ALL TOGETHER

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TRACK-BY-TRACK

1. ‘Just Shadows’ by JEEN (Canada)

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.

Top!

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2. ‘Los Angeles’ by LOL TOLHURST x BUDGIE x JACKNIFE LEE (UK/LA)

A new supergroup has arrived.

It features The Cure drummer LOL TOLHURST (64), BUDGIE (65),
former Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer and Siouxsie‘s husband,
and Irish music producer Jacknife 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.

Bang-on.

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3. ‘Milk’ by BLACK GRAPE (Manchester)

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.

Bingo.

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4. ‘The Trench Coat Museum’ by YARD ACT (UK)

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.

Fucktastic.

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5. ‘Three‘ by SEARCH RESULTS (Ireland)

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.

Tune in.

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6. ‘Algorithms’ by KASABIAN (Leicester)

(photo by Turn Up The Volume)

Last year Leicester’s rock heroes KASABIAN returned with
their number one longplayer The Alchemist’s Euphoria.

To warm up for a hot festival summer the band invited us to sing-along
on this magnified pop lullaby. Its anthemic chorus is irresistibly infectious.

Let’s roll.

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7. ‘That’s Where She Belongs’ by THE CORAL (Scotland)

The seasoned psych-folk-pop-rock troubadours will offer us, on 8 September,
two albums. Sea Of Mirrors and Holy Joe’s Island Medicine Show.

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.

Listen/watch.

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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.

Get puzzled.

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9. ‘Vampire Empire’ by BIG THIEF (Brooklyn, NY)

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.

Enchanting.

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10. ‘Through To You’ by LEBARONS (Toronto, CA)

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.

Press play.

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11. ‘Ocean View’ by MERES (Australia)

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.

Stroke!

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12. ‘Queen’ by CLONE (Canada)

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.

Big bang.

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13. ‘No Meaning Man’ by WE MELT CHOCOLATE (Florence, Italy)

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.

Splendid.

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14. ‘Nookie’ by FIDLAR (Los Angeles)

L.A. punks Fidlar produce an illegal amount of decibels on their nasty
steamed-up cover of 1999 hit NOOKIE by Fred Dust‘s gang LIMP BIZKIT.

Awesome.

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15. ‘I’m A Wreck’ by ROOMMATES (UK)

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.

Listen up.

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16. ‘Fury’ by pMAD

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.

Yeah!

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17. ‘Floatin’ Stone’ by VOGUE VILLAINS (Canada)

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.

Wow!

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18. ‘Another Country’ by THE UNDERGROUND YOUTH (UK)

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.

Run, run, run.

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19. ‘Birthday Cake’ by TEEN IDLE (New Jersey, US)

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.

Arresting.

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20. ‘Love Town’ by JEREMY TUPLIN (England)

Photo by Suzi Corker

Newest piece from Tuplin‘s 4th LP Orville’s Discotheque.

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.

Beautiful.

See/hear you next month, music junkies 

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