Manchester‘s pop-punk hit machine BUZZCOCKS released PROMISES,
one of their many irresistibly catchy singles they could fill a jukebox with it) 45 years ago, on 17 November 1978.
Time flies. We already have six months of 2023 behind us.
Six months of listening every day to music, bad/good, very good and 24 Carat Gold.
It was hard to make a selection of the 25 most impressive pieces. But we did it.
These Brighton punk feminists are MENTAL and AWESOME.
They released Turn Up The Volume‘s best EP of 2023 (so far), named You’re Welcome
a couple of weeks ago. And one of the 6 Molotov cocktails on it is this in your-macho-face sucker-punch. The Lambrini girls race faster than a Ferrari bolide. Best band in the world!
A vigorous young trio from the UK. On this turbulent ripsnorter, it’s full tilt ahead
from the get-go. No brakes, no breaks, no mistakes. A whirlwind of scorching guitars,
pounding drumming, a revolving bass line somewhere in the middle, go-getting vocals
and a dynamite refrain. This is gonna be the year for 32 TENS.
This brand-new supergroup features Shaun Ryder & Bez (Happy Mondays/Black Grape), Andy Bell (Ride/Oasis) and drummer Zak Starkey, yes Ringo’s son, who played with Oasis and The Who among others and 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.”
It’s an incredible shame that women still have to fight for so many fundamental rights.
It’s bloody 2023 and so much female injustice is still a reality. So, it’s great that female artists get up, stand up and fight for their right to tackle this human disease.
Chic Choc do it right away on their fantastic debut single. An electronic-booming EBM knockout to fill dance floors with. Boosting beats, catching chorus, sensuous vocals and
a protesting choir, lead to a sassy stunner. Bang-on. Le freak, c’est chic choc.
This 4-piece post-punk from London launched their
kick-ass debut LP Metaphysical earlier this year.
Beefcake Doctrine is driven by repetitive Krautrock dynamics.
Its trance-inducing beats create a hypnotic and puzzling razzmatazz
you can’t and you won’t escape from.
After scoring the best debut LP – to TUTV’s ears – of 2023 The Great Regression, followed by a live album, they just
dropped this brain-frying hammer blow.
It’s a liberating, drum-backed anthem that allows the band to break free from any stress
or obligations in pursuit of a good night. Good times or bad times, it’s always (in)sane to lose your marbles while diving into a hot let’s have a ball night, now and then. And ‘Lose Your Mind‘ is the matching master blaster to double your adrenalin production.
On this slam hip-hop dunk the duo condemn the US’s mass shootings of late in a cynical loud-and-clear way The rip-roaring rappers pretend to be murderous shooters firing at everyone and everything. Bulletman is a devastating drill, a boiling burst that cuts like a first-class Swiss knife.
10. ‘Set Yourself On Fire’ by ULTRA SUNN (Brussels, Belgium)
Once again this cold/darkwave duo – Sam Huge and Gaelle Souflet – shine in the darkness. The rapturous chorus hits you from the first spin. Resounding beats, entranced synths, and echoing vocals combine for another triumph.
11. ‘Your Death Is My Glory’ by CAMLANN (Indonesia)
A human-caring dark-disco duo Ony Godfrey and Fauzan Pratama from Indonesia.
Their newest single is a catchy-as-hell injection that accelerates your bloodstream.
An irresistible stomper to jump up and down like crazy while giving the middle
finger to all power-greedy politicians.
What a way to debut! Expect a glorious nightclub gem with a synth-tantalizing vibe reminiscent of the starry-eyed sparks of British electro-pop heroes New Order. Lipstick
is both a sensuous and affectional tune with gripping vocals up front and melancholic
ones in the back.
Their new single is a flabbergasting metallic corker. It goes forth and back, left and
right, slow and fast as if Casablancas and his misfits put several snippets of several
songs together and puzzled them into one stupendous stroke of a track.
This noizzzz jackhammer from their self-titled debut LP rocks and rolls with panache. Expect ablaze guitars buzzing in a slow/fast mode and turning up the volume, especially
on the yell-along refrain. Legends Hüsker Dü come to mind. Say no more.
It’s the second single off of the upcoming debut album World’s End of this cyber-synth duo.
Heart On is an arousing mid-tempo groover. Both spicy and funky, shadowy and seductive, lustful and provocative with hypnotizing vocals. Its slow-mo synth-bass beat crawls under your skin from the kick-off and progresses steadily towards your restlessly pounding heart.
Night Time is an ecstatic, awe-inspiring, and anthemic thrill. It has that engrossing and
afire rock swagger of Bruce Springsteen‘s melancholic Americana exploits, it’s infused with The Edge-like guitar sparks and frontman Sutherland‘s ardent signing is a perfect match for this soul-stirring pearl.
18. ‘Cars’ by Artists: LUNAR TWIN (Hawai/Salt Lake City)
This electro-pop duo scored an excellent album with Aurora last April.
A 30-minute sonic trip, an ambient fantasy with trancy vibrations, ataractic
effects, and near-whispering vocals.
Cars is my favorite piece. Electrifying dream pop
at its mesmerizing best with sparkling guitar play.
This colorful collective criticize the disastrous state of health care, with the government ignoring the life-risking problems, in England with a sickly sticky riot grrrl pop tune that activates your limbs instantly.
Think Debbie Harry and Blondie playing around on their debut LP. Vibey and briskly. Frolicsome 60s organ touches, lively guitars here and there, and avid vocals.
The band’s new punchy stroke jumps up and down in your head and elevates your mood from the start. It’s a contagious foot-stamper with a poppy chorus vibe inviting you to play air guitar and sing along with all the force your lungs can come up with.
The first new music in three years from the post-punk-rock project of singer-songwriter-guitarist Laura Lee Schultz. The composition captures the raw emotions of sadness, frustration, and anxiety that permeated throughout the years since the pandemic began.
The track’s ominous mid-tempo progression and swelling structure advancing over
an ongoing hypnotic guitar riff send shivers down your spine. Second by second, like
a nervously ticking clock, the sonic poignancy and heartfelt fervidness grow with exuberance and magnitude until Schutlz’s monumental vocals go through the roof.
This is an emotive post-break-up pearl. Heartfelt reflections embedded in
a goosebump musing that resonates like a bittersweet symphony. This British
singer-songwriter’s highly passionate vox reminds me of Antony Hegarty‘s sensitive ardency. The whole-souled tristesse and mixed emotions at play here make you
silent.
This is the artistic moniker of Canadian songsmith Miles Evans-Branagh. He signed for
one of this year’s best albums, so far, with Slow Down. Eight musings. Eight engrossing compositions with one and the same message: get high on life with love. Craftily written, subtly arranged, and graciously orchestrated with intimate, soulful charm and stylish elegance that moves and touches.
Opener A Little Bit is one of those 8 affecting reveries.
Who: Three musically seasoned Amazons from NYC using drum machines,
synthesizers, guitars, voice and a variety of sound filters and pedals to make
their point.
It’s an incredible shame that women still have to fight for so many fundamental rights.
It’s bloody 2023 and so much female injustice is still a reality. So, it’s great that female artists get up, stand up and fight for their right to tackle this human disease.
Chic Choc do it right away on their fantastic debut single. They travel around the world looking for freedom with an electronic-booming EBM knockout to fill dance floors with. Boosting beats, catching chorus, sensuous vocals, and a protesting choir, combine for a sassy stunner. Bang-on. Le freak, c’est chique choc.
Who: A synth-fueled post-punk
trio from Seattle, WA.
“Lipstick follows the obscure path of desire. Stretched between the lingering
impression of a touch lost to time, and the unshakable sense of its inevitable
return.”
Lipstick is both a sensuous and affectional tune with gripping vocals
up front and melancholic ones in the back. At times it feels like the track will
erupt into an avid disco stomper. Maybe this debut is a foreplay teaser and
the follow-up will be an orgastic energizer. Anyway Ghost Fetish have my aural
and hip-shaking attention and will have yours too.
3. ‘Right Wing Beast’ by SLEAFORD MODS (Nottingham, UK)
(Cover of new album ‘UK Grim’)
It’s Sleaford Mods by very good numbers. They slam the remorseless Tories and Brexit once again with knife-sharp ranting. Sonically, their characteristic catchy simplicity still activates your limbs. The mods never disappoint. Best track on their best album so far, named UK GRIM.
Who: 2-piece members who have been playing music around Seattle and the west coast of the United States in various incarations for years, and recently stumbled upon the formula that became Docé Operator.
These are the lets-go-bonkers bangers we need in these fucked-up times. Mousehouse
is a kooky disco floor knockout you can jump up and down to like a kanagaroo on E. Middle-finger to reality, bottoms up, ladies and gents. I don’t know who’s the mouse or who’s the rat, but I do know that this tune will bounce in my head for a while.
First single Hello is a euphoric booster expressing a desire for human connection
and a feeling of being lost in the world. This upper will put a smile on your face,
from left to right.
The by-now pretty famous Irishmen are part of a notable cast that cover a song
of the late troubled troubadour Nick Drake (1948-1974) for a new tribute album.
They launch their 3rd full length named God Intentions on 28 April. More infohere.
Ahead of it comes this astounding psych-jam that goes on like forever with motorik,
Kraut-rock-like dynamics. Jangly riffs, 60s resonating organs, floating vocals, and an extensive wall-of-guitar-extravaganza sound to end this intoxicating symphony.
Yes, all ingredients for a mind-bending trip are here at work.
Magician is about having a crush on someone and doing all that’s needed to score. Sonically, it’s a garage rock riff sledgehammer. A mean psych-groove monster doing your head in the way you like it. It goes wham bam bloody wham bam with its manic drum/bass force, its helter-skelter hooks and its hungry vocals. Bring on the album, motherrockers!
Don’t miss the debut LP, entitled 57 Heaven. It arrives on Record Store Day, April 15, both on vinyl and digitally.
“It’s a reflection of how we’re all feeling, trapped in ongoing patterns of depression and anxiety. It’s also the lead single and aural appetizer to our debut album ‘Black Light Poster’, out on April 21.”
No whistles and bells for these four sharp-edged hombres out of Boston. After a short, jangly intro it’s all riff-rotating cylinders and all garage rock burners on. Psychobilly hooks and surf licks swirl side by side with manic magnetism. Black Heart is a roaring steamroller with a buzzing bluster, an electric-energetic flow, and snappy vocals. As the cliché goes, it’s only rock ‘n’ roll but they and I like it any day of the week. So should you.
“The road gets so lonely, got nothing to say
Will the sun shine? Well I hope and I pray
Oh yeah!”
They have a new 6-track EP out, named Echo Reverie.
More info here.
The EP is a characteristically post-darkwave-punk affair with
infectious twilight melodies embedded in a whirlpool of booming
beats, scintillating synths, gloomy stories, cinematic orchestrations
and tenebrous vocals. Footstomper Polarized is my favorite piece,
and probably yours too.
Townshend didn’t release solo work for 30 years, and now, out of the blue
comes this brand new song. It’s composed and produced by his partner Rachel Fuller.
It’s an irresistible, bluesy tune with a country feel.
A little pearl with heart-wrenching Townshend vocals
and melancholic harmonica play.
Who:Harry Sullivan, a seasoned
London-based singer-songwriter.
A majestic melody. A stellar orchestration. A sterling vox. Three matching ingredients
that guarantee an epic composition. And it’s all here. Getting Old progresses with tension and passion, forth and back, and magnetizes all the way through. Epic!
The song wrestles with the idea of us freezing in the moment, gripped by anxiety as fear takes over our ability to do the things we really want to. Familiar thoughts for many of us. But affecting music, as always, uplifts a moody state of mind.
Who: Canadian pop/rock team that
released their debut full length in 2018.
This new punchy piece jumps up and down in your head and elevates your mood from
the kick-off. It’s a contagious foot-stomper with a poppy chorus vibe inviting you to play
air guitar and sing along with all the force your lungs can come up with. Wowzers!
The Italian synth-guitar pop siblings released their 6-track EP, named Lighters
last year. An exemplary accomplishment of skillful songwriting. Sparkling, breezy,
and varied. Turn Up The Volume named it the best EP of 2022.
And the family isn’t done yet. This year another EP, titled Lovers comes our
way. Afterward, Lighters and Lovers will marry and become one full album.
First single, titled Always Wrong. It’s another skilfully crafted
mid-tempo pop tune with glowing guitar sequences echoing
throughout.
Who: Singer-songwriter, 1950s-inspired guitarist, and loop-maker from Oxford, UK. Assisted by trip-hop-inspired percussionist Tom Bruce, she creates complexly evocative soundscapes, filled with dramatic Lynchian atmosphere.
OMG! Emma Hunter‘s vocals reach for the sky on this flamenco-influenced, breathtaking tour de force. She has truly an overwhelming vox that sends shivers down your spine. Mourning trumpets and Chris Isaak-like guitar sparks add a haunting timbre. Morire (the Italian word for ‘to die and fade‘) is what goosebump songwriting quality is all about. It wouldn’t be out of place on the melodramatic soundtrack of western classic Once Upon A Time In The West . Capisce?
Who: An eclectic group of international recording musicians
assembled by Canadian artist Jill McKenna. They joined forces
to make an album of music surpassing geography and genres.
Until The Vague Takes A Form is part of that recently released
album, titled None Of This Mine. More info here.
The song is an intimate, tender and vocally superb collection of romantic balladry, piano/cello/violin/banjo musings, and some intriguing pop experimentalism. Think Regina Spektor and Big Thief. Discover it all, it’s a great companion for relaxing
moments.
Who: London-born singer-songwriter known for his vocal prowess and emotionally raw style. His music reflects his personal struggles with mental health, with an eclectic but immediately recognisable sound, influenced by artists such as Jeff Buckley, The Maccabees, and Fiona Apple.
This is an emotive post-break-up pearl. Heartfelt reflections embedded
in a goosebump musing that resonates like a bittersweet symphony. BLVCK’s
highly passionate vox reminds me of Antony Hegarty‘s sensitive ardency. The
whole-souled tristesse and mixed emotions at play here make you silent.
Who: Fresh NYC dream pop duo featuring voice Ashley Selett and musician David Terranova.
Imagine driving your car in the middle of the night, on the Talking Heads‘ road to nowhere while listening to Massive Attack with Portishead‘s singer Beth Gibbons on vocals and Interpol‘s Daniel Kessler playing trippy guitar lines all along. Sounds pretty intriguing, right? You betcha. Darkcar hypnotizes and magnetizes. Useless to try to resist. Trust me, you’ll join them on their ride the moment they call you.
“Lipstick follows the obscure path of desire. Stretched between the lingering
impression of a touch lost to time, and the unshakable sense of its inevitable
return.”
TUTV: What a way to debut! Expect a sickly sticky dancefloor gem
with a synth-tantalizing vibe reminiscent of the starry-eyed sparks of British electro-pop heroes New Order. And is that Hooky on bass?
Lipstick is both a sensuous and affectional tune with gripping vocals up front
and melancholic ones in the back. At times it feels like the track will erupt into
an avid disco stomper. Maybe this debut is a foreplay teaser and the follow-up
will be an orgastic energizer. Anyway Ghost Fetish have my aural and hip-shaking
attention and will have yours too.
