Pitchfork said: “The brilliance of Rid of Me is in the vividness and detail with which it captures that Boschian panorama using only blues rhythms, loud-quiet-loud dynamics, Harvey’s voice.”
TUTV Pick: Rid Of Me
Stream the album HERE
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Pitchfork wrote: “This major-label debu is a harrowing song cycle chronicling the death
throes of a relationship. That cycle implies a romantic fatalism, as though every relationship is doomed to end painfully. Gentlemen is both personal and unknowable, cocksure yet deeply troubled.”
TUTV Pick: Debonair
Stream the album HERE
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BBC Music: “Suede’s main sources were Bowie (in Anderson’s wonderfully fey delivery) and
the Smiths. Ironically, Mike Joyce of the Smiths was a member for a short spell, but their bleak chronicles of urban dysfunction, modern love and sexual confusion were never a million miles away from Morrissey’s home ground.”
TUTV Pick: Animal Nitrate
Stream the albumHERE
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AllMusic: “Its best moments — and the Deal sisters’ megawatt charm — end up
outweighing its inconsistencies to make it one of the alternative rock era’s defining
albums.”
TUTV Pick: Cannonball
Stream the albumHERE
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Rolling Stone wrote: “Blur‘s second LP is their secret classic. Coming between the pop-psych shimmer of 1991’s Leisure and the cool Britannia of 1994’s Parklife, the brittle jangle and bitter observations on Modern Life Is Rubbish were near-career-killers.”
AllMusic said: “With their cult following growing, Morphine expanded their audience even further with their exceptional 1994 sophomore effort, Cure for Pain. Whereas their debut, Good, was intriguing yet not entirely consistent, Cure for Pain more than delivered. The songwriting was stronger and more succinct. Cure for Pain was unquestionably one of the best and most cutting-edge rock releases of the ’90s.”
TUTV Pick: Buena
Stream the album HERE
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Rolling Stone wrote: “The album is a lot of things – brilliant, corrosive, enraged and thoughtful, most of them all at once. But more than anything, it’s a triumph of the will.”
TUTV Pick: All Apologies
Stream the albumHERE
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GuitarCom said: “A Northern Soul may have more choruses, Urban Hymns may have shifted 10 million copies and made them Wigan’s only global superstars, but Verve‘s (the ‘The’ came later) celestial debut A Storm In Heaven is the guitarist’s choice. Nick McCabe’s enveloping waves of reverb and tape delay, in turn soothing and savage, moved producer John Leckie to conclude “To some extent, A Storm In Heaven is his record”.
TUTV Pick: Slide Away
Stream the album HERE
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A fucktastic set.
No fillers all killers. Greg Dulli pipes are staggering
throughout the whole show.
The band is a mean rock machine.
Full steam ahead like a sonic jet.
No brakes, no breaks, no mistakes.
Their towering strokes do the talking.
The crowd was no less than euphoric.
Hail hail! Hands down!
Greg Dulli in an interview with NME: “Luckily, Patrick, Christopher and I live in
California so I was able to play live with them, [which] gave the record the immediacy
I think it has. There was so much uncertainty, hopelessness, fear and confusion in the
world that I was working on songs to transport me to another reality, so I really feel
like this album was an escape.” Full interview here.
The late monumental voice Mark Lanegan came up with the LP’s title.
He contributed backing vocals to two tracks on the record before his
sudden death last February.
PRESS
Mojo Magazine: “How Do You Burn? finds the group on vintage form throughout.” 4/5.
The Line Of Best Fit: “The new record ups the ante on its two predecessors going
deeper in a richly assured display of Dulli and the band’s abilities.”4/5.
Classic Rock Magazine: “How does it burn? Darkly, but with sparks.“. 4/5.
Record Collector: “How Do You Burn? finds the Whigs in particularly lusty form.” 4/5.
(Lokerse Festival, Belgium – 10 August 2022 – photo by TUTV)
Turn Up The Volume: Greg Dulli‘s pipes reach for the sky throughout this new standout LP. His unique rock voice is the unwearying motor of this burning blast. And when the songs are of supreme quality, as all 10 terrific tunes here are, and your bustling band is on a raucous roll with the vitality of young wolves you end up with an undeniable winner of a record. Not only of the past month but also aiming for the top seat at the end of the year. The Aghan Whigs are a soul band at heart with a brawny blues resonance. Awesome group, awesome album.
Singles/clips: I’ll Make You See God / The Getaway / A Shot Of Lines
Two days agoTHE AFGHAN WHIGS landed in Belgium and played at
the 10-day Lokerse Feesten Festival. I was, as a longtime fan waiting for
weeks to see Greg Dulli and his whirlwind band back at work on a stage.
I wasn’t alone. Despite the heatwave, 10.000 enthusiastic people joined me
for a blazing show turning up the degrees even more (the organizers made free
water available. Unfortunately, the beer wasn’t for free). I’ll give you 10 highlights,
but first I’ll Make You See God, the seething lead single of the upcoming album.
10 HIGHLIGHTS
1. Just the fact that The Whigs came
to Belgium again after 7 years got me high
2. Their set was fucktastic.
No fillers all killers.
3.Greg Dulli‘s voice is out-of-this-world.
Unique Godlike rock pipes.
4. No brakes, no breaks, no mistakes.
Full steam ahead like a sonic jet.
5. No BS chatter between songs. Only music, music, and music
to keep the heatwave momentum and the ecstatic crowd going.
6. Their wall-of-psychedelic sound made
me gasp for breath at times. Jaw-dropping.
7. No arty farty light show for The Whigs (like Kings Of Leons
displayed the day before) to shine brightly. Their boundless
vehemence does not need special effects. Their towering
rippers do the talking.
9. The new supreme single ‘I’ll Make You See God’ (the thundering opener)
and ‘Aline Of Shots’ are a loud and clear harbinger for an astounding album.
10. They made you see (hear) Bo Diddley too.
Who do we love? The Afghan Whigs. Hands down.
God’s rock voice
SETLIST
1. I’ll Make You See God 2. Matamoros 3. Light as a Feather 4. Oriole 5. The Tide 6. Gentlemen 7. Who Do You Love?
(Bo Diddley cover) 8. Fountain and Fairfax 9. Algiers 10. Heaven on Their Minds 11. Somethin’ Hot 12. A Line of Shots 13. John the Baptist 14. Summer’s Kiss 15. My Enemy 16. Into the Floor 17. There Is a Light
(The Smiths cover)
Early this month psych rock virtuoso Anton Newcombeand his orchestra
released new LP Fire Doesn’t Grow On Trees. Their 19th and one of their
best to my keen ears.
Ila is a Belgian post-punk trio fronted by bewitching songstress Ilayda Cicek.
Last year they had their stunning debut album Felt out, containing one of the
best singles of 2021 with Leave Me Dry.
Brand new piece Live To Love confirms
the immense intensity of ILA.
They are here to stay!
“This song is about a friend that you loved but just cannot be near. They always get
into trouble, always cause drama/fights, make a bunch of empty promises and get
you to do a bunch of intense stuff for them without getting anything in return.”
It’s a blazing bass/drum tandem that ignites this jiggish jackhammer with ardency
and flamboyance and keeps on steamrolling for the full 140 seconds.
And when an avid Amazon jumps in with pithy and bouncy vocals
you know, you feel and you hear straight away that we have a winner.
6. ‘Baby, I Had An Abortion’ byPETROL GIRLS (UK/Austria)
Last month this raging feminist post-hardcore 4-piece unleashed their 3rd album
named Baby. A badass beast of a record mixing raw power, mouthy screams, and a tsunami of loud and clear messages.
In the light of the incredible Roe v Wade debacle, disrespecting women’s fundamental
human rights, this LP’s sassy slam is a middle finger to all anti-abortion idiots.
American film soundtrack composer DANNY ELFMAN has a new album
out, titledBIGGER. MESSIER., on 12 August with reimagined versions of
songs from his last year’s Big Mess longplayer. More info here.
It features guest vocals from Trent Reznor, HEALTH, Zach Hill
of Death Grips, Xiu Xiu, Squarepusher, Ghostemane.
And the omnipresent Iggy Pop joined the fun too with this kick-ass jam.
These psycho-billy maniacs produce a wall-of-holy-smoke havoc on this horror-ific haymaker with sawing guitars, punk turbulence, hellish vocals a pulverizing chorus.
This razzle-dazzle master blaster races and rushes with vivid vigor and fervid
firmness. Punk ‘n roll at its razor-sharp best. And when the towering chorus kicks
in the sky-screaming vocals go through the roof. Amazeballs energy in overdrive.
If this Krautrock-like rotating electro ripper doesn’t trigger
your body, mind, and senses you need to change your meds.
Its repetitive rhythm mesmerizes and stupefies. Its sickly sticky synth swirl is simply irresistible and its magnetic voice brought the late great Talk Talk leader Mark Hollis
to mind.
On this Herculian stroke metal, shoegaze and classic guitar rock mania (think Eddie Van Halen and Neil Young‘s Crazy Horse) meet with forceful effect, while Rachel Bacon‘s vocals float above the giant raucousness. Bystander is a slow-burning torch, a powerhouse with mammoth riffs. Hefty score from their sterling 5-track EP Spiralized.
The obscure slow-progressing synth/guitar intro could easily be the shadowy intro
theme of a film noir starring this duo – Hana Piranha and Mishkin Fitzgerald – as Femmes Fatales with spine-chilling voices that cause a sensation of puzzlement and perturbation strengthened by the heavy metallic reverberations in the back.
When you look glamorous, move glamorous, and sound glamorous,
you have my attention in a flash. This London’s colorful gang’ new wallop
mourns the loss of heroes such as Tom Petty and genius Bowie.
Its avid flow gets under your skin from the get-go. A voltaic retro-resounding
guitar goes solo midway and challenges the somber mood. And Amazon Jo-Jo spices the ripper with her notable rock voice.
High-passionate mavericks The Afghan Whigs from Ohio
with general Greg Dulli upfront will share their 9th longplayer
named How Do You Burn? with the world on 9 September.
A Line Of Shots is one of the brill tracks we heard so far off the LP.
Vince Grant is no stranger to Turn Up The Volume. His dedication to darkwave
is infectious as he shows again here with his new shadowy single. Sonically you still
hear Joy Division and The Cure echoes.
Too Close To The Sun is an addictive melody at heart locked in tenebrous eurhythmics. Think of lots of The Cure hits (Close To You / Friday I’m In Love / Lovecats and so many more). They were experts in writing uncomplicated pop tunes and made them sound instantly captivating.
Grant also unites aural catchiness with shady musicality including
a melancholic saxophone solo in this new composition. Top.
Two weeks ago New York City‘s darlings dropped their 7th LP titled The Other Side Of Make Believe. In my aural opinion their best
since their 2002 debut.
Kilguss‘s voice is just amazing. Resonating somewhere between the magnific
voices of nightingales Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten. Yes, that is amazing and Great White Shark is also a heartfelt sort of musing that those two emotive ladies love. Say no more.
He tears open
From the heart
From the root
From intuition
He tears open
From the gut
From the soul
From inner vision
The by now legendary passion rockers from Cincinnati, Ohio with mastermind Greg Dulli leading the troops have their new longplayer How Do You Burn? out on 9 September.
This lead single is a sturdy steamroller, a red-hot-heated ripsnorter, an unstoppable cannonball going everywhere fast. Manic blitzkrieg guitars, ruthless drum/bass attacks, Greg Dulli‘s rush of blood vocality, and a brutal finish. Flabbergasting.
Dulli: “That’s one of the hardest rock songs we’ve ever done.
It was written and performed on sheer adrenalin.”
This London post-punk team unleashed their 2nd scorching album Beware Believers, last April. One of TUTV’s best full-lengths of 2022 (so far).
Single Slowly Separate is a schizo sonic serpent generating a mind-blowing backwash
while chainsaw guitars turn up the decibels to an illegal peak, and man-in-the-middle James Fox rages and blazes through his teeth.
This frenetic Brit force hit big time with their dazzling debut album The Great Regression last March (more about it in a couple of days).
Let’s focus now on one of its cast-iron brainbreakers. It’s a poignant, biting, and
anxious uppercut. I’m pretty sure Moss would love this hit-and-run drone when
it would hit her ears. She is, after all, the Femme Punk Fatale of fashion.
4. ‘Twitchin’ in The Kitchen’ byWARMDUSCHER (London)
This punky-funky disco corker is the perfect pick-me-up tune for all the wacky weirdos who are always in the kitchen at parties waiting for free drinks and waiting for Warmduscher to come in and kick their lazy asses. Big stroke, big chorus, big fun!
“It’s a warning, an unflinching assessment of the vastness and insignificance of this
life, is precisely counterbalanced by their lesson, which models the resilience that this understanding demands. ‘Demolition Row’ is persistent, concise, and alarmingly physical.”
This blustery belter is vintage Metz. Full blast ahead, no brakes, no breaks.
The track featured on a split 7” with London-based group Adult Life.
From Dylan’s Desolation Row
to Metz’s Demolition Row…
“As a story or metaphor, we are all ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ – made up of other people’s opinions and parts that don’t belong to us. That we were born perfect but people, in their
own conditioning, come along and can make us feel undesirable/inadequate/the monster.
But we can choose to be real instead.”
This is without a shadow of a doubt the best debut single I heard so far this year.
A towering tune going low, high and back. A sickly sticky pop gem wrapped in
a big-boisterous-wall-of-sound. And upfront, Sianna Lafferty ‘s phenomenal voice
causes goosebumps when she goes sky-high on the chorus. The ardency of Porridge Radio comes to mind.
One word: AWESOME.
“I am not what you want me to be
Uncle Sam won’t even point at me
Even the eyes of the Virgin Mary wall
hanging won’t even stare at me.”
Shaman progresses like a vicious viper sliding to its prey. Determined, but always
wary of sudden danger. It dumbfounds and flummoxes while the song’s tension
intensifies and sends shivers down your spine.
No metallic explosions or abrupt pace changes this time, although it feels like a thunderstorm can happen as the mesmeric music swells along its ominous path
towards a demonic climax. Another appealing piece de resistance, another
psychedelic exploit another step closer to the new album.
“A paean to taking your foot off the gas and letting things slide, or a warning of the perils of procrastination, perhaps? It’s hard to tell whether ‘Mañana’ is meant to serve as a confessional regarding Domestic’s own perceived lack of willpower, or a celebration of idleness. It could be either of these things; and that’s one of its many joys.”.
A sirens intro, David Bowie‘s saxophone, and steel drums straight from Trinidad. Sounds like an exotic swing and shake ditty is coming up. No folks, it’s a lazy rap-sody you can play the morning after a booze marathon to get up and sober up, slowly.
Soul voice Clare Gillet takes care of the chirpy chorus.
“Propelled by a motorik rhythm and abrasive guitars, it stomps toward a doom-laden finale. Inspired by Sebastião Salgado’s (note TUTV: Brasilian photographer) anarchic photos of the Gold Mines of Serra Peladain the Amazon in 1985: the track explores the relentless obsession with grasping a glint of glory from the mud. “
Once I learned that this startling belter is about the horrible exploitation of human
beings by ferocious money sharks this jagged jackhammer blew my mind even harder than I heard it the first time before knowing about the band’s inspiration for this stunner.
Expect rabid guitars, doom and gloom vocals, and frantic
twists and turns until the chaotic finale. Post-punk at
its razorblade best.
Geordie Greep (vocalist, guitar): “Almost everything I write is from a true thing, something
I experienced and exaggerated and wrote down. I don’t believe in Hell, but all that old world folly is great for songs, I’ve always loved movies and anything else with a depiction of Hell.”
A screwy zig-zagging haymaker it is. From upcoming, 3rd, LP Hellfire.
My fav track from one of my fav albums of the year (so far), baptized A False Glimmer Of Hope with loudmouth James Domestic (yep, the
guy from above) going bonkers.
This red-hot-blistering hardcore missile punks up your adrenalin and
invites you to open all windows and doors and yell your tits off.
My favored sonic sci-fi symphony from the duo’s excellent Eris Wakes EP.
Trippy, spooky, trancy. With repetitive mind-twisting Krautrock eurhythmics
that take you on an otherwordly voyage. Top-flight!
After the piano intro (sounds like the theme tune of classic horror-thriller Halloween) this young outspoken artist fumes with barbed wire temper towards the supersonic chorus that resonates like hardcore rap.
This rushing rollercoaster swings forth and back with grim impetus until the gloomy
synth climax makes way for that ominous piano fragment again. TV or not TV, that’s
the question? The answer is easy. To hell with the relentless idiocy of reality TV stars and influencers constantly putting pressure on growing minds to behave in ways unattainable to most.
Oscar Mic wrote this song after witnessing the horrific violence of
psycho Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine on the news. All proceeds of
the song go to Save The Children’s Ukraine Appeal.
We Are Ukrainian is a tremendously catchy hip-rap-pop jam featuring steel drums
and timpani balancing somewhere between Roots Manuva and Mr. Scruff.
“Fleeing people running scared, so tell me Where’s the justice? Our leaders say they care,
tell me can you trust this? Urban warfare, your home’s done and dusted, Aiming at the
public, they wouldn’t? They just did,”
The titillating electro- intro echoes early Depeche Mode before they became the darkwave Goth-esque rockers we all know. But in an eye-blink White Skin turns into a swirling synth-pop stomper to fill dancefloors with. It’s an instantly infectious nightclub earworm with an ecstatic chorus.
18. ‘Worthless Souls’ by MELTED WINGS (Toronto, CA)
“A track that calls out how sexism and power corrupt all levels of society.
We all need to recognize this going forward and make sure that it doesn’t
go unchecked.”
The sickly sticky synth beat comes across like an invitation for my feet to kick the butts of vicious sexists and power-horny billionaires ruining people’s lives. Middle finger to them while spinning around mad as a hatter to this bang-on electro buzz. Trust me, you’ll feel much better afterward
This is what ecstatic pop grandeur is all about. Music that elevates
your state of mind to a titillating level. This pearl generates a feel-good
entrancing buzz.
When the multi-layered vocals/harmonies pop up in a gospel-like choir delight
creates an atmosphere of utter joy comparable with the euphoric drive of The Polyphonic Spree. Vitalizing vibe, refreshing rapture.
20. ‘Life And Lies’ by LEE ROGERS (Northern Ireland)
A mixed-emotions lullaby with Rogers‘ sky-reaching voice as the star. It’s an emotional
and bluesy reflection. Wurlitzer jukeboxes should be reinvented for these heartbreakers so moody minds can cry their eyes out (or cry in their beer) at night in a downtown bar where lonely ones gather and muse about life and lies.
Shaman progresses like a vicious viper working its way to a grandiose climax. Determined, but always wary of sudden danger. Shaman dumbfounds and flummoxes while the song’s tension intensifies and has a spine-chilling effect. From the duo’s upcoming album Trust No Leaders, out 1st of July.
A roaring riff slashes and thrashes throughout this psych-o-tic hellraiser. Add Lunadon‘s freakish vocals and you know that this brainbreaker will test the resilience of your stereo. Fucktastic! From new album Beyond Everything
7. ‘Striking Like Thunder’ by LOWERY MILLS (Canada)
This thunder and lighting corker strikes big time from the first chord on, to the final one. Classic riffage rock with an anthemic plangency, a flaming drive, and a mammoth chorus. Add aroused vocals and the overall result is an ear-popping champion you’ll have on repeat for a while.
These DIY misfits have a new 5-track EP out, titled DIGGING.
You can buy it on Bandcamp.
My numero uno cracker is the title track.
The band’s frontman sounds like his own meanest demon.
Threatening and ready to kick badasses. This uppercut goes
mental on schizophrenic guitars and merciless drums.
To hell with all ruthless power abusers. That’s the central sharp-cutting message
of this new Janis jackhammer that causes a racing rush of blood through your veins.
This cocksure swipe is stoked up by jagged guitars,
by a steadfast drums/bass force, and by biting vocals.
What do you think of this? Topliners Arctic Monkeys turning up their amps or Liverpool legends The La’s if they would have been a rapid-fire punk turbo. Sounds insane, right?
You bet.
Spiky guitars zigzagging madly all over the place, John Bonham-like
drum brutality hits hard, and Alex Turner‘s younger brother is singing.
Be ready to move like a nutter on
a pogo stick. Contagious pyrotechnics.
Dream pop splendor in motion, with shiny synths, bouncy basslines,
laid-back drums, sensual vocals, and majestic orchestration. This winsome
humdinger will find its way to your yearning heart and your restless soul.
This timeless Etta James gem is 55 years old. It was written
by Ellington Jordan and co-credited to Billy Foster and James.
Songstress Sam Casey‘s heart-and-soul touching rendition
sends shivers down your spine, with her goosebumps voice.
Casey about the video: It feels so vulnerable to see the results of my raw emotion and struggle that this is almost difficult to watch. As soon as we started filming, the lyrics (and most likely, the fact that I was crying between takes) took everyone to this dark yet loving place where tears were being shed, but there were hugs and kisses floating around all night.”
Desert Storm is a psychedelic thrill with the hypnotizing and repetitive dynamism
of Krautrock. Its vibrant vigor and steadfast swagger roll all the way.
Pounding drums push the track continuously, guitars glimmer,
and febrile vocals add a shadowy timbre. Bingo.
This synth dream-pop duo has their
debut album Soft Chaines out now.
A gripping work inspired by physical pain leading to psychological pain feeding doubt, despair, and anguish. Often musicians use their work to process adversity. That’s what happens on this album. The layered synth orchestrations add melancholic warmth and here and their guitars gently weep while Miller‘s voice is the wandering star in the middle. An enticing debut with a harrowing, human touch.
My favorite piece of the record is the opener The Order.
Last year the Scottish veterans excited critics and
fans with their 10th LP As The Love Continues.
One song, from the same sessions, didn’t make the album as it wasn’t finished yet at the time. But it’s now ready to meet the world. It’s classic Mogwai euphony with swelling layers of synths, sheeny guitars, and slow-paced drums. The finale is just Homeric.
Twinkling guitars draw you into this touchy-feely daydream from the get-go. The color is blue, the melody is melancholic, the voice is wondering. This is a shoegazy gem for heavyhearted hearts and vulnerable souls, a soothing score for all romantics among us. The vibe is idyllic, the tone is hazy, the end result is just wondrous.
I’m sure you know that feeling of awakening in the morning and your first thought is ‘I don’t want to get upand face the cruel world, out there, today‘. But some smart cells in your brains tell you that you have no choice as you can’t escape reality. Not today, not tomorrow, never.
That very moment smooth and soft shanties like this one help you to ease your
moody state of mind. By mingling shimmery guitar sparks, shooting synths, spirited melodiousness, and comforting vocals in a happy-go-lucky way you can imagine you’re
on a special satellite where life colors pink again.
High-energy rockers THE AFGHAN WHIGS from Cincinnati, Ohio
with general GREG DULLI leading the troops just announced their
9th longplayer called HOW DO YOU BURN?. It’ll see the day of light
on 9 September. More info here.
The late monumental voice Mark Lanegan came up with the LP’s title.
He contributed backing vocals to two tracks on the record before his
sudden death last February.
Along with the great news (yes, I’m a big fan) came a second single,
following chainsaw barnstormer I’ll Make You See God (listen below)
THE GETAWAY is a slow-burning and intense power ballad.
Mettlesome and evocative with another vocally puissant Dulli
exploit.
Roll the tape
and listen/watch…
As promised here’s the red-hot-smoking lead single I’ll Make You See God…
Disco-freak stomper of the month, hands down. This new punky-funky corker follows
the previous 2 shared crackers Wild Flowers and Fatso. They will all be on their upcoming album At the Hot Spot, out tomorrow, 1 April (no joke).
It’s a bangin’ beast with a screamin’ chorus. A perfect pick-me-up tune for all the weirdos
who are always in the kitchen at parties waiting for Warmduscher to kick their lazy asses.
Compared to this Japanese red-hot-bloody fury the Ramones sound like choirboys. Otobeke Beaver‘s race and rush in an overwhelming overdrive. No brakes, no breaks.
Their rabidity rolls like a tsunami through your ears. These perky punkettes produce
moshpit madness on the spot. The average song length is 2 minutes, 120 seconds
of clamorous pandemonium.
3. ‘Territorial Call Of The Female’ by BODEGA (Brooklyn, NY)
The New Yorkers still operate on Parquet Courts’ playground with their new,
2nd full-length Broken Equipment. But they supersized their jangly beats
and they turned up the temperature.
Territorial Call Of The Female is my favorite cut. It activates
every muscle and every nerve in my itching body.
Scott Kirkland (the remaining member of Las Vegas dance act The Crystal Method)
invited icon Iggy Pop (you can hear him almost any day on a new collaboration, the
past few years) and his British buddy, composer/DJ Hyper in his studio.
The raving result is a techno boom boost, bursting all the way, with Pop‘s voice
strangled by a blender. Sounds spooky, sounds wicked, sounds like lust for life.
Breaking news: Iggy says he’s not a punk anymore!
“I don’t want to be a punk
I don’t want to belong to any of it
I just want to be”
Busy blues-rock bee Jack White canned two new longplayers for this year, titled Fear Of The Dawn (out 8 April 2022) and Entering Heaven Alive (out 22 July 2022)
The hottest cut I heard so far is Hi-De-Ho (from ‘Fear Of The Dawn’ LP) featuring Q.Tip.
The by now legendary passion rockers from Cincinnati, Ohio with mastermind
Greg Dulli in control are back from being away for 5 years. Their last album In Spades came out in 2017.
I’ll Make You See God a striking steamroller, a red-hot-heated stunner, an unstoppable
cannonball going everywhere fast. It will feature in the upcoming PlayStation game Gran Turismo 7.
7. ‘Nothing Comes Good Easy’ by DEAD LEVEE (Canada)
Wowzer! This sickly uplifting belter (from upcoming EP Rise-Up) elevates your state of mind with fired-up dynamism from the get-go. Rapid-fire rawk and roll riffs switch on a fervent feel of euphoria. It did it in the past, it does it in the present and it will do it in
the future.
Despite all the BS we have to endure (pandemic, Ukraine, natural disasters,
and other threats) it’s never too late to get back on track and why not start
with 4 and a half minutes of heart-warming guitar-fueled boogie-woogie
that breathes hope and assurance.
Once I learned that this startling uppercut is about the horrible
exploitation of human beings by ferocious money sharks this
jagged jackhammer blew my mind even harder than I heard it
the first time before knowing about the band’s inspiration
for this standout.
Expect rabid guitars, doom and gloom vocals, and frantic twists and turns
until the chaotic finale. Post-punk at its razorblade best. Think fierce Canadian
turbine Metz and London‘s up-and-coming gunslingers Crows.
This fiery crackerjack goes forth and back with
turbulent velocity. Imagine the full of vim and vigor
intenseness and puissant vocality of The Afghan Whigs.
Anxious, unyielding, and ablaze.
Breaking Grounds races like a rush of blood to the head with
screaming guitars and propelling drum muscularity.
The first taster from the upcoming debut full-length Dancing On A Volcano.
Imagine the fervid fuzz of punchy guitar pop legends Buzzcocks, with The Stranglers’ Jean-Jacques Burnel on bass, combined with the cutting
verbality of today’s post-Brexit-punk rebirth and you know a frisky doozy
is coming your way.
Add some American-dream girls of the City of Angles on your imaginary
mind-screen and you’re about to start a champagne party in your head.
The combination of a nasty Gang Of Four bass riff,
frenzied Keith Levene guitars here and there and Skinner
hip-hop-rapping like Beck used to do, works like an ecstatic
upper.
This funk-punk stonker has an immediate intensifying impact on all of your
limbs and your bloodstream’s flow. Add some sexy sax thrills to the mix and
you’ll have all you need to jump out of your slump. Capice?
Cut from their sophomore album
‘Moon Reflections’, out on June 24
A rotating synth riff echoes British electro legends New Order and
is the beating heart of this new piece, yet the mood is meditative
and musing, strengthened by the near-whispering and eager vocals.
This darksome and soul-searching reverie gets under your skin after
a couple of spins.
This impassioned hard-luck story grows slowly but surely into a soul-stirring and mesmerising heartbreaker with an epic finale. Glowing guitars, a steady drumbeat,
and mixed emotions vocals all come together for a poignant performance.
‘Love Is Cruel / The Hurt Within’. You can feel it.
You’ll hear titillating electro-echoes of early Depeche Mode before
they became the darkwave Goth-esque rockers we all know. But
in an eye-blink White Skin becomes an infectious nightclub earworm
with an ecstatic chorus.
In a normal world (does that actually exists?) this adrenaline-infused
and hip-swinging spark should top the dance charts around the globe.
The musical project of singer/songwriter Jordan Speare
assisted by guitarist/bassist and friend Andrew Billone.
After a couple of EPs the pair’s canned their first longplayer
called Silhouettes. Release at the end of the year.
I don’t know if it’s the world-famous and historic museum in Paris
they want to burn, that wouldn’t be so nice. What I do know is that their
brisk and spirited sound is infectious and captivating with an immediate
impact on your body’s movements. Expect guitar pop electricity, extra
pushed by lively vocals.
16. ‘Life And Lies’ by LEE ROGERS (Northern Ireland)
The Americana voice of Northern Ireland releases
his new album Gamebloodon 13 May.
Ahead of it came this mixed emotions single with Rogers‘ sky-reaching voice as the star, once again.
It’s a bluesy goosebumps reflection. Wurlitzer jukeboxes should be reinvented
for these heartbreakers so moody minds can cry their eyes out (or cry in their beer)
at night in a downtown bar where lonely ones gather and chat about life and lies.
A poppy synth trip with a floating flow and near-whispering vocals. Both eerie and affecting, both dizzy and hypnotic with a frenetic guitar attack coming out of nowhere around the 3-minute mark.
It’s an epic ballad with a country feel. If this melancholic gem was written
in the 60s it would have been sung by Linda Rondstadt, Tammy Waynette
or Dolly Parton, anyway, by an angelic voice like Olsen‘s magnific one.
