20 Best Tracks Of The Month – SEPTEMBER 2024
ALL TOGETHER
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TRACK BY TRACK
Band: PRIMAL SCRREAM
Pop/rock legends fronted by Bobby Gillespie.
Track: READY TO GO HOME
From their 12th LP, titled Come Head,
out on November 8.
Sounds like Talking Heads backed by a gospel
choir. Sing hallelujah, brothers and sisters.
Linktree
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Artist: GAVIN FRIDAY
Irish cult singer/songwriter best known as flamboyant
spearhead of former new-art-wave act Virgin Prunes (1977-1986).
Track: ECCE HOMO
The title track from his 5th solo LP,
that’ll land on October 25.
It’s a stunning, monumental piece of mythical Goth music that grabs
you by the throat when the riveting chorus kicks in. Instant classic.
Astonishing symphony.
Instagram
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Artist: ELIAS B. RONNENFELT
Who: Frontman of Danish pop-punk
heroes Iceage.
Track: WORM GREW A SPINE
Cut from his upcoming solo
debut LP Like Lovers Do.
Zippy and disarming earworm.
Instagram
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Band: XIU XIU
Who: Californian, now Berlin-based noise explorers,
who are experimenting around since 2002.
Track: MAESTRO ONE CHORD
Petrifying piece from their brand new, startling album
13″ Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips.
Bone-chilling.
Instagram
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Band: BABY SCHILLACI
Who: Welsh alt-act producing a raw, unfiltered sound. Rooted in post-punk
and noise, the band’s aggressive yet intricately layered compositions evoke
comparisons to seminal acts like Mclusky, At the Drive-In, and Fugazi.
Track: BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA
From their upcoming debut album
‘The Soundtrack’ out next week.
A barbed slice of mayhew. Think Sonic Youth going forth
and back, and finishing with a flabbergasting finale.
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Linktree
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Band: BLACK DOLDRUMS
Who: British synth-pop-Goth trio, with key
members Kevin Gibbard and Sophie Landers.
Track: SUMMER BREEZE
Song from their their second longplayer
In Limerence which lands on October 18.
No, this is not a New Order song but it could easily be one, actually a stellar one.
It’s a pure synth-pop pearl for all seasons. Uplifting, heart-warming, and gratifying.
Instagram
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Artist: NOANNE
Who: Singer-songwriter from
Prague, Czech Republic
Track: EVERYTHING I HATE ABOUT YOU
The high-octane rock ‘n’ roll explosion tells the darkly humorous and gripping tale of a woman who has taken drastic measures against a deceitful lover. Noanne ventures into uncharted emotional territory, portraying a dramatic shift from dependence to outright animosity—and beyond.
Big tune. Titanic voice.
Brassy and sassy score.
Instagram
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Band: THE VOIDZ
Who: Side-project of The Strokes‘
frontman Julian Casablancas.
Track: PROPHECY OF THE DRAGON
From their brand-new 3rd longplayer
Like All Before You.
Sounds like a full-of-pep corker Casablancas wrote for
The Strokes back in the early days. High-tension stuff.
Instagram
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Act: LEG PUPPY 2.0
Who: Hardest working drop-out
band in EBM land based in London.
Track: DROP A DROP
Here comes the techno drop of
all techno drops. Droptastic.
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Linktree
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Photo credit: Alberto Santinon
Band: WAX HEAD
Who: Chaotic, drummer-fronted
post-punk quartet from Manchester.
Track: RUSTY CUTTER
Single artwork
Bad-ass havoc, garage punk madness and unbridled turmoil to test
your loudspeakers’ potency. Wax Head are a ballistic bunch of noizz
rioters.
Alert your neighbors
before you press play.
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Instagram
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Band: THANK
Who: 4 underground
noiseniks from Leeds, UK.
Track: DO IT BADLY
Piece from their upcoming album I Have A Physical
Body That Can Be Harmed, out on November 8.
Artwork
Barbed wire guitars. Wham-bloody-bam percussion. Excorsistic
spit and sneering. Sounds gloriously vicious, right? You betcha.
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Instagram
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(Lille, France – February 2024 – Photo by Turn Up The Volume)
Band: LAMBRINI GIRLS
Who: Brighton‘s female
in your face warriors.
Track: COMPANY CULTURE
Another Formula 1 crasher.
Punkier than a shiny Ferrari.
Instagram
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Band: THE BAD UPS
Who: 4 punk indies
from Philadelphia.
Track: BETTER THAN YOU
From their brand new blustery
longplayer Life Of Sin.
Think Green Day arm-wrestling with Blink-182.
Lots of panache, muscles and punk buzz.
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Instagram
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Band: SOME REMAIN
Who: Young punk gunslingers
from Ireland.
Track: DEATH DEFYING STUNTS
The first taken from an upcoming EP
slated for release early 2025.
Not only does it defy death, it pretty much defies description as it takes you on a glorious and wild ride through early UK punk (Read About Seymour – Swell Maps) and surf rock (Miserlou – Dick Dale) with some Dr Feelgood and The Cribs thrown in for good measure.
“A hectic party tune that leaves you feeling like you’ve
just landed a sick kickflip over a tank of sharks.”
Bloodcurdling racket.
Demonic hit-and-run.
Post-punk-tastic gusto.
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Linktree
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📸 @alexbladesphot
Band: COMMON CULTURE
Who: Rousing, fiddle driven alternative
folk band from Barnsley, England.
Track: WASH AWAY THE DAY
CC have that uplifting drive of the Levellers and the eurythmic catchinesss of
Mumford & Sons. Wash Away The Day is a brisk pop tune going forth and back, from
low-key to vivacious and back, while ardent harmonies and energetic violins complete
the swirling sonic picture.
Instagram
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Band: SOFT SKIES INC
Who: Philadelphia-based identical-twin duo and longtime musical confidants
Ryan and Martin Rex, their shared sonic compass draws a straight line from the
classic alternative of their youth to the modern alternative and dream-pop of
today.
Track: SOONER OR LATER
A song of hope, riding those tender waves of nostalgia, understanding that a loss of innocence comes with age but that we emerge from the other side with newfound perspective and awareness.
Melodic guitar pop at its Sebadoh best. Uptempo shoe-slacker-gaze
spiced with scintalling synths and ethereal vocals. Start dreaming in
overdrive. Right here.
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Linktree
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Band: VERRA CRUZ
Who: British alt-rock trio, known
for their hard-hitting anthems.
Track: HANG ON TO THE SUN
“Hang on to the sun, hang on til the wind and waves subside,
hang on to the sun til you leave all your worries behind.”
Mighty power ballad bringing epic musing moments
of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden to mind. Top-shelf.
Instagram
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Artist: STEVIE NICKS
Former Fleetwood Mac heroine.
Track: THE LIGHTHOUSE
Nicks: I wrote this song a few months after Roe v Wade was overturned. It seemed like overnight, people were saying ‘what can we, as a collective force, do about this…’ For me,
it was to write a song. It took a while because I was on the road. Then early one morning I was watching the news on TV and a certain newscaster said something that felt like she was talking to me ~ explaining what the loss of Roe v Wade would come to mean. I wrote the song the next morning and recorded it that night.”
A vehement pro-reproductive rights anthem that
overwhelms on the chorus. Nicks‘s impressive voice
lights in the middle.
Instagram
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The first composition of the Goth icons’ upcoming 14th LP, their first
in 16 years, titled Songs Of A Lost World. It’ll drop on planet Earth on
November 1st.
Alone is an almost 7-minute funeral march, a slowly progressing lament, layered with mourning synths. Smith only starts singing halfway and augments the sombre atmosphere all the way through. After a couple of spins the songs keeps on coming back to haunt you. Sonic cure for restless minds.
Instagram
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Band: JOHNNY MARR AND THE HEALERS
Who: Short-lived (2001-2004) Johnny Marr project
after he left The Smiths.
Track: THE WAY THAT IT WAS
Previoulsy unreleased song from the deluxe
reissue (released last week) of their one and
only album, named Boomslang.
A sweet 18-carat pop diamond with a melancholic resonance and impassioned
and affecting Marr vocals. No idea why this gripping reverie was hidden for so long,
but happy that my ears can enjoy it today. The Way That It Was wouldn’t have been
out of place on The Verve’s 1997 classic ‘Urban Hymns‘.
