Band: POND Who: Popular psych-rock
vets from down under.
New album: TERRESTRIALS
Their 11th. Out on June 19th.
Pre-order info here.
Press info: “Terrestrials is a cyclone of urgent, scorched earth rock’n’roll, tipping
the hat to the sounds of then while squarely facing up to the here and now.
Conceived from a place of reverence for a particularly potent epoch in Oz rock, Terrestrials mines the sound of open sky melancholia, heat haze sizzling on the plains and jangly pub backrooms that hits an eternally poignant nerve for anyone familiar with the sound, time and place.”
Two spaced-out tasters so far.
– TERRESTIALS –
A both glittery and far-out tune
with a supercharged finale.
Track: DESAFIAR
New piece from their upcoming 2nd LP, titled Ígnea.
It’ll see the day of light on May 22nd through Fuzz Club.
“Desafiar is about resisting control and the impulse to break free from it. Built on a hypnotic bass and drum foundation, the song moves forward like a mechanical pulse, as the synthesizers and vocals repeat and insist, until the tension finally breaks. It’s the moment when control cracks and disobedience becomes inevitable.”
Album artwork
TUTV: OMG! This psychedelic Krautrock-like comet makes your head spin uncontrollably, makes your bloodstream go out of control, and makes dopamine stream like a tsunami through your brain. About a thousand guitars roar nonstop, while pounding percussion clobbers mercilessly. Warning: once you get on board, you can’t get off.
“This feels like it’s got everything that made our first singles so interesting and then some,
with just enough finesse and polish to feel like we’ve finally got our big girl pants on. It’s just as jagged, gritty and angular in the verses but absolutely floating and heavenly in the choruses.”
TUTV: Wake up, nightclubbers! Time to shake your pelvis to this jumpy-funky,
bass-booming whirlabout. Alternating sultry/pithy duet vocals, some Freak Le Chic
guitar vibes, and a head-in-the-air chorus combine for a spin-around thrill.
Track: SICKO
New cut from their 4th LP, named Optimizer, out on March 27th.
TUTV: Nervous, cranked-up guitars at a nerve-racking speed and neurotic vocals
get under your skin from start to finish. Think Parquet Courts on speed. Sick stroke.
“This song is about the weirdest of all the terrestrials, people. Hellbent on flying away
from or killing our home soil, with a big appetite for destruction, guns, roses. We can
love and connect and nurture and inflict unbearable cruelty. You all know this but,
yeah, it’s kind of a great mystery isn’t it?”
TUTV: Bam-bam-bam goes the beat. Pond return with a both glittery
and zonked-out tune with a supercharged finale. Welcome back.
Track: THE TIDE
New piece from their upcoming 2nd LP,
baptized Smile. Out on April 3rd.
“The Tide takes listeners on a relatable emotional journey. It captures that introspective moment many of us recognise: the sudden realisation that we often only appreciate how good something was once it’s already gone — very much in line with the idea that “the grass is always greener on the other side.”
TUTV: This is an instantly sticking beauty of a warm, folky song. Sepia-colored, melancholic, and romantic. Think Mumford Sons and The Lumineers. Both acoustically designed and fully orchestrated with emotive and enticing vocals. A tune that triggers daydreaming. So welcome in these troubled times.
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.
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.
ALL TOGETHER
. TRACK BY TRACK
1. ‘Allergic Food’ by MELVINS (Montesano, Washington)
The veteran noiseniks are still hungry. On April 19 the band
unleash their 27th album, titled TARANTULA HEART.
Allergic For Food is vintage rowdy punk-rock Melvins
Post-punk indies based in Leeds, where they are active movers in the DIY scene that currently thrives in the North of England. They recorded a Marc Riley session in 2016, released their first album Mind Yr Manners in 2017.
‘You’re Just Jealous’ is the splendid title track from their
upcoming, 2nd album. Out on May 10. Pre-order info here.
5. ‘Gone Forever by GREAT HARE (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Swedish pop songsmiths describe themselves as “dreaming to stay awake.”
This new single is a sparkling mid-tempo guitar-driven meditation
with a psych resonance.
The psych rockers from down under launch their 10th LP, baptized Stung! on 21 June.
About new single (I’m Strung): “It’s about being totally pathetically stung by someone
and just having to be cool with it being unrequited. Being resilient, accepting that you
are a bit of a goose, but life goes on.”
“A new chapter in the personal journey of singer Cecilia Miradoli and guitarist/producer Max Tarenzi. An intense, contemplative, and dark work, yet not resigned, navigating through trip-hop, dream-pop, dark-wave, and electronica.”
By the Waves are a dynamic 4-piece band based in Manchester. A uniquely eclectic sprinkle of soul, dream-pop, reggae, rock & indie make their sound exciting and unforgettable in equal measure.
They bring beautifully constructed lyrics, delivered with a signature blend of falsetto melody lines and anthemic choruses, which are layered over driving rhythmic beats and groove-ridden baselines, all topped off with sun-drenched, reverb-soaked guitar lines and a pinch of synth.
This Swiss poppy shoegazers have an new EP, titled Hide and Seek, out on 19 April.
Marcie (vocalist) about the single: “Someday’ nearly didn’t make it onto the EP.
When we first played it as a band, we turned it into a dancey indie track. When it
came to recording the tune, we realised it didn’t work and left it on the sidelines.
After I first heard Mitski’s ‘Bug Like An Angel’ last summer, I picked up
my guitar and played ‘Someday’ again for the first time in months.
I realised it needed to stay the way it sounded when I first wrote it, intimate
and fragile. We recorded the song a few days later and decided to release it
after all.”
Crystalline vocals, endearing acoustic sonority, tender and romantic pearl.
Razzle dazzle punk and tattoo artist Frank Carter unleashes his 4th LP Sticky next week. Ahead of it, we can taste this new crashing cannonball
feat. loudmouth Cassyette.
Sometimes I wonder when Frank Carter‘s lungs will collapse. At times his vocal powerfulness is off the charts causing the impression that an explosion is in the
air. And when Cassyette joins the scream contest the decibels go up to an illegal
level. Holy smoke!
Yesterday these psych-rockers from down under released their 9th longplayer called, yes, 9. A surprising mix of bangers to fill dance floors with and reflective ballads. My standout favorite is Pink Lunettes. A kick-ass jackhammer that does your head in, the way you like it.
Fresh band, fresh blood. With their sharp-cutting debut single, they target the never-ending police ferocity/racism as we, unfortunately, know. It’s still a worldwide disease.
“It’s about the aggression and brutality towards people, predominantly BIPOC and
marginalized individuals, alongside the disregard of matters that call for REAL assistance.
We will stand with this message until real change is made in policing says the band.
This Blue Mob is a turbulent whirlwind storming, with no brakes, towards the
abrupt finish. Blustery guitars, quick-fire pace, and robotic vocals. Touchdown!
Songwriter Steve Prygoda describes what inspired the song: “Love locks, they call
‘em. You see them on fences, overpasses, bridges. In Paris, Amsterdam, or in your own
city. Padlocks encoded with secret messages from lovers, for viewing by strangers. They symbolize love, however transient or permanent.”
This tremendously rushing earworm made me smile instantly, so does the universal
story of expressing your romantic state of mind via a sort of all you need is love graffiti.
And when you embed these fervent feelings in an irresistible, adrenaline-driven stunner,
you want to go out in the street and scream your amorous heart out.
Although – in general – tribute albums are a tricky affair (certainly when you want to honor one of the most iconic bands in rock history), they’re several notable performances on this one. Like here with Kurt Vile doing a great job with one of the key tracks of VU’s classic.
6. ‘Mass Produce Your Revolution’ by FERAL VICES (Louisville, KY)
This rumbling rock tandem release a 5 song EP titled ‘With Offerings‘ on December 3rd.
About this EP’s taster: “The song is about how we give these massive platforms to people
who really don’t actually know all that much of what they’re talking about. The second part of the song is about how these ultra-rich business people or specifically celebrities are throwing their pocket change into something just for the press and getting even more money out of it than they put in and it all becomes this vicious cycle that we all participate in.”
‘Mass Produce Your Revolution reflects loud and clear what we can expect next.
The pithy pair balances somewhere in between The Black Keys and Royal Blood.
Boisterous, determinant, and with uncurbed force. Bingo!
Ongoing Krautrock jam spinning around in your head before you’re aware of it.
Magnetic, hypnotic and energetic. Closing piece from new album Ignorance To Enlightenment And Back Again.
The trip starts here…
Band: POND who: Australian psych-rockers
featuring members of Tame Impala Active: Since 2008 / 9 studio albums so far
New album: 9 – yep, their 9th LP Released: 1 October 2021 – order info here
NME says: “It can be a risky game to thrown yourself into so many different styles
on a record, let alone within individual songs. Yet – from Bowie to Kurt Cobain and
William Burroughs – artists of all kinds have found joy in such surrealist methods of
cutting up their work and putting it back together. Having perhaps taken their psych
pop to the edges of what’s possible, Pond deserve this moment. Hopefully, it proves
a gateway to a new era for the band that keeps on giving.”
Full reviewhere. Score: 8/10.
Turn Up The Volume: A mix of dazzling grooves you can start moshpits with
on the dancefloor (Song For Agnes / America’s Cup / Pink Lunettes / Rambo), and
musing ruminations to take a breath between moshpit madness (Take Me Avalon
I’m Young / Czech Locomotive / Cold Cup, Plastic Sole / Toast). A bold and mood
swinging record. My score: 9/10.
Singles/clips: Pink Lunettes / America’s Cup / Toast
Nick Allbrook (frontman) about the song: “I often wonder about the
money hoarders, climate change deniers, earth-pilferers and adventure
capitalists. Are they nihilists or anarchists or do they really believe they
are to be saved by some Rock Opera Jesus? We may never know, but here
is “Toast,” which is hopefully as smooth as the smooth, smooth sailing of
our glorious leaders fat old white lives.”
Toast sounds and feels like a careless walk on the beach when the night
falls, but lyrically it’s a wry reservation about the (rich) people who screw
up our planet.
Frontman and former Tame Impala bassist Nick Allbrook says about
new rad single PINK LUNETTES: “We sort of lurched straight outta mid-
tempo into totally wired speed wobble fpunk so I didn’t really have time to
write lyrics, just blurt scrapbook snippets and jitter around in fast forward.
I think we managed to jitter along the neon tightrope between totally
unhinged, strobing spontaneity and focused forward momentum.”
(photo by Turn Up The Volume!)
Pink Lunettes is a freak-out stomper with a crowd-puller impact.
Groovin’ and movin’ perfectly for a punked-up John Travolta after
a few lines. Perfect to shake your lockdown demons off. A spicy Saturday Night Fever vibe with a long chillaxing fade-out.
