a cast iron, drumming energy-stroke detonating with firm
puissance when the chorus hits your ears and Jeen‘s towering voice spices
all things up with flamboyant flair. The vitalizing impact of this effervescent
summer anthem is heartening.
It features The Cure drummer LOL TOLHURST (64), BUDGIE (65),
former Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer and Siouxsie‘s husband,
and Irish music producerJacknife Lee.
Los Angeles is the title track of their first, forthcoming LP.
It features LCD Soundsytem‘s mastermind/voice James Murphy
and soundwise it’s what you may expect from these musicians.
Los Angeles is a stompin’ and pumpin’ percussion burst
to stomp your feet and pump your fists like mad.
Happy mondays Shaun Ryder, and rapper Kermit (Paul Leveridge) are back.
They fabricated a new, their 4th, LP named Orange Head hitting the streets
in November.
Milk is the lead single. A pounding disco-rock blast
with the 24-party madchester vibe of the 90s.
The British post-punk mavericks announced a few weeks ago that they finished their
2nd longplayer, but first we can go gaga to this new smashing stand-alone single.
The Trench Coat Museum is an 8+ minute dancefloor filler infused with a flabbergasting bass riff, spiced with Smith‘s parlando vocals, schizo guitars and yes, cowbells. I guess that for the second half of this super-duper knockout, Smith left the studio for a cup of tea. Anyway, from there on jumbo techno-like beats take over.
I swear, when this knife-edged tune hit my ears for the first time, I thought
I pushed the wrong button and instead of these young Irish gunslingers I got
post-punk legends The Fall on my headphones.
These young Irish gunslingers’ combination of hyperkinetic drum/bass beats,
fanatic guitar riffage, Mark E Smith sneering and an overall staccato sonority
is irresistibly engrossing.
If you haven’t found your sonic twilight summer companion yet, then this new Coral tune will be the one. The Liverpool gang are experts in writing/creating hum-along, whistle-song, sing-along and dream-along pearls while you can tap your feet to the beat. Imagine sitting in a rockin’ chair on the porch of your farmhouse in a Serge Leone-directed spaghetti western. That’s the vibe.
8. ‘Do You Mind I’m A Little Late For Life?’ by BY FAR (Belgium)
Their debut single Bricks already entertained my music-addicted ears,
and this new one is a stone gold gem too. The fervent passion and the
overwhelming psychedelic resonance are nothing less than astounding.
The song’s bone-chilling progression blows you away, slowly but surely.
This is a diamond of a song. Vampire Empire is another staggering
new gem by a staggering band. Intense, dynamic, jaunty and avid
vocals by Adrianne Lenker. I love Big Thief.
Through To You is a track from the group’s sophomore album,
titled Days Are Mountains. It lands on August 11th.
It all starts with a steady, feet-activating drum beat, soon followed by an explosion
of hectic guitars. And in an eye/ear blink the whole resistlessly sonic process steamrolls over you, again and again, and riffs and grooves and moves it’s way like an electric-charged whirlwind to a sped-up climax. Frontman MacDonald wants to bang his head against a wall. That doesn’t sound like a bad idea in case you need to get rid of some demons, that is.
The energy developed here is off the charts. Meres rock their tails
off on this sinewy punk missile. Chainsaw guitars, forthright drums/bass
spanks and the both sensual and spiced vocals of Mary Shannon.
This hit-and-run uppercut will start lots of moshpits.
Clone is a lush rock ’n’ roll collage collective that fuses the sequined swagger of 70’s glam with the DIY gut punch of early punk and polishes it all off with the audacious vocals of contemporary pop.
Their new single Queen is a big wham T.Rex bang.
The British trashy 70s riffs, groovy hooks and flashy licks are all over the place. It also echoes Bowie‘s smashing 1974 hit Rebel Rebel. And I can’t but think of glam rock icon Suzy Quatro when front Amazon Juniper Watters comes on with her sensual and sultry vocals.
She’s not a clone, she’s for real, she’s the perfect queen for this firecracker. She’s extremely inspired by drag culture and is a huge supporter of the drag community.
Expect a titanic wall-of-shoegaze-layered sound that takes your breath away for almost
4 razzle-dazzle minutes. It feels as if this spectacular piece of a hallucinatory symphony comes out of space with its reverberated and tremoloed guitars, its scintillating synths,
its mystifying melodiousness and its cosmic vocals.
These British gunslingers kick-start your adrenalin production from the first chord on with this peppery pop-punk cryout fed by schizo guitars and distressed vocals. A thrill, although the song is about the wake of a breakup, an anthem of self-loathing, regret, and ultimately, forgiveness. I said it a million times before, heartache can lead to explosive catharsis in music.
Fury is an explosive cocktail of speed metal(lica), synth sketches, post-punk tumult
and dark-Goth-wave vocals. It’s a fuzz and buzz rocket that whirls forth and back. These messed-up times cause mind-madness and paranoia that leads to furious eruptions as pMAD experiences too.
Floatin’ Stone is a robust tune powered-up by a mean hard rockin’ machine.
References? Muscular Australian noisemakers Wolfmother and stoner rock
mavericks Queens Of The Stone Age. Say no more.
This must be the closest The Underground Youth come to sound like The Velvet
Underground. The repetitive jingle jangle pattern, the midnight hour vocals of Dryer, the dreary harmonies and the ongoing melodic catchiness. All ingredients
for a psych gem are in place here.
This slow-progressing musing appeals instantly with its rudimentary PJ Harvey-esque
guitar play and Abdelbarry‘s affectional voice, think Sharon Van Etten.
Birthday Cake‘s has both a romantic and wistful sonority that captivates
and moves. And halfway melancholic synths accentuate the overall ruminate
timbre in a warm way.
Love Town is a heart-warming and reflective musing about falling in love.
A romantic candlelight ballad for mind-relaxing moments. Sweet and sensitive.
Tuplin‘s vocality made me immediately think of The National‘s melancholic crooner Matt Berninger with its affectional resonance. Beautiful. Let’s follow him to Love Town,
wherever that might be.
