The Irrational Library Archives - TURN UP THE VOLUME

10 Best Albums Of The Month – SEPTEMBER 2025

– 1 –

Band: SPRINTS
Who: Irish post-punk whirlwind, led by charismatic
voice/songwriter/guitarist Karla Chubb.

Album: ALL THAT IS OVER.
Their sophomore one, following last year’s
amazeballs debut LP Letter To Self.

Sprints about the LP: “While the world is literally burning down around us there are voices that seem hell bent on pointing the finger at anyone but those actually responsible. There’s no need to dream-up dystopia, we’re living in it. And somehow, while the world has never seemed uglier, our life has never been more beautiful.”

TUTV: Their riff-ripping quiet/loud/quiet formula works again, big time. The decisive factor for making this my fav album of the month is the cooking/boiling/bloodcurdling ebullience of the 5 last tracks. They hit you, piece by piece, hard in the face. Karla Chubb‘s hepped-up vocals rule again. Here and there her unbridled explosiveness brings young Courtney Love‘s borderline cry outs to mind. Helter-skelter.

KEY TRACKS: Something’s Gonna Happen / Pieces / Better / Coming Alive / Desire

SINGLE: Descartes

ALBUM

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Instagram – Linktree
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– 2 –

Artist: BAXTER DURY
The British flamboyant singer-songwriter
from London.

Album: ALLBARONE
His 9th one.

Dury about the album: “It’s kind of a character arc that goes through the whole thing,
two personalities. It’s very critical of people, this album, whoever they are, maybe some
bloke with a moustache and sockless loafers in Shoreditch or a fat old Chiswick gangster lording it up in a really comfortable middle class part of London”

“It doesn’t sound like a Harrods hamper band made it. It doesn’t sound like a band made
it all. Which is what I wanted most of all. It’s just something that’s brand new for me. It’s
quite exciting, really.”

Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Lokerse Feesten, Belgium

TUTV: Dury does it again. Allabarone is another invitation to get up, stand up and sway your pelvis to sultry beats. Buzzing bass grooves and hip-shaking vibes have you going non-stop while he tells/whispers/sings his weird stories about weird characters. As usual, female harmonies add a sensual touch. An album to consume regularly to keep your lazy limbs vivifying. Boom boom boom!

KEY TRACKS: Allbarone / Alpha Dog / The Other Me / Mockingjay

SINGLE: Allbarone

ALBUM

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Instagram – All Albums
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– 3 –

Album artwork

Band: Ho99o9 (pronounced Horror)
Who: Trash & crash rap-punk duo – theOGM
and Eaddy – from Newark, New Jersey.

Album: TOMORROW WE ESCAPE
Their 3rd one.

TheOGM in an interview with New Noise Maagzine: “We want to be able to grow and express our musical range and artistry, so it’s an evolved sound and a process of trying new things and not compromising. There’s so much going on in the world right now and it’s very overwhelming.

You have to sit back and realign yourself, focus, and push through. That’s on a personal level and family level. If you’re going on that political route and that’s what you’re about, you gotta go that route, but everybody has a different route.”

TUTV: You can relax for 2.22 minutes during the opening lines of I Miss Home.
From there on, non-stop louder than war pyrotechnics dominate the record.
Imagine Rage Against The Machine have a motherfucking rap-scream contest with
Body Count while the crushing crossover decibels, trash, and crash the roof.

That’s how Ho99o9 deal with our daily, suffocating, rat race. Chop, chop, chop.
Attack, attack, attack. Hit, hit, hit. Don’t escape yet, guys, let’s party hard first.

KEY TRACKS: Target Practice / Incline / Immortal / LA Riots / Godflesh

SINGLE: Incline

ALBUM

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Instagram – Bandcamp
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– 4 –

Band: SHAME
Who: Sharp-cutting-punk gunslingers
from South London.

Album: CUTTTROATH

Press info: “Still in their twenties, the five childhood friends have grown exponentially, with ambitious sonic ideas and the technical chops to execute them. Having proved themselves several times over with legendary live shows and three critically acclaimed albums under their belts, Shame went into Cutthroat ready to create a new Ground Zero.”

TUTV: Without a shadow of a doubt their 2nd best following their terrific debut.
Pumped-up vocalist Charlie Steen spits and sneers again with vitriolic self-assurance, injecting the razor-edged tunes with extra firepower. London’s wackadoos smite again unashamedly with hurry-scurry tempestuousness. Abso-bloody-lutely. Get your pogo
stick out of the closet, you’ll need it.

KEY TRACKS: Cutthroat / Cowards Around / Nothing Better / Spartak / Axis Of Evil

SINGLE: Cuttroath

ALBUM

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Instagram – Website
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– 5 –

Band: SUEDE
London’s glam rock/pop celebs orchestrated
by their never aging frontman Brett Anderson.

Album: ANTIDEPRESSANTS.
Their 10th long one.

Anderson said to Dazed: “It’s a kind of memento mori, a reminder of death.
It’s not an original thought, but let’s just say that we’re going to die, and that’s that,
but try and make the most of our time on time on Earth. There’s a bleakness to that,
but it’s actually also about embracing life – carpe diem. There’s beauty in transience.”

TUTV: On their past 3 longplayers, hefty guitars create a wall of elevating electricity
with an epic sonority. It results in more rock swagger than pop sensibility, even when
they slow down (Somewhere Between An Atom And A Star and June Rain) guitars have an overpowering impact. Only Brett Anderson melodramatic vocals can compete with them. His hypersensitive vocality is always present upfront and an instrumental factor for
Suede‘s work.

The singles (Dancing With Europeans / Trance State and Disintegrate) and the title track stand out. Their anthemic puissance hits your ears with huge fervidness. At times the band try to hard to maintain the vital potency all the way through.

Mind you, most of the songs have an adrenalizing quality. Many other bands would sell their soul to have the necessary craftsmanship to write tunes like Anderson & Co still do today. Great trash.

KEY TRACKS: Dancing With Europeans / Trance State / Disintegrate /
Antidepressants / Life Is Endless, Life Is A Moment

SINGLE: Disintegrate

ALBUM

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Instagram – Linktree
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– 6 –

Band: THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY
Who: The Irrational Library is a Dutch-American rock band with its roots
firmly planted in both the regional and international counterculture. The
Dutch-American band produces a raw, dirty groove influenced by punk,
provo and punk icons. Their poetry is packed with social criticism.

Album: THE SAYING OF IT ALL
Their 5th one.

Press info: Carrying forward their unmistakable blend of groove, grit, and spoken-word swagger, The Irrational Library once again proves they’re tuned into the heartbeat of the here and now. Their music connects yesterday, today, and tomorrow into a sound both urgent and timeless.

TUTV: The IL are back in full kick-ass form, tackling hypocrites of all sorts, who mess up society for their personal benefit. Trenchant lyricist and eloquent word-waterfall Joshua Baumgarten is the heart-and-soul in the middle, whether he screams his lungs out or just tells us what is on his worried mind.

But without the fabulous trio that back him up with their characteristic jazzy-saxy,
bluesy-punk-rock sound, it would be half fun to listen to this record. Band and frontman
are a streamlined team holding your attention with groovy and funky ease, lyrically as
well as sonically.

KEY TRACKS: Notes From The Playground / Gun To Your Head /
Truth Serum / Evidence Of Proof / Today

SINGLE: Truth Serum

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ALBUM

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Instagram – Facebook
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– 7 –

Artwork album

Band: Múm
Who: Icelandic indietronica
outfit formed in 1997.

Album: HISTORY OF SILENCE
Their first one in 12 years.

Photo: Ben Rayner / Terrorbird Media

Press info: “Vibrantly oscillating around a carefully curated palette of electronic and analogue sounds, the eight new tracks reflect the group’s continuous strive to explore sonic spaces through subtle yet gripping songwriting.”

They breathe an overall airy and intimate atmosphere, yet resonate with the structural heft of time and structured, they echo their origins from different seasons, cities, and spaces—neatly stitched together with unparalleled craftsmanship. They breathe an
overall airy and intimate atmosphere, yet resonate with the structural heft of time.”

TUTV: History Of Silence‘s strength lies in its mind-relaxing flow. It feels like an ear massage. Sweet, slo-mo synth/piano symphonies, enlivened now and then with crystalline guitar sparks transfer you to a de-stressing place, far away from the noisy reality, while heartfelt duet vocals complete the tranquil sonority. Headphone music for cold nights.

KEY TRACKS: Miss You Dance / Kill The Light / A Dry Heart Needs No Winding

SINGLE: Kill The Light

ALBUM:

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Linktree
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– 8 –

Band: BIG THIEF
Brooklyn‘s lauded folk pop/rock band,
fronted by endearing voice Adrienne
Lenker.

Album: DOUBLE INFINITY

Stereogum says: The songs have an essential simplicity that makes it still feel accurate
to call Big Thief a folk band. A lot of that accessibility and simplicity is thanks to Lenker’s lyrics. They’re open-hearted and lovely, more so than ever, and their realness and plainness keeps them from being saccharine.

These songs are about the inexorability of passing time, the uselessness of language, and
how love and music can fill the gaps between these things we try to hold on to but never
can.”

Press Photo by Genesis Báez

TUTV: Big Thief seduce and charm once again with playful tunes. Sensitive ones, sad ones
and other related emotive ones, but always ear-pleasing ones. They don’t rock, nor do they really pop, it’s the band’s folk roots that catalyze a laid-back campfire feel. More acoustic than electrical resonance.

No unnecessary bells and whistles, no fake glamour, no studio tricks for BT. They’re
about authenticity and honesty, and Adrienne Lenker‘s voice was made for these serene and thoughtful moments. A great companion for a night in.

KEY TRACKS: Incromprehensible / Los Angeles / All Night All Day / Grandmother

SINGLE: Incromprehensible

ALBUM
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Instagram – All Albums
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– 9 –

Band: ROBERT PLANT & SAVING GRACE
Who: The former Led Zeppelin icon and
his touring band (for 6 years now).

Album: SAVING GRACE

Mojo Magazine‘s verdict: “Birthed via a Black Country communion which saw Robert Plant and his new, largely unknown bandmates enjoy a lengthy courtship off-radar, Saving Grace feels guileless, almost serendipitous. What might happen, Plant mused, if he shipped what he’d learned from T Bone Burnett, Alison Krauss et al home and duetted on choice blues, alt-country and folk covers with Brum-born former music teacher, Suzi Dian? Across 10 intimate songs deftly ornamented by guitarists Matt Worley and Tony Kelsey and cellist Barney Morse-Brown, magic happens.”

TUTV: Mesmerizing roots music with alluring duet/alternating vocals. Plant and Dian are blessed with magnicicent voices perfectly fitting this timeless genre of traditional music.

KEY TRACKS: It’s A Beautiful Day Today / Ticket Taker / I Never Will Marry / Higher Rock

SINGLE: It’s A Beautiful Day Today

ALBUM

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Instagram – Spotify
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– 10 –

Artist: LEXYTRON
Who: “Half Greek, half Persian and half English” – as this musician described herself
age 5 – the Manchester-born Lexy found her identity in music early on as a pianist and violinist.”
She’s now based in Auckland, New-Zealand.

Album: SOMETHING NEW
Her 2nd one.

Press info: “Following Lexytron’s genre-bending debut album ‘Something Blue’, lead singer Lexy slips into something more electronic on ‘Something New’, pairing an alternative pop rock style with sardonic wit, big choruses, and a painful honesty that has now become her trademark. The album was self-produced in Auckland and mixed and mastered by London producer Marco Meloni.”

TUTV: Dream pop, power pop, jaunty pop, guitar pop, musing pop, Lexytron let it all flow into each other, resulting in an entertaining, colorful and feelgood album that puts a big smile on your face. Her vivid vocals lift up the inherent strength of the frisky tunes.

It feels like if the young, happy mother is settled don a carefree cloud. She radiates
joviality and joi de vivre on Something New and it’s fully contagious for the listener.

KEY TRACKS: Elevator / Disco Jenny / Your Love / Another Lover / Laughing From Above

SINGLE: Disco Jenny

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ALBUM

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Linktree

20 BEST TRACKS OF THE MONTH – JULY 2025

Posted on July 30 by JL

30 July 2025

ALL TOGETHER

TRACK BY TRACK

– 1 –

Band: MODERN GUILT
Who: Fully charged indie
trio from London.

Track: YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE

“A self-confessed ode to dishonesty.”

TUTV: Jangly indie Britrock at its arousing best. No way to not go
bonkers when this rip-roaring The Strokes-like anthem infiltrates
your ears. Trust me, one spin and you’re hooked. You know
where to find the repeat button.

Blimey.

Instagram – Linktree
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– 2 –

Band: MONITORS
Who: French-British-Bosnian post-punk outfit,
formed in 2017. So far, they have 2 EPs on
their résumé.

Track: DANSE MACABRE
First single from their upcoming debut album,
titled The Madelaine Affair out 3rd October.

TUTV: Thudding drums, edgy guitar riffs,
infectious dynamics, deranged chorus, and
agitated vocals.

Titanic thrill!

Instagram – Bandcamp
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– 3 –

Band: SOULWAX,
Who: Belgian brothers David and Stephen Dewaele‘ working together
for 30 years now, with diverse projects. They DJed the world around
as 2manydjs, had their own Radio Soulwax, and produced/remixed
countless other artists.

Track: RUN FREE
One of two new shared pieces from their 6th LP,
titled All Systems Are Lying and on your stereo
on October 17th.

Album artwork

“We wanted to capture the feeling of a band playing electronic instruments,
live, loud and loose. This record is the result of that experiment. It’s a rock
album made without any electric guitars.”

Trippy.
Dancey.
Vibey.
Trancy.

Instagram – Website
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– 4 –

Press photo

Band: SUEDE
Who: The famous glam
rock vets from London.

Track: DANCING WITH EUROPEANS
Newest single from their 10th album. It’s called
Antidepressants and will land on our speakers
on September 5th.

TUTV: Anderson stars, once again, in the middle with an overwhelming vocal performance, peaking on the epic chorus, and he’s backed by a full of vim and vigour drums/bass tandem and glimmering guitars.

Suede age backwards.

Instagram – Linktree – All Albums
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– 5 –

New album artwork

Band: WET LEG
Who: The showy pop sensation, Rhian Teasdale
and Hester Chambers, from the Isle of Wight.

Track: DAVINA MCCALL
Highlight from their sophomore
full-length, named Moisturizer.

Groovy.
Smoothly.
Sexy.

Instagram – All Links
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– 6 –

Press photo by Nik Freitas

Band: BRIGHT EYES
Who: Longtime lauded Nebraska‘s
pop/rock trio orchestrated by
Conor Oberst.

Last year, they released their exquisite
11th LP, titled Five Dice, All Threes.

Track: 1ST WORLD Brand new single.

Oberst: “It’s an homage to ska in all its waves. From Desmond Dekker
to Tim Armstrong, we’re just happy to add our track to the bin. The video
is inspired by NYC 90s hip hop, which like ska, has a long tradition of unifying
people & using celebratory music to convey subversive political themes. To be
played loud. Windows down. Summertime.”

TUTV: Sounds and feels like you are
ska-ing on a shaky merry-go-round.
Big fun. Big tune.

Instagram – Linktree
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– 7 –

Photo by Sandra Ebert

Artists: STILL BLANK
Who: New transatlantic guitar pop duo — Jordy is
from Kaua’i, Hawaii, while Ben is from Manchester, UK.

Track: AIN’T QUITE RIGHT
Only their 2nd single.

TUTV: An ongoing, hyperkinetic, swift drum beat drives you nuts, while
guitar sparks come and go, and humming vocals add a seductive feel.

Pretty addictive.

Instagram – Linktree
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– 8 –

Artist: JASON ISBELL
Who: Much lauded songsmith with 10 albums on
his résumé (6 recorded with his band the 400 Unit)

Track: SHOULD I GO MISSING

Isbell has reissued his 10-year-old album Something More Than Free
digitally. It will be available on physical media on October 3. It includes
this previously unreleased track, a B-side for one of the LP’s singles.

TUTV: Fortunately, this psychedelic, slide-guitar ripper didn’t go missing.
It resonates like a swamp blues burner spiced with good old organ play
and Isbell‘s firm voice. Totally cool.

Instagram – Spotify
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– 9 –

Band: MELT MOTIF
Who: An experimental band based in Bergen, Norway, and São Paulo, Brazil.
Known for their unique fusion of genres, they blend elements of metal, dark
electronic, darkwave, industrial, and more.

So far, they have released two albums and their respective remixes.
A new full-length is waiting in the pipeline to be released in September.

Track: ASPHALT
Newest single.

TUTV: It’s a nasty industrial brainfucker motorized by fierce percussion
and ominous vocals. Its haunting and bloodcurdling progression has an
instant impact on your psyche. This is sick shit. I love it.

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Instagram – Linktree
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– 10 –

Photo: Emma Chitty | Graphics: Mike Raymond

Band: NRVS
Who: Mysterious trio with an inimitable take on
humanity’s downward spiral into a dysfunctional
entropic existence. They unleashed their punk-groovy
debut EP Like You last year.

Track: FREE
New single from their
upcoming album.

“Just another dumb song about love found & lost within
the wreckage! It happens… what are you gonna do?”

TUTV: This arresting, melancholic song sticks after just one spin. Its bluesy guitar
radiance, its bass-beat-heavy cadence and despondent vocals get under your skin.
Its melodic catchiness has irresistible written all over it. In a normal world this should
be a bloody big hit.

Instagram – Linktree
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– 11 –

Band: LOBSTERBOMB
Who: Glamorous indie quartet from Berlin. They released
their pithy party debut album Look Out in 2023. You can
stream it here.

Track: NIGHTBIRD

TUTV: Full steam ahead from the get-go, motorized by bedazzling guitars,
a relentless drum beat, and peppy vocals culminating in a pungent chorus.
Lobsterbomb‘s appetite for blistering pop punk is insatiable. Don’t stop.

Instagram – Linktree
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– 12 –

Photo by Euan Robertson

Band: IDLEWILD
Who: Veteran Scottish
indie pop team.

Track: IT’S NOT THE FIRST TIME
Newest single from their upcoming 10th, self-titled
album, their first one in 6 years. It’ll hit the streets
on 3 October.

TUTV: Vintage Idlewild. Nostalgia and romanticism
wrapped in a sticky guitar pop melody. Welcome back.

Instagram – Linktree
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– 13 –

Band: GUSH
Who: Fresh and frantic Belfast 4-piece who launched their
cooking 5-track debut EP Exposure Therapy, last summer.

Track: YOUR WORLD
Their 2nd single of the year.

TUTV: Your World is a glammy, full-riff-blooded, rollicking burner.
All amps up, all decibels up, while afire guitars have an ongoing
sonic fight with a badass bass and a chorus that goes airborne
every time it pops up, powered by frisky vocals.

Get your world rocked right here.

Instagram – Linktree
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– 14 –

Artist: BAXTER DURY
Who: Renowned nightclubber and
chill-out singer-songwriter. Son of,
you know who.

Track: SCHADENFRAU
Newest single from his 8th LP, baptized
Allbarone and out on September 12th.

Jiving electro-disco vibes
activating all of your lazy
limbs.

Instagram – All Albums
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– 15 –

Band: EDITRIX
Who: Disorderly noise trio from
Easthampton, Massachusetts.

Track: FLESH DEBT
New piece from their upcoming 3rd LP,
titled The Big E. It’ll show up on July 25.

TUTV: Bass and guitar have a metallic riff contest while vocalist Wendy Eisenberg
tells us a story. A knock-down-and-drag-out finale will blow you off your socks.
Schizophrenic electricity!

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Instagram – Bandcamp
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– 16 –

Credit: The Irrational Library

Band: THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY
Who: The Irrational Library is a Dutch-American rock band with its roots
firmly planted in both the regional and international counterculture.

Track: NOTES FROM THE PLAYGROUND Newest single from their
forthcoming, 5th full-length ‘The Saying Of It All‘. More details TBA.

TUTV: Wham bam. Here comes the rumbling blues train once again. Rollin’ and steamin’, always thundering to the pounding heartbeat of its fat groove, while hungry guitars and Joshua Baumgarten‘s stirring vocals inflame this rough ripper with extra fuel.

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Instagram – Facebook
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– 17 –

Press Photo by Genesis Báez

Band: BIG THIEF
Who: Brooklyn‘s beloved folk-pop-rockers,
fronted by voice/face and soft songstress
Adrienne Lenker.

Track: ALL NIGHT ALL DAY
New piece from their 6th LP, entitled
Double Infinity. It comes out on
September 5.

TUTV: Another sepia-colored BT humdinger with
Lenker‘s starry-eyed voice enchants once again.

Instagram – Spotify – All Albums
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– 18 –

Band: NEWMOON
Who: Popular Belgian
melodic shoegazers.

Track: SAME DISTANCE
Piece that should have been on their excellent 2024 album Temporary Light ,
but it didn’t due to vinyl constraints. It was never intended as a single or B-side.

TUTV: Yes, it would have been an unquestionable highlight on the album. But on or off it, it’s great to have this phantasmagoric pearl right now. A dream-in-motion beauty for the ears, mind, and soul. Made me immediately think of Brian Eno‘s ambient atmospherics. Wonderful. Truly wonderful.

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Instagram – Linktree
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– 19 –

Artist: STEPH SWEET
Who: Affecting British
indie songstress.

Track: BURN SO GOOD
From her new 4-track EP Ghost Signal.

TUTV: Trip-hop dynamics, ambient echoes and
ominous synths, and Sweet‘s haunting vocals combine
for a twilight experience in slow-mo.

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Instagram – Website
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– 20 –

MARK STEWART, one of the most adventurous/inventive/original
post-punk & dub artists/performers ever, passed away 2 years,
aged 62.

He was a co-founding member and frontman of British,
genre-bending new wave band The Pop Group

Track: A LONG ROAD
From his sublime, 8th solo LP The Fateful Symmetry,
released posthumously 3 weeks ago.

Goosebumps! Nothing but goosebumps!
Reminiscent of his friend, fan and piano
crooner Nick Cave‘s work.

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Facebook – Mute Records
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TURN UP THE VOLUME

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BlueSky

25 BEST TRACKS OF 2025… So Far

Posted on July 14 by JL

ALL TOGETHER

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TRACK BY TRACK

– 1 –

Band: THE SLOW READERS CLUB
Who: Alt-pop rockers
from Manchester, UK.

Track: BOY SO BLUE
Single from their notable 7th album,
Out Of A Dream released last March.

“‘Although it’s a big, joyous dance track, it’s about hiding deep emotional pain and trauma and how hedonistic coping mechanisms, like drugs, alcohol, and womanizing, are just temporary distractions. They ultimately fuel a self-destructive cycle. There’s a deliberate contrast between the euphoria of the music and the melancholy of the lyrics, capturing the subject’s duality of light and darkness.”

TUTV: This is what great pop-ular music is all about. Big tune, big emotions, big orchestration. Euphorically cacthy despite its dramatic ‘real life‘ story. Aftermath
soul-searching can work cathartically, and here it sounds pretty boosting.

24 Carat pearl.
Hands down.

Linktree – Spotify
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– 2 –

Band: PANIC SHACK
Who: 4 pop punkettes from Wales. In 2022 they
released their 6-track debut EP Baby Shack.

Track: GIRL BAND STARTER PACK
Single from their forthcoming self-titled
debut LP, out this Friday, on July 18th.

TUTV: These utterly cool Welsh punkettes drive you bonkers with
this bass-insane punk ‘n’ roll uppercut. Kick-ass band, kick-ass attitude,
kick-ass blast.

Party! Party! Party!

Instagram – Linktree
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– 3 –

Band: PUNCHBAG
Who: A new brother-sister party duo, from South London colliding the raw unfiltered energy of punk, with the overflowing ecstasy of pop. With fierce tempos and ferocious energy, their music is an explosively cathartic release of raw intensity and unapologetic fun.

Track: I’M NOT YOUR PUNCHBAG
From their same titled debut EP,
released last May.

TUTV: Ecstasy. Elation. Exhilaration. This flamboyant electro-slam makes
you bounce and jump like mad. Punchbag kick you in the teeth without
asking while having uppercut fun. And they’ve only just started.

Amazeballs.

Instagram – Linktree
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– 4 –

Artist: FANCLUBWALLET
Who: Canadian outfit led by
songstress Hannah Judge from
Ottawa.

Track: COTTON MOUTH

“I wrote this one when I was feeling stuck and stagnant, but when I finally
brought it to the band they really breathed new life into it and made it feel
magic again!!”

TUTV: This sickly sticky steam-riff-roller drives me crazy. Head-twisting stonker.

Instagram – Spotify
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– 5 –

Band: BOB VYLAN
Who: Controversial hip-punk-hop
duo from London.

Track: DREAM BIGGER.
A re-worked, re-named jackhammer single from
their 3rd album, Humble As The Sun released
last April.

TUTV: It features roasting vocals by the fantastic Australian punk
daredevil Amyl Taylor from Amyl And The Sniffers. She’s the perfect
sharp-mouthed match for this fierce flametrohwer.

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Instagram – Linktree
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– 6 –

Band: KNEECAP
Who: Belfast‘s sharp-mouthed, notorious rap team KNEECAP – Mo Chara,
Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí – hip & hop around with a knife between their
teeth since 2017.

So far they released 2 albums.

Lately, they make headlines with their loud and clear, ongoing support for Palestine.
They got heavily critiqued for it when they played Coachella Festival in Indo, California
last April.

Then the UK’s right wing politicians jumped into it, and prosecuted Mo Chara after allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah last November (no verdict yet), and tried to get them banned from playing Glastonbury Festival next week. It gained them, rightly so, countless support from musical colleagues and fans.

To emphasize the whole political charade, the band just released a new single, named
THE RECAP, going after Tory politician, business and trade minister Kemi Badenoch who started to hunt them back in 2023 when he withdrew an arts grant awarded to the band.

The trio brought a discrimination case against the U.K. government
and won, donating the proceeds to Belfast community groups. Yes!

Free Palestine.
SHOUT! SHOUT! SHOUT!

Instagram – Linktree
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– 7 –

Artist: JEHNNY BETH
Who: France-born, former frontwoman of
female post-punk band Savages (2011-2017)

Track: OBSESSION
Single from her upcoming, 2nd solo LP,
baptized You Heartbreaker You. It’ll
land on August 29th.

Beth: “We’re living in a dark time, full of drama and barbarous tragedy.
It became clear to me that, in these times, we either learn how to scream
really well, or we learn how to whisper.”

TUTV: With this savage industrial shocker it’s crystal clear what Beth meant
when she talked about her amadant intention to make an agressive sound
on her new record. Obsession is a nine inch nails bombshell. Volcanic
2025 gloom and doom eruption.

Helter skelter.

Instagram – Linktree
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– 8 –

Press photo by Damien Sayell

Band: MCLUSKY
Who: Notorious Welsh noiseniks feat. angry man
Andrew Falkous, also the mastermind of Future
Of The Left.

Track: CHEKHOV’S GUNS
Piece from their 4th full length, called
The World Is Still Here And So Are We.

TUTV: Post-punk aggression at its Mclusky‘s sharp-biting best,
gas-powered by a cast iron bass/drum tandem, schizo guitars
and Falkous‘s intimidating sneering.

Chop, chop, chop.

.
Instagram – Linktree
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– 9 –

Photo by his wife Daryl Hannah

Band: NEIL YOUNG & THE CHROME HEARTS
Who: You know who.

Track: LETS ROLL AGAIN

Single from the brand new excellent
LP, named Talkin’ To The Trees.

TUTV: No pension whatsoever for the incomparable 79-year-old rocker in
the free world. Middle-finger straight up, in the face of billionaire monkeys.

“If you’re a fascist, then get a Tesla”

Instagram – Linktree
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– 10 –

Band: WHOLES
Who: A fresh, rowdy hit team led by Belgian
musical chameleon Wolf Vanwymeersch.

Track: MODERN DAY DRAMA
Single from their upcoming debut LP
‘A Mass In The Water, which lands
on 14 November.

Single artwork by Maxime Rouquart

TUTV: This hellraiser’s ominous mid-tempo dynamics, distorted vocals, and
riff-roasting razzmatazz resonate like if you are listening to the goosebumps
theme song of a horror movie.

Creepy tension in the air, melodrama about to happen. Yes, at the 2.30 minute
mark all hell breaks loose. Decibels up, amps up, temperature up. From a whisper
to a scream. From planet Earth to Dante‘s inferno.

.
Instagram – Facebook – Bandcamp
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– 11 –

Press photo by Danny Clinch

Band: ARCADE FIRE
Who: The famous pop-rock
collective from Canada.

Track: YEAR OF THE SNAKE
First single from their forthcoming 7th album, named
Pink Elephant ready for release on May 9th. 2025 is
the ‘year of the snake‘ in the Chinese Zodiac.

TUTV: It’s a sublime, crystalline pop nugget, with its hypnotizing guitar riff,
the non-stop banging drum beat and the intertwined, spellbinding vocals of
Win Butler and his spouse Régine Chassagne.

Sterling stroke.

Instagram – Shop
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 12 –

New album artwork

Band: PULP
Who: Sheffield‘s guitar-pop heroes
fronted by the charismatic songsmith
Jarvis Cocker.

Track: SPIKE ISLAND
single from their first LP in 24 years.
More came out on June 6th.

TUTV: A vintage, mid-tempo, pop thrill with a grandiose
chorus. Wake up common people, here’s some more pulp.

Instagram – Linktree
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 13 –

Band: THE LATHUMS
Who: British folk rockers with a massive following,
countless Mumford & Sons fans included.

Track: HEARTBREAKER
From their 3rd LP, titled
Matter Does Not Define,
released last March.

TUTV: Expect an adrenalizing, hurly-burly track that drags you into
its head-over-heels flow, from the very start. Ridicously infectious.

Top-drawer earworm.

Instagram – Facebook
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– 14 –

Artist: BAXTER DURY
Who: The playboy son of his
late playboy father Ian.

Track: ALLBARONE
Title track of his 8th full-length,
available from September 12thn.

TUTV: Baxter invites us all to the dancefloor with
this ultra-contagious disco stomper. Jump in
Dury‘s gondola below.

Instagram – All Albums
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 15 –

Credit: The Irrational Library

Track: TRUTH SERUM
First single from the quartet’s new, upcoming
5th LP ‘The Saying Of It All’. More details TBA.

Artwork by political cartoonist TRIK

TUTV: TIL is back in town. And they move and groove again with brio and gusto
motorized by a striking drum/bass tandem, while a 60s psychedelic flute flutters
like a butterfly throughout the song. Frontman Joshua Baumgarten draws your
aural attention (as usual) with his near-rapping phrasing of the clear-cut lyrics.

Gutsy groover.

.
Instagram – Facebook
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– 16 –

Band: SKUNK ANANSIE
Who: Famous British noizz rockers,
fronted by the charismatic Skin.

Track: AN ARTIST IS AN ARTIST
Single from their 7th LP The Painfull Truth
which came out last May.

TUTV: An Artist Is An Artist is a sizzling sledgehammer
pushed by a mind-boggling speedy velocity, Skin‘s
hyperactive vocals, a paranoid sax and a flabbergasting chorus.

Skintastic flare-up.

Instagram – Linktree
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 17 –

Artist: LAURA JANE GRACE
Who: Chicago‘s notorious singer-songwriter who’s around since the 90s.
She makes a lot of noise with her punk group Against Me! (7 albums so far)
and solo (2 albums so far).

Track: YOUR GOD (GOD’S DICK)

Grace: “Does God have a dick? Is that what those of the faith believe when they refer to their Lord as “he” & “him” & “father”? Well, imagine that! Oops, I think I may have imagined a little too hard and gone and written a song about it. He lord’s heavenly hammer must swing mighty! And away we go!”

TUTV: This is both a hilarious and punktastic choir chant reminiscent
of scream and shout Celtics Dropkick Murphys with a blustering storm
of surf riffs chainsawing your stereo into pieces.

Wowzers.

Instagram – Linktree
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– 18 –

Band: THE NEW EVES
Who: Must hear/see indies from Brighton (where everybody is in a band).
They cruise from folk to punk, using, besides traditional instruments (guitar,
bass and drums) also cello, flute, violin, and other classical gear.

Photo by Turn Up The Volume

Track: HIGHWAY MAN
Piece from their upcoming debut longplayer
The New Eve Is Rising , out on August 1.

It’s a darkly-energised, female-first retelling of
writer/poet Alfred Noyes classic 1906 romantic
poem.

TUTV: These four musical mavericks don’t care about rock ‘n’ roll rules. They do what they want, the way they want to do it, annex unseen visual presence on stage and in video clips. On Highwayman they rattle and brattle full speed ahead motorized by restless drum/bass teamwork.

Here and there the tune, goes, eh, out of tune, and it sounds totally perfect for this emotional belter. No arty farty production for TNE. Winder-Lind‘s awesomely agitated vocals put a spell on you. My, oh my.

Instagram – Linktree – All Singles – Tour Dates
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 19 –

Photo by Graham Noble

Band: DECLAN WELSH AND THE DECADENT WEST
Who: Post-rock-punk combo from Scotland. So far
they recorded/released two albums.

Track: CAREFREE

TUTV: A razzle-dazzle steamroller that gets under your skin faster
than you can say “this is bloody superb”. Its insane, mind-bending
course doubles your serotonin production on the spot.

Blimey.

Instagram – Linktree
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 20 –

Artist: MARK STEWART
Who: One of the most adventurous/inventive/original post-punk & dub artists/performers
ever. He was a founding member of genre-bending new wave group The Pop Group and released lots of solo and collaborative records. Unfortunately, he passed away 2 years ago,
only 62.

Track: MEMORY OF YOU
Single from Stewart‘s solo album The Fateful Symmetry,
that was completed early 2023, not long before his passing.

TUTV: Haunting, synth-symphonic and boom-tastic,
with Mark‘s characteristically energetic voice on top.

Mark Stewart Facebook – Mute Records
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 21 –

Photo by Shelly Reese

Band: THE LIVING PINS
Who: Indie outfit featuring, Carrie Clark and Pam Peltz, who found each other on
the edge of the delicately ramshackle playground of the 1990s Austin (Texas)
music scene. They released their 4-track debut EP Let It Be So in 2023.

New single: GOLD

TUTV: Gold is a bluesy, foot-tapping garage ripper that has an instant impact on your greedy ears with its solid swagger, its gloriously cracking guitars, with a feverish solo somewhere in the middle, and its cool duet vocals.

Shake your booty.

Instagram – Facebook – Bandcamp
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 22 –

Artist: LIFE COACH
Who: The musical project of singer-songwriter-poet Jamie Cameron. Hailing from
the Scottish Borders, the music blends lo-fi beats, synths and guitars with spoken word lyrics in which he discusses subjects ranging from politics and premonitions to self help culture, and a modern society obsessed with economic thinking.

Jamie Cameron

Track: SQUADDIES IN HAIR NETS
Highlight from his 2nd full length
A Love Letter To Your Yearning Heart,
released last May.

TUTV: Life Coach are on fire, again. This new rattling rap ‘n’ punk roll crackerjack
swings forth and back, left and right and Jamie Cameron’s full of vim and vigour
word-flow activates all of your insatiable limbs before he relaxes towards the
synthy end. Kinetic kick. Hands up for the coach.

Let the siren blare.

.
Instagram – Facebook
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 23 –

Image Credit: Euripides Altintzoglou

Band: LIONS OF DISSIDENT
Who: Electrifying outfit from the Midlands (UK).
They released their debut album Ghost Behind You
in 2022.

Track: SIRENS AT THE SEA

Tim Baker (founder and creative director): “The best of what we do in one song,
it’s a tune that really carries the soul of everything good we have stood for over the
last ten years”.

TUTV: Expect electrifying energy from the kick-off. Delirious guitars set
the haywire tone and hyperventilating vocals augment the buzzing fuzz.
A modern-day post-punk roller coaster.

Rapturous ride.

.
Instagram – Linktree
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 24 –

Berlin-based artist KAT KOAN offers her first music of
the year with a new, jaunty little gem, called COCOON.

Koan: “It’s a little circus themed escape world. I wanted to create a bit of a dreamy
break from daily worries. It’s pretty crafty and full of cool instruments. It also features
my daughter for a brief moment. It’s my favourite song I’ve made so far.”

TUTV: Leave your own cocoon and move to Koan‘s one where she will treat
you with this lighthearted tune that swings in mid-tempo from left to right
and back.

It relaxes your mind, triggers you to set your busy plans on a hold, and invites
your body to have a waltz-y dance that transfers you to a utopian circus
place for a while, far away from our daily, suffocating rat race.

Don’t worry, be happy.

.
Linktree

– 25 –

So, who’s Yorke and who is Prichard?

Artists: THOM YORKE and MARK PRITCHARD.
Who: Radiohead & The Smile orchestrator and
the pioneering electronic musician/producer.

They had their first collaboration on a track called
Beautiful People which appeared on Pritchard‘s
2016 solo LP Under The Sun.

Track: BACK IN THE GAME
From their longplayer Tall Tales,
released last May.

TUTV: Spooky and trance-like electronic jam.
Mesmerizing and hypnotizing. Emotive vocals
by Yorke.

Instagram

———————————–

TURN UP THE VOLUME

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BlueSky

20 BEST TRACKS OF THE MONTH – JUNE 2025

Posted on June 30 by JL

– 1 –

Press photo

Band: MANTRA OF THE COSMOS
Who: British supergroup featuring happy mondays
Shaun Ryder and Bez, Andy Bell (Ride/Oasis) and drummer
Zak Starkey, Ringo‘s on, who came up with the project’s
idea.

Track: DOMINO BONES (GETS DANGEROUS)
Their 3rd one.

TUTV: A blaring belter of a banger. Disco-punk pzazz. Noel Gallager
is somewhere in there too, they say. I have no clue what he’s doing.
Anyway, this a bonkers tune.

Instagram – Linktree
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– 2 –

They released their debut album 3cag in 2018
and went viral last year with follow-up Fine Art.

Track: THE RECAP

Lately, they make headlines with their loud and clear, ongoing support for Palestine.
They got heavily critiqued for it when they played Coachella Festival in Indo, California
last April.

To emphasize the whole political charade the band go after the Tory trade minister
Kemi Badenoch who started to hunt them back in 2023 when he withdrew an
arts grant awarded to the band.

The trio brought a discrimination case against the U.K. government
and won, donating the proceeds to Belfast community groups. Yes!

SHOUT! SHOUT! SHOUT!

Instagram – Linktree
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– 3 –

Artist: FANCLUBWALLET
Who: Canadian outfit led by
songstress Hannah Judge from
Ottawa.

Track: COTTON MOUTH

“I wrote this one when I was feeling stuck and stagnant, but when I finally
brought it to the band they really breathed new life into it and made it feel
magic again!!”

TUTV: This sickly sticky steam-riff-roller drives me crazy. Head-twisting stuff.

Instagram – Spotify
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 4 –

Credit: The Irrational Library

Track: TRUTH SERUM
First single from the quartet’s new, upcoming
5th LP ‘The Saying Of It All’. More details TBA.

Artwork by political cartoonist TRIK

TUTV: TIL move and groove again with brio and gusto motorized by a striking
drum/bass tandem, while a 60s psychedelic flute flutters like a butterfly throughout
the song. Frontman Joshua Baumgarten draws your aural attention (as usual) with
his near-rapping phrasing of the clear-cut lyrics.

.
Instagram – Facebook
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 5 –

Artist: GINA BURCH
Who: Co-founder/bassist of British punkettes The Raincoats (1977-1984, 1996)
were one of the top indie bands in the UK. They released 3 LPs, then called it a day.

In 2023 she released her critically acclaimed solo debut
LP I Play My Bass. It was released through Jack White’s
Third Man Records.

New album artwork

Track: DOOM MONGER
New single of her 2nd LP, named Trouble,
out on 11 July, again via Third Man Records.

TUTV: We’re in the middle of Armagideon Time as we know it.
Doomsday is just around the corner. The good news is that this
dub reggae earworm will activate your hips and uplift your worried
state of mind. If we have to go, why not with a slow-mo sway.

Instagram – Linktree
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 6 –

Band: COLATURA
Who: Shoegazy pop duo from Brooklyn, NY.
Their debut album, Then I’ll Be Happy came
out in 2022.

Track: (EVERYTIME I THINK ABOUT YOU) IT’S ABOUT ME (great title)
From their upcoming EP, titled If I’m Being Honest, out on August 1.

TUTV: Burning torch that creeps under
your skin, slowly but surely. Stellar.

Instagram – Linktree
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 7 –

Band: THE BEACHES
Who: All-female Canadian
revved-up power pop combo.

Track: DID I SAY TOO MUCH
Single from their 3rd LP, titled No Hard
Feelings. It shows up on August 29th.

TUTV: Glorious guitar pop chant going fast forward.
The Beaches never say too much. They swirl and twirl.
Keep talking/singing, girls.

Instagram – Facebook
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 8 –

New album artwork

Artist: DAVID BYRNE
Who: The former talking
head voice/face.

Track: EVERYBODY LAUGHS
First single from his upcoming 9th solo album (that’s already one more than
with Talking Heads). Who Is The Sly? will see the day of light on September 5th.

TUTV: Imagine a beach bathing in the sun and a cocktail bar serving piña colada
while enjoying this feel-good upper. A luminous light in a dark world. Laugh.

Instagram – Linktree – All Solo Albums
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 9 –

Press photo

Band: SUEDE
Who: London’s glam rock luminaries (1989–2003, 2010–present),
fronted by the never aging Brett Anderson.

Track: TRANCE STATE
Newest single from their 10th longplayer, baptized
Antidepressants . It comes out on September 5th.

TUTV: Suede deliver again with this sinewy
stomper that puts you in a mind-boggling
trance.

Instagram – Linktree – All Albums
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– 10 –

Band: THE ULTRA VIOLETS
Who: 4 rowdy indie rockers
from Cornwall, UK.

Track: HONEY PIE

“The song is essentially about people only wanting the sweet stuff in life, and sugar coating anything and everything that may be a difficult subject. We live in a society where social media is treated like the Holy Bible, simultaneously releasing dopamine hits, a highly addictive drug, when posting pictures for ‘instant gratification.”

TUTV: This happens when The Ultra Violets eat too much sugar. They pick up their instruments and go mental, producing mental hullabaloo for mental people, like
you and me. Roaring ripper. Flaming score.

Instagram – Spotify
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 11 –

Photo Credit: Joan Hathaway

Band: LOVINA FALLS
Who: The dark dream-pop project of Boston-based singer-songwriter,
multi-instrumentalist, and producer s Valerie Forgione. In 2023, they
released their debut album, Calculating The Angle Of Our Descent.

Track: LIGHT AND LOW

Forgione: “‘Light and Low’ is about recognizing that as time goes on, it’s ok to let go of old
and ‘historic thinking’ to create a new path through and out of the Thicket of Now. It’s about knowing that when things change, the path is not predestined. Change the change. Move with conviction but head gracefully into the unknown, light and low.”

Collage art by Lindsey Walker, design by Valerie Forgione

TUTV: Lovina Falls take you on a swift gothwavish ride from the get-go, propelled by a motorik bass riff, nervy drum hits, jittery tremelo riffs and poignant vocals. Fast-forward, without brakes nor breaks, speeding like a runaway train. Light And Low unfolds like a salvo of light flashes out of the dark, causing a rapid eye movement sensation. Intriguing, right? Absolutely. Don’t wait, get started.

WATCH

Instagram – Bandcamp
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 12 –

New album artwork

Artist: JEHNNY BETH
Who: Former France-born frontwoman
of female post-punk band Savages.

Track: OBESSION
Single from her 2nd solo LP called You Heartbreaker You.
It’ll land on August 29th. She wrote the album with partner
and collaborator Johnny Hostile.

Beth: “We’re living in a dark time, full of drama and barbarous tragedy.
It became clear to me that, in these times, we either learn how to scream
really well, or we learn how to whisper.”

TUTV: Be prepared for a savage industrial shocker showing her
amadant intention to make an agressive sound on her new record.
Obsession is a splintering bombshell with a raging Beth finale.

Instagram – Linktree
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 13 –

Band: LOBSTERBOMB
Who: Glamorous indie quartet from Berlin. They
released their pithy party debut album Look Out
in 2023. You can stream it here.

Track: NOT AGAIN

TUTV: Blimey. Lobsterbomb return with an adrenalized missile, going fast-forward,
full steam ahead from the kick-off. And they never slow down. No breaks, no brakes.
135 seconds of eruptive emotions and high-voltage dash. Imagine The Stooges fronted
by riot grrrl Kathleen Hanna. Boisterous punk turbulence. Bang-on.

Instagram – Linktree

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– 14 –

Artists: peach|melba
Who: Queer femme indie duo,
half Brighton and half Los Angeles.

Track: FELL IN LOVE WITH GODX (SHE WAS REALLY FIT)
Their 2nd one, following trashy debut Worst Trimester.
More to follow every six weeks to come.

p|m: “We wrote and recorded it ourselves, delivered in our trademark double-team
deadpan vocal style, rhyming “80’s car” with “Californiarr”. This one has Arctic Monkeys
swagger and Mannequin Pussy edge, featuring a one-shot video in an iconic venue’s
bathroom.”

TUTV: Punk-pop spunky, sassy spirit, sharp-mouthed flair, dry humor, word spielerei, and utterly cool. That’s what p|m is about. This new non-stop drum-thumping tune zigzags left and right, forth and back flavored with slap-happy vocals. I’m quite sure that peach|melba will become your new favourite bathroom band.

Don’t flush, enjoy.

Instagram – Contact
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 15 –

Band: LADY JESUS
Who: Hard soul & psychedelic
rock ‘n’ rollers from Scotland.

Track: WORK SMOOTHLY
New single.

TUTV: This burning funky-punky soul-burst is revved-up with ardent passion, electrical energy, warm-blooded vocals and sultry sax. Shake your booty and scream your lungs out when the clamoring chorus pops up. Sly Stone would have said there’s a riot going on. And it is. Spread the gospel, people.

Instagram – Linktree
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 16 –

Press Photo by Genesis Báez

Band: BIG THIEF
Who: Brooklyn’s much-lauded folk pop-rock group
fronted by the wonderful Adrianne Lenker.

Track: INCROMPEHENSIBLE
First single from upcoming new, 6th full-length
Double Infinity. Waiting to be shared with the
world on September 5.

TUTV: Soulful musing with Lenker‘s enchanting voice shining in the middle.

Instagram – Spotify
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 17 –

Band: H IS FOR HAWK
Who: Primarily the work of London‘s
seasoned singer/songwriter Si Connelly.

Track: HELLO MORNING

TUTV: A catchy pop thrill that makes your day. Enrapturing harmonies,
blithesome melodiousness, sparky sonority. Stellar debut single.

.
Instagram – Linktree
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 18 –

Artist: NELSON SOBRAL
Who: Singer-songwriter-guitarist hailing from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His music is as much Americana and blues as it is soul and rock’n’roll, perfectly balanced with the energy and sound of each of his respective influences.

TUTV: Sobral‘s cover of Cyndi Lauper‘s supreme 1984 classic Time After Time (more
than 1 billion streams on Spotify) is a soulful and enticing accomplishment. A gripping vocal performance, bringing the emotive timbre of the sublime voices of Springsteen and Seger to mind.

NS: Instagram – Facebook
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 19 –

Band: Múm
Who: Icelandic indietronica
team (1997-present).

Track: MILD AT HEART
First single from their forthcoming 7th longplayer.
History Of Silence will arrive in September 2019.

TUTV: Daydream reverie for reflective moments.

Instagram – Linktree
——————————————————————————————————————————-

– 20 –

Press photo by Dean Chalkley

Artist: PAUL WELLER
Who: The 67-year-old former The Jam and Style Council
maestro, who started his solo career back in 1990.

Track: I STARTED A JOKE
A cover of the Bee Gees‘ 1967 goosebumps ballad.
It’ll appear on his 18th solo LP, a covers one, named
El Dorado, out on July 25th.

TUTV: Weller‘s version is pretty poignant and appealing.

WELLER: Instagram – Linktree
———————————————

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THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY Have The ‘TRUTH SERUM’ To Make You Move And Groove

Posted on June 4 by JL

Daily electricity to load your batteries

4 June 2025

Credit: The Irrational Library

Track: TRUTH SERUM
First single from the quartet’s new, upcoming
5th LP ‘The Saying Of It All’. More details TBA.

“Staying true to who and what we are as band but always open to exploring sounds both new and familiar. As with most of our songs this one is both personal and political. Lyrically it is a searing meditation on a world of violence, greed and consumption. Musically, I will just allow your ears to fill in the description.”

Artwork by political cartoonist TRIK

I wonder if a truth serum would help to discover the real agenda of the power-greedy powers that be. I’m pretty sure they’re immune for it, but at least we should give it a go. Meanwhile, shake your booty to the beat.

I’m starring into a blackhole
cradling a bouquet of flowers,
and what felt like a couple of minutes
well, it could have been the daze of so many hours
you see I’m passing time while waiting on a friend
stuck in-between what feels like
the beginning
while knowing full well
it just might
be the end.

It’s the truth the serum the saying of it all,
catch your own tongue before you let it all fall,
talking shit was and will always be the cause,
the truth the serum the defining moment of it all.

Now, just because he was a wanted man,
It doesn’t mean you shoot to kill,
Respect for life is neither left nor right
Or to be subjugated by the pressure of free will

It’s the truth the serum the saying of it all,
catch your own tongue before you let it all fall,
talking shit was and will always be the cause,
it’s the truth the serum the defining moment of it all.

Spend and spend cause you want it so bad,
tomorrow just a passing fad,
And all those words that pollute –
Claim the absolute, to kill the confusion
You gotta pull it out
By the root.

STREAM

.
BUY

.
Instagram – Facebook

Turn Up The Volume’s 20 BEST ALBUMS OF 2023

Posted on December 27, 2023 by JL

1. ‘Heavy Heavy’ by YOUNG FATHERS

This sizzling Scottish trio nailed it big time with their 3rd LP. Heavy Heavy is one of those rare remarkable records that arouses from start to finish, with the cliché no fillers, all killers all over it. You hear its sonic brilliance, you feel its dauntless vocality, you realise quickly that this album is special, very special.

(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Antwerp 2023)

An undisputable first-class work where vitalizing soul, ecstatic pop melodiousness
and self-willed hip-hop come together in an organic way. A spiritual happening.

Funk-punk drunk virtuosity with astonishing vocal teamwork.

STREAM

.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. ‘Sea Of Mirrors’ by THE CORAL (Liverpool, UK)

The seasoned psych-folk-pop-rock ramblers launched their 11th album, named
Sea Of Mirrors last September. Unquestionably one of their best in their succesful
career.

(Press photo via Maintain Perspective PR)

Expect a non-stop sequence of reflective pop fantasies, of tantalizing tunes
with a laid-back resonance and meditative musings that cause a welcome,
lazy state of mind.

Blissfully feelgood vocality, with a melancholic timbre, everywhere.

Gently weeping strings. A seamless sonic marriage of acoustic and electric guitars.
It’s vintage The Coral as we know them, but even more yearning for romanticism than before. So they left their island and travelled to their fictional Western reality where all
sorts of misfits try to survive. Americana, the Liverpool way.

STREAM

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________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. ‘Fronzoli’ by PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS

The turbulent psych-rock team from Perth, Australia hit bullseye with
their 6th full lenght Fronzoli (meaning ‘something unnecessary added
as decoration’).

Press photo

Uppercut after uppercut, corker after corker, jackhammer after jackhammer and two breathers with Cpt. Gravity Mouse Welcome and the short acoustic beauty ‘Illusions of Grandeur’). Your ears need to be in great shape to absorb
this whirlwind record.

If PPC were animals they would be hungry wolves wandering in the deserts of Australia looking for prey. Their melting pot of glam metal, pithy punk, high-voltage pop and other noisy shout-outs results in an ecstatic body of infectious. Btw, am I the only one who thinks McEwan‘s voice resembles Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner one (now and then) and vice versa, of course.

STREAM

________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. ‘War Is Obsolete’ by THE BARBITURATES (Northern Island)

These Northern Irish political punk guerilla’s launched
a fully topical record titled War Is Obsolete
this year.

Here’s a message from their HQ in Londonderry.

“Some of The 1% are investors in the great big industrial war machine – the clearing / repairing of war torn cities / countries and rebuilding them along with there big pharma – food n supplies companies ect they make massive profits on all levels of war from the bullets n bombs fired to the food n medicine and everything you can imagine in between – this collection of sound scapes and anti war songs on this guerrilla ontological discordant meditation Ep are our SMALL way of trying to help raise money for the innocent human beings being punished and hurt because of other people’s ignorance – hate – fear – oppression!! ALL THE PROCEEDS OUR DIGITAL SALES NOW AND UNTIL THINGS INPROVE WILL GO TO THESE PEOPLE!!”

The Barbiturates care about our messed-up society, about humanity, about the weak, the poor and the outsiders, about tolerance, about inclusivity, about the desperate need for global peace. Couldn’t agree more.

Unfortunately, all the caring in the world can’t avoid (another) dirty war. After Russia invaded Ukraine early last year, Israel and Palestine started a filthy, deadly war in Gaza two weeks ago. Horrible, just horrible, again. One day a devastating world catastrophe will end it all.

War Is Obsolete is an intruiging, versatile and bone-chilling journey. Sonically with its experimental electronica psych jams and ambient, spacey orchestrations. The evil terror caused by war-and-power greedy scumbags needs to be stopped. The late great pacifist John Lennon never understood these murderous maniacs either, as we know it.

Purchase this record, digitally, 5£ or more.
All proceeds got to PCRF – Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

BUY/SUPPORT

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5. ‘Ignore Grief’ by XIU XIU (California)

This Californian experimental act, founded in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart surprise every time they come up with new music. Also with Ignore Grief, already their
13th full length, XX impress mightily.

(Press photo)

Ignore Grief is not happy music, it’s grim reality music, it’s mind-boggling music.
Inventive, capricious and ideal as the soundtrack for one of David Lynch‘s hallucinatory films. Although after a couple of spins, you’ll find out that Xiu Xiu‘s spellbinding sonic exorcism is more accessible than you thought at first. Their orchestral manoeuvres in
the dark are flabbergasting.

STREAM

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6. ‘One Man Band’ by MILES KANE (UK)

British retro-mod rocker Miles Kane, half of The Last Shadow Puppets
(the other half being his great friend and Arctic Monkeys’ maestro Alex Turner)
released his 5th LP, titled One Man Band’ last summer.

As he said himself multiple times Kane loves the swinging 60s/70s pop, rock
and soul splendor. So again, you hear here those flamboyant influences from the past. And he always comes up with upbeat tunes that stick and put a big smile on your face. Guitar pop at its cacthing best.

STREAM

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7. ‘Songs Of Silence’ by VINCE CLARKE (UK)

The synth-pop musician/songwriter who started his career with Depeche Mode,
who he left after their 1981 debut album to form Yazoo (1981–1983, 2008-2011)
with grand voice Alison Moyet and later on he started Erasure with singer/songwriter
Andy Bell launched his solo debut LP with Songs Of Silence.

TUTV: If you don’t pay attention to the author of this record when you’re listening
to it, there’s a great chance that you think that it’s another ambient Brian Eno album.

The relaxing ambient atmospheres Clarke creates (Cathedral / Passage / Imminent / Last Transmission) are similar to the ones Eno composes/composed (29 solo LPs, so far).

Clarke paints synth-scapes with an overall symphonic sonority, with both classical
and futuristic sounscapes. This is the sort of cosmic music that calms me down after a busy day. Its relaxing effect soothes my buzzing mind. Tranquillizing, instrumental (except for Blackleg which is infused with eerie chants) uncomplicatedness for dark winter nights.

Silent majesty.
Sonic ear-massage.

STREAM

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8. ‘God Games’ by THE KILLS (US/UK)

Seasoned blues-rock duo THE KILLS – Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince – are finally back with a new longplayer, their first in 7 years, following the swirling Ash & Ice album in 2016.

(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Amsterdam, 2016)

God Games features fewer fireworks than on previous LPs, but the pair still move and groove with sonic fervour and melodramatic tunes, as we know them. Sultry, delirious and passional.

When Mosshart sings the blues, her heart-and-soul vocality draws all attention. Her tantalizing timbre and her midnight hour tone combined with Hince‘s edgy riffs and roasting hooks are what made me a Kills fan from day 1.

This 12-track record is a slow grower. Take your time, it’s all worth it.

STREAM

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9. ‘Praise Of The Iconoclast’ by MORLOCKS (Sweden)

Swedish post-punk-Goth turbo MORLOCKS were formed last century by mastermind J.Strauss, and had several line-ups over the years. The trio operate around the borderlines between the collective subconscious, paradoxical multiverses and the bad conscience of the world, as we know it.

They travel either like sinister prowlers through the shadows, or like a raging
bulldozer, sneaking and bolting through and between the Cold War, radioactive wastelands, the catacombs of Rome and unspeakable dimensions beyond
the Unknown Kadath.

They care about humanity, they haunt everybody who doesn’t care, and they
embed their anger, frustration and hope in titanic, intimidating and cast iron
industrial bombast with loud and clear messages. Think Rammstein and NIN
having a sonic fight with riot guns. Doomsday is just around the corner and is
orchestrated by Morlocks.

STREAM/BUY

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10. ‘Islands In The Sky’ by DEATH VALLEY GIRLS (California)

The L.A. garage rock fury led by vocalist/guitarist/organist and natural-born
charismatic front-Amazon Bonnie Bloomgarden triumphed with their 5th LP
this year.

(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Brussels, 2023)

Islands In The Sky is, without a shadow of a doubt, according to my trained ears, their
best achievement (so far). When you combine pop/rock songwriting quality, richly layered orchestrations, Bloomgarden‘s full-hearted vocal dynamism and tons of tunes (if anything else tunes are key) wrapped up in party-igniting vibes, you have a winner.

STREAM/BUY

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11. ‘Good Busy’ by THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY (The Netherlands)

Dutch humanistic rock unit The Irrational Library is a pretty special affair.

A band with its roots firmly planted in both the regional and international
counterculture. They produce a raw, dirty groove influenced by punk,
provo, punk icons and spiced with sultry saxophone here and there.

The same biting spirit is present on their brand new full-length GOOD BUSY. Moody reveries and blasting belters alternate creating an overall stirring/roaring record in the end with, once again, a main role for highly dedicated and caring America-born frontman-punk-rapper-poet-storyteller Joshua Baumgarten.

STREAM/BUY

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12. ‘The Crack And The Light’ by CMON CMON (Belgium)

Belgian guitar pop/rock band CMON CMON started their second coming
about two years ago, driven by sheer love for music. Writing it, recording it,
sharing it, playing it live, and enjoying it along with their fans.

No masterplan whatsoever to conquer the world, no commercial pressure.
They restarted with one and only one goal. Making the best album their
experience and their hearts and souls could come up with.

A balanced mix of amplified guitar-infused dream pop tunes with a melancholic
and soothing touch. References? R.E.M, Dinosaur Jr., Teenage Fanclub, Sparklehorse
and The Chills, to name a few. I’m sure you get the sonic picture.

STREAM/BUY

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13. ‘A Headlong Fall Into The Vast Ocean Of Anxiety’ by EYEMOUTH (Sweden)

Expect atmospheric synth-scapes for soundtracks of sci-fi movies, mellow Pink Floyd echoes, dark-electro-wave surrealism, and an overall synth-symphonic sonority.

All mesmerizingly orchestrated with both classical and venturesome music structures. Now and then composer Marcus Lilja‘s ghostly voice adds an extra mysterious touch to
the instrumental grandeur at play. The power of nature in selectronic motion. Cinematic music that triggers your imagination.

STREAM/BUY

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14. ‘Back In The Room’ by THE DHARMA VIOLETS (Wales)

THDV embed 60s psychedelia in a blistering mix of flaming garage rock mania,
swaggering mid-tempo grooves, an impressive, amplified slo-mo jam right in the middle and a stunning opener with horns snippets of Primal Scream‘s e-tastic classic Loaded.

Overall I hear Beatles-like harmonies, multi-layered guitar extravaganza à la Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, steady drums/bass horsepower, sizzling six-string solos, psyched-out space steamrollers, 24 Karat riff-rushing rockers, some slow ones, and echoing vocals
from the eight miles high past. Final result: a hell of a must-hear record that I added to
my best-albums-of-2023 list. The Dharma Violets should be huge. FACT! Don’t miss them.

STREAM/BUY

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15. ‘Secret Life’ by FRED AGAIN… and BRIAN ENO

Weird collaboration? No, certainly not. The very popular EBM/house/hip-hop/DJ Fred and the legendary ambient wizard Brian Eno complete each other here perfectly. They create a sonic labyrinth where Eno‘s hallucinatory ambient waves progress in slow motion, causing a trance trip in a foggy environment while Fred‘s phantasmal vocals seem to come from an unknown universe.

Secret Life is a hushed, soothing companion for late-night mind entertainment after
another busy day and too much noisy music. Soothing, calming and triggering lazy dreaming.

STREAM/BUY

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16. ‘Shook’ by ALGIERS (US/UK)

With Shook this American/English outfit drew tons of critical praise. Rightly so.
It’s a tremendously varied work. They jump from zestful hip-rap-hop to forceful
post-punk-rock, to soulful lullabies, to arresting spoken-word protest, to sparkling
gospel. 54 minutes long, but you get sucked in every second. Wowzers!

(Press – FB Algiers)

STREAM

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17. ‘Venom’ by WARGASM (UK)

London‘s nu-rap-metal sensation WARGASM – Milkie Way and Sam Matlock – shocked the indie punk world with their debut album, titled Venom.

Press photo

A vicious motherrocker of an album. A monstrous collection of left/right uppercuts.
A schizophrenic series pf brain-breaking slegdhammers you can win sonic wars with. Holy smoke!

STREAM/BUY

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18. ‘The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons’ by THE HIVES (Sweden)

The Swedish amazeballs punk clowns The Hives are back in town. They unleashed
their new LP, called The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons (I have no clue who that guy is?)
last summer.

📸 Bisse Bengtsson

Be ready for a tsunami of Molotov cocktails, punk-o-rama riffage, and yell-along
refrains spit out by primal screamer Pele. No rest for the wicked. Beware, this explosive record can damage your speakers. On the other hand, it’s the ideal soundtrack for banging your poor head against the kitchen wall and/or jumping up and down like a kangaroo on ecstasy.

Alert your neighbours before you start the deafening razzmatazz
and watch out for the anti-decibels police. Lots of LOUD fun.

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19. ‘This Stupid World’ by YO LA TENGO (US)

Yo la Tengo is all things indie. They follow their own capricious path, for almost
40 years now. They create uncomplicated melodies and then give them an edgy touch
that guides them in different directions. From acoustic to electric and back.

Different moods, different sonic tones. It’s old news that we live in a stupid world where political me, myself, and I leaders use the 2000-year-old trick of divide and conquer. YLT know too, of course, but reality as it is, obviously inspired them to make another rad record.

STREAM

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20. ‘Clear Pound Road’ by KRISTIN HERSH (US)

The stirring Throwing Muses legend Kristin Hersh released
her new solo LP, titled Clear Pound Road last September.

(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Belgium, 2022)

Expect Krautrock dynamics with an acoustic guitar and a mellow cello. Song by song,
the repetitive/rotating rhythms have a magnetic power. 10 intro/outro-spective sparks glowing, like the lights on the LP’s cover. Hersh‘s voice is singular, a bit hoarser than before, think Marianne Faithfull. I love both voices

STREAM

Turn Up The Volume’s 25 BEST TRACKS OF 2023

Posted on December 21, 2023 by JL

ALL TOGETHER

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TRACK-BY-TRACK

1. ‘What Are The Odds’ by DEATH VALLEY GIRLS (California)

Photo by Little Ghost/Kelsey Hart

This was the first single of their best album to date Islands In The Sky. A terrifically juiced-up power-pop chant triggering your limbs to get up and move. And when the under the spell of joy choir joins Bonnie Bloomgarden on the elated chorus you just know that this stunning tune is a winner.

We are living in a simulated world
And we are simulated girls!

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2. ‘Lads Lads Lads’ by LAMBRINI GIRLS (Brighton, UK)

(Press photo © Bridie Florence)

The unquestionable sensation of the year.

The sassy spirit of fiery Riot grrls, the primal screams of X-Ray Spex‘s late genial vox Poly Styrene, the unbridled DIY mentality of The Slits. It’s all here to get in the macho faces of all macho males. Lads Lads Lads is a loud and clear clamorous uppercut. Trash and slash punk turmoil. Holy fucking smoke!

Feel the fury.

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3. ‘Riverstone’ by DITZ (Brighton, UK)

(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Brugge, Belgium 2023)

“The lyrics were related to whatever we were talking shit about that day.
Dirt-cheap ’baccy and annoying, invasive TikToks. It’s hard to recall.”

Riverstone is an excessive electro-industrial sledgehammer doing your head,
your ears and your mind in. Bang-bang-bang-bang. Deafening drones, psychotic
guitars, and schizophrenic vocals, it’s all here to have an electric brain-frying
chair experience.

Right here.

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4. ‘Just Shadows’ by JEEN (Canada)

All-round Canadian singer/songwriter nailed it with this efferscent swirling knockout.

This is the kind of 24-Carat gold banger that makes your day, that boosts your worried state of mind, that puts a big smile on your face, that works faster than any stimulant and most of all, that gets you on your feet, triggers your best rotating dance moves and make you embrace life. Reality is not all doom and gloom, as many (mostly politicians) want us to believe to push their own power-greedy agenda. To hell with them.

Listen/watch.

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5. ‘This Just Ain’t My Year’ by 32 TENS (UK)

(Promo photo)

These vigorous Brits hit big time with this flamboyant ripsnorter.
It’s full tilt ahead from the get-go. No brakes, no breaks, and
creeping under your skin faster than you can say this is super-duper.

A whirlwind of scorching guitars, pounding drumming, a revolving bass line
somewhere in the middle, go-getting vocals and a dynamite chorus combine
for a badass belter. 2023 was the year for 32 Tens.

Touchdown.

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6. ‘Baggio’ by MILES KANE (UK)

This contagious cracker celebrates forer Italian football star Roberto Baggio

Kane: “I was eight years old when I first saw Baggio on TV, it was during the
1994 World Cup. I was taken back by his presence, his look and his talent. It was
the first time I’d seen a man look so different and unique. Seeing Baggio led me to
e obsessed with that Italian football team for many years later.

Baggio is one of those typical Kane tunes. Immediately recognisable with its
uplifting 60s/70s beat and blissful melody. But it’s a glorious guitar fragment
and accompanying harmonious, backing vocals that lift the song to a five-star
pop level.

Goal!

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7. ‘Gorilla Guerilla’ by MANTRA OF THE COSMOS (UK)

This new supergroup features Shaun Ryder & Bez (Happy Mondays/Black Grape),
Andy Bell (Ride/Oasis) and drummer Zak Starkey, yes Ringo’s son, 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.”

First single Gorilla Guerilla is a mind-boggling techno-rock stomper
to start and end all (il)legal raves with and fill dancefloors around the
globe with. This seasoned collective is a mean groove machine.

E-tastic!

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8. ‘Right Wing Beasts’ by SLEAFORD MODS (UK)

The duo launched their 12th LP, called UK Grim last March.

This rattling piece is my absolute favorite.

It’s Sleaford Mods by – very good – numbers. The mods still spit and sneer
against Tories‘ merciless pressure and devastating regime. And they still do
it with rappin’ vibrations.

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9. ‘Foefetti’ by JODIE LANGFORD (Hull, UK)

The waterfall wordsmith from Hull (UK) released her tip-top debut EP Chaos Of Time
and followed it with this booming corker. Glittery, glammy and trashy (like the video).
Sing happy birthday to 6-year-old princess Jodie midway. Don’t worry afterward you
can continue to pogo around the table.

Whang, whang, whang.

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10. ‘Dicks In Tanks’ by MORLOCKS (Gothenborg, Sweden)

2023 photo by Krichan Wihlbor

This Swedish turbo founded by mastermind J.Strauss had
a new flabbergasting album out, named Praise The Iconoclast,
this year.

Single Dicks In Tanks features vocal efforts from Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM,
dark ambient electro queen Karin My and black metal maestro Heljarmadr
of Grá/Dark Funeral.

Morlocks‘ cynical take on war is sharp-cutting like a first-class Swiss knife

“Salute every hard on, a call to arms / this is my klaxon / sound the alarms”.

It all starts with warning war sirens and marching soldiers chants.
90 seconds later, it’s all hens on deck when this industrial rock missile
erupts with a blitzkrieg fierceness.

Think Rammstein and NIN having a fight with riot guns.

Shoot.

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11. ‘An Individual Soul’ by PRINCESS UGLY (Portland, US)

This blitz duo – J. Christopher-Rome (lyrics/vocals) and Christopher Moncrieffe (music/instruments) mix post-punk, early 80’s goth, shoegaze, and new wave
into their own brand of sound.

An Individual Soul is a multi-layered serpent of a track.

After a short shock intro, psychobilly guitars take over and riff
and roll all the way through, surrounded by glowing synths waves.

Add Christopher-Rome’s creepy whispering and you’ll feel transported
somewhere into a twilight zone where Goths party. Princess Ugly’s ominous
mind mystifies and the enigmatic she-devil in the video is a misleading
magnet.

Check in.

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12. ‘How To Replace It’ by dEUS (Belgium)

The veterans – the best Belgian band ever – dropped their 8th LP,
baptized How To Replace It last February, their first in 11 years.

The title track, also the LP’s opener is a vintage dEUS grower.
An ongoing spellbinding trip that works its way to an
explosive climax.

Watch/listen.

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13. ‘Huevos Rancheros’ by THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY (The Netherlands)

These Dutch-American misfits have their roots firmly planted in both the regional
and international counterculture. They produce a raw, dirty groove influenced by
punk, provo and punk icons. Their poetry is packed with social criticism.

Huevos Rancheros, from their new longplayer Good Busy is a song about
seeing life clearly through all the haze and confidently strolling through the
daze.

It’s a tremendously sticky and melodic tune that mesmerises from the kick-off.
Stimulated by a sparkling and melancholic guitar riff à la Kurt Vile, a footstompin’
beat and word-smith Joshua Baumgarten‘s expressive storytelling it becomes an
electrifying humdinger, after a couple of spins.

Play.

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14. ‘Wild Bird’ by THE CORAL (Liverpool, UK)

(Press photo via Maintain Perspective PR)

The singular psych-folk-pop-rock wanderers released, this year,
one of their best albums ever with Sea Of Mirrors

Wild Bird is The Coral at its relaxing best. A characteristic psych-pop gem
that pleased my ears on repeat since it came out. Breezy and heartwarming,
causing an I-feel-so-much-better-now thrill in the end.

Watch/listen.

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15. ‘Now And Then’ by THE BEATLES (Liverpool, UK)

Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr worked in 1979 on the demo
of this previously unreleased John Lennon beauty, but didn’t finish it at the time.

Now, using advanced technology and a curatorial touch, McCartney
and Starr have completed what they started with George, and turned
it into a fully orchestrated nugget of a love song

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16. ‘Nice To Say Hello’ by THE ROGUES (Wales)

This young outfit from Newport, Wales drew TUTV’s
attention in an eye/earblink with Nice To Say Hello.

It’s only their 3rd single, but this young team sounds as if they’ve been
around for years. Nice To Say Hello is a top-pop thrill. Irresistibly catchy
and captivatingly melodic. Layers of glimmering guitars with an endearing
resonance, that brings, yes, Noel Gallagher’s strumming play of his solo
work to mind.

The charming vocals and the infectious chorus
make the sonic picture complete. Fabulous feat.

Say hello to The Rogues.

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17. ‘Freedom’ by CHIC CHOC (NYC)

Chic Choc are three musically seasoned Amazons from NYC using drum machines,
synthesizers, guitars, voice and a variety of sound filters and pedals to make
their point.

Freedom is their crystal clear debut single that criticizes, 200% rightly so, the fact that women still have to fight for so many fundamental rights. It’s bloody 2023 and so much female injustice is still a reality.

Sonically it’s a striking EBM earworm to fill dance floors with. Brisk beats, cool chorus, sensuous vocals and a protesting choir, combine for a spirited piece. Bang-on.

Le freak, c’est chique choc.

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18. ‘You’re So Cool’ by KAT KOAN (Berlin, Germany)

This Berlin-based songstress released her arresting debut full-length
LUSTPRINZIP last year. This year, she recorded/shared three rad singles.

You’re So Cool (me?) is one of them. A sexy dance stomper with an instant impact on your hip movements. And, as usual, Koan‘s sultry voice tickles your imagination and makes you light some candlelights, and seduces you to do some shadow-dancing.

Tune in.

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19. ‘Eureka!’ by Band: THE VANITY PROJECT (London, UK)

Photo by Jamie Chapman

The Vanity Project is a London-based queer freak pop duo featuring Flora Jackson and Rob Paterson. The project is a multi-instrumented, multi-genre fever dream fusing new-wave, modern art-pop and PC Music influences with dashes of jangle pop, Latin alternative and drum and bass, dazzling hooks, and wryly humoured dystopian lyrics. All accompanied by eccentric visuals.

‘Eureka!’ was one of the standout singles on their debut album, named
We Never Should Have Come Here, that landed last September.

Combine the madcap vibrancy of Sparks‘ early days and some glamourous
Queen bombast and you’ll scream out loud Eureka!. These misfits produce
eccentric pop pleasure, sonically and lyrically, without mainstream
restrictions.

They sound kooky and look kooky, but make no mistake, this tantalizing
tandem know perfectly well how to fabricate and construct entertaining
music.

Listen/Watch.

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20. ‘103’ by THE KILLS (US/UK)

One of my all-time fav bands, on record and on stage, returned, finally,
this year with their acclaimed LP God Games and this arousing bluesy piece
is one of the highlights.

Watch/listen.

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21. ‘Dead Moon Rising’ by CACTUS FLOWERS (Houston, Texas)

Cactus Flowers is a psych-rock outfit from Houston, Texas fronted by Jessica A.M., whose mother photographed bands for Rolling Stone during the magazine’s counter-culture heyday.

With Dead Moon Rising we get a mid-tempo garage blues-rock corker fuelled
by echoing, rollicking riffs, steady drum hits and arresting Jessica A.M. vocals.
This raw cracker resonates like glorious legends The Cramps in slo-mo with a
mean machine vibe, rock-and-psycho-billy swagger and hefty dynamics. From
bad moon rising to dead moon rising.

Let’s roll.

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22. ‘Lunar Eclipse by THE VACCINES (UK)

(Photo by Turn Up the Volume – Lokerse Feesten, Belgium – 2022)

The British guitar pop idols will make their fans happy with their new, sixth
full-length, baptized Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations out on 12 January 2024.

This is one of the 4 singles they dropped so far. It’s The Vaccines alright.
Sickly sticky guitar euphoria. Totally crazy.

Yes.

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23. ‘Spellbinding’ by THE SMASHING PUMPKINS (US)

With this year’s three-part rock opera Atum chief
pumpkin Billy Corgan released one of his sonic dreams.

And with Spellbinding the band delivered a robust rocker infused with radiant synths, exploding now and then into a feverish haymaker on the flaming chorus and ending
with a dreamy fade out.

C’mon, Billy.

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24. ‘Heart On’ by 2LIBRAS (Seattle, WA)

2LIBRAS is a Seattle-based Cyberpunk duo that create dark, synthy beats infused with melodic guitars and vocal harmony since 2018. Their music infuses genres of industrial, dark electro, synthwave/synthpop and rock.

Heart On was one of the singles of their notable debut album World’s End.

It just was the best 2023 Valentine tune. An intoxicating mid-tempo groover. Both spicy and funky, lustful and provocative with hypnotizing vocals. Its slow-mo synth-bass beat crawls under your skin, and progresses steadily towards your restlessly pounding motor while your mind tries to figure out what is going on. Amorous communication isn’t easy, let your heart do the talking. It’s made for it.

Roll the tape.

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25. ‘‘A Feather Of A Pigeon In The Cave Of The Wisdom Of God’ by LIGHT BY THE SEA (The Netherlands)

The Dutch duo offered an intriguing pop symphony with this weirdly titled composition.

Scintillating electronic bliss, beautifully orchestrated.
And the accompanying video is a classy and subtly
sexy visualization. Top achievement.

Listen/watch.

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TUTV: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter

THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY – Dutch/American Dropouts Dropped 3rd Single Off Their New ‘GOOD BUSY’ Album

Posted on November 10, 2023 by JL

New striking strokes

10 November 2023

Dutch/American socially caring and politically outspoken unit THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY, fronted by America-born frontman-punk-rapper-poet-storyteller Joshua Baumgarten launched their 4th LP, titled GOD BUSY last September. A stirring/roaring record with a mix of moody musings, badass belters and sharp-teethed cry-outs with anti-establishment rants and social criticism as the main lyrical themes.

TUTV recently had a chat with Joshua about their new opus. You can read it here.

To stay good busy TIL dropped their 3rd single off the album.

BREADCRUMBS FOR THE GLUTEN FREE is “an intense
cathartic wall of sound/text and fury” says Baumgarten.

Intense indeed. You expect the track to explode any second. Anxiousness grows menacingly for 3.15 minutes, pumped up by a flustered beat and a brassy saxophone, while Baumgartenis is a word waterfall again.

We are all just commercial content
How can we be living free
when all the cameras see
what we can’t see

GOOD BUSY

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TIL: Facebook – Instagram
TUTV: Blog – Facebook – Instagram – Spotify

THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY Have Their 4th Album ‘GOOD BUSY’ Out – Their Frontman JOSHUA BAUMGARTEN Talks About It With TUTV

Posted on October 10, 2023 by JL

10 October 2023

Dutch humanistic rock unit THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY is a pretty special affair.

Their poetry is packed with social criticism. They drew my ears’ attention with their 2021 album We Are… Doomed. An open-minded-plainspoken-asskicking-anti-establishement-and-other-scumbags opus. The same biting spirit is present on their brand new full-length GOOD BUSY. Moody reveries and blasting belters alternate creating an overall stirring/roaring record in the end. Perfect occasion for an interview.

The band’s highly dedicated and caring America-born frontman-punk-rapper-poet-storyteller Joshua Baumgarten will tell us in-depth about being busy in a very good way. But first, as usual, we start an interview with a slice of steaming music from the new LP.

<a href="https://theirrationallibrary.bandcamp.com/album/good-busy-2"></a>
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Hello Joshua,
Welcome,

When and how did TIL got together?

“I guess we got together around 2016. I was then running my own secondhand subculture shop in Haarlem under the name The Irrational Library. It was filled with books, music, film, posters, random weird stuff. We had two barbers, live music, a fridge full of beer, and was an open door to all those who crossed its threshold.

It was via the shop I met Tom (baritone saxophonist and guitarist), and Mishal (bassist). Lars (drummer) I knew from the bands he was then currently playing in. Mishal offered to put some music behind a poem I had called “The Don’t be a Dick About It Doctrine’s featured on our first album Now That We Still Can

Cover of 2017 debut album Now That We Still Can

What he did really blew my mind. We had a chance to do a 15-minute live set on a local festival that spring. Mishal and I and two other musicians did something that I felt was really unique and special. A few months later I told Mishal that I wanted to do this more as a real band. I knew Tom played baritone sax and I liked him as a person, so I said I wanted him in the band.

We did two tryouts for drummers. Lars was the second and from the first beat, he and Mishal clicked as rhythm section. Like most things with us, it happened organically. Wasn’t forced, it just was meant to be.”

What’s the story behind the band’s name and why
you’re described it as a counterculture act?

“I have been using the name The Irrational Library since 2000 as a publishing title for small self-made books of poems and art. When I started living and working in Haarlem I started using it as the name for performance evenings with local bands, poets, performers of all sorts. Then the shop and then the band. It just has a ring to it and it covers everything we are.

A long time ago I lived in Los Angeles and my roommate and I had a very vast and diverse collection of all different types of art. An Irrational Library is the idea that you don’t have to be into just one thing but the beautiful combination different genres, forms, styles make a person a more well-rounded versed person. And being able to recognize the links in music, poetry, art. Self-expression doesn’t need to be single minded but continuous searching into whatever it is that calls to you.

As far as being a counterculture act, I guess the base of what we do comes out of a punk ethos. Push against the grain. To define your own style. To cut and paste your own creative vision. The Irrational Library members grew up feeding off of those great creative visionaries that came before. We aren’t re-creating the wheel per se, just spinning it at our
own tempo.

Plus I like to write a lot about what a fucked up world we all enjoy. I guess that is somewhat counter to the accept it as it is culture. It is a label put upon us so people
can grasp on to an idea of what we do. In the end, this is who we are as a band and this
is what we do.

Which track would you play to the people who never heard of you?

“Interesting question.

Huevos Rancheros, the first single of the new album Good Busy. It is so out of leftfield for us. It was one of the first we came up with after our last album We…are Doomed. It is fresh and vibey, shows the growth of Tom’s guitar work. The groove just picks you up and carries you along. And lyrically I am very fond of the poetics in it. Somewhat surreal, stream of consciousness but also very pointed.

I can remember sitting down to write and telling myself to just let go and free form something. Huevos Rancheros is what came out. It is a fun and freeing song to play live as well. And it opens the door to the surprises of the new album. We stay true to what we do but are never afraid to follow something that just feels good to us.

It is a song that can make people say, “well now, what was that?” And then the rest will make them think, “well, what is this?” Each track stands alone and is equally part of the whole essence of the album.”

Your 4th album GOOD BUSY is out now. What is
it that you want to express with the title?

“I am an American living in the Netherlands for 23 years. I love playing with the two languages of Dutch and English. Incorporating Dutch words or references into songs.

GOOD BUSY is translated from the Dutch saying, Goed Bezig. Dutch people say this to one another when they are more or less busy with doing something productive. It can also be used sarcastically when you are busy fucking something up. During practice one day we were just doing what we normally do and it just came out, GOOD BUSY.

After our last album We…are Doomed, it was fun to flip the coin and play with something sounding more positive. Also the fact that even during corona we came out with our 3rd album/book together with graphic artist TRIK and also wrote the majority of GOOD BUSY.

Staying busy with what motivates you will pull you through all the ups and downs in life. Giving in, giving up, turning over and going back to sleep won’t fulfill your days. Take a power nap and then get back to it. Stay GOOD BUSY.

We also played around with the title ‘Full On Rock Show!‘.
But figured we could save that for out best of compilation.”

The album’s artwork is impressive in a weird/funny way.
Who designed it and what’s the connection with the songs?

“TRIK, the graphic artist who did the artwork and book attached to
the We…are Doomed project did GOOD BUSY as well. Mishal, our bass
player had an idea of putting a photo of Lars’ dreamy face on the cover,
a sort of homage to Iggy Pop on the cover of Lust for Life.

Mishal made the photo and TRIK did his thing. Not everyone was into it at first. Took a bit of convincing to get all four of us on board. I think it is a beautiful, life-affirming illustration. It stands out. It POPS. TRIK created the letter type as well and the distinct colors. How it connects to the songs…maybe the cover portrays a state of being, blissfully aware? Smile into the face of stupidity? Take from it what you want.

Some people comment that my lyrics/poems are anything but positive. I disagree to a large extent. They are more rallying cries then critical commentary. With a wink and a smile, we can all get by. In that way, the album cover art, the words and music all come together.”

Which music/artists inspired you when writing/making the record?.

“Music is for all of us a daily inspiration. I myself was listening to a guy named Sheafer McOmber who makes epic sort of stoner rock under the name Bloodshot Buffalo as well as Deer Lord. I call it mountain music, cause it makes me want to keep climbing mountains, though Holland has an eternally flat ass landscape.

.
I reached out and made contact with Sheafer, who lives out in Northern California.
Funny, rad dude who is just doing what he loves to do. It is great to just chat/message
with people about being creative, sharing outtakes of music, etc.. getting inspired by like-minded people who are out there in the world.

And as always when I need a bit of poetic inspiration, I grab the book The Journal Of Albion Moonlight by Kenneth Patchen. Open it to any page and my mind is locked in and lit up.”

Was every member involved in the writing process?

“Yeah, what we do is like I said earlier, for lack of a better word organic. I do my writings when the moment is needed. Then I bring what I have with me to practice. As we are setting up usually Mishal is ready first, so he just starts laying down a groove. His playing is so unique in that he is actually a guitar player. For the band he wanted to do bass. So, what he comes up with it so different than the standard bass playing. Lars is usually next and starts laying out a beat.

Then Tom feels out if it is something at that moment for guitar or sax. And then maybe Tom will switch. It is all a feeling at that moment. And I just shuffle through the poems and wait to jump on to the train. Jams can evolve into songs of course and most times they do. But there are plenty of moments when I am digging something and when we finish the rest just say, nope. I am easily satisfied when I hear the other three play. They make my job very easy.

Once we have a sketch of an idea, then we start puzzling. Looking for B parts, trimming extra fat off the text…killing those darlings. This is my favorite part of being in the band. The puzzling, the figuring out where the words should bounce and land on the beat. Pushing and pulling against Tom’s baritone. The baritone is the counterbalance to my voice. So, we are always listening to one another to see where the space can be filled and left open.”

Are all songs in some way lyrically connected or do they all stand on their own?

“I think they stand alone but are also connected. All the poems are written during
a certain time frame. So, a state of mind can be picked up upon. But as I often write
about what is going on in the world, the stories evolve and change even as they stay
the same.

Every album is a sort of time capsule that encapsulates the here and then but
hopefully can also be stand the test of time and be relevant to the “here and now.”

Single HUEVOS RANCHEROS is one of the LP’s highlights. What’s the song
about and how is the colored air balloon in the video related to the song?

“Like I mentioned earlier Huevos Rancheros is a stream-of-consciousness poem that became about, I guess, just about being alive. There are so many fun twists and turns in the wordplay that sometimes that is also just it. But unconscious to me while writing the poem, the wordplay does its own dance. Words have a tendency to pick their own dance partners.

Like these lines… “And as landscapes unfold like origami untold and newspaper swans
are just yesterday’s news, well, I saw extinction walking secondhand alligator shoes.”

I just dig how those words puzzle themselves together and create such a fun vision. Whenever I doubt my own poetic capabilities, I just think of those lines and smile.

The video of the colored hot air balloon was like lots of things with us, a mix of randomness and opportunity. We are not a video band. Who has the attention span to watch a full music video these days? Plus, Huevos would be a tricky one to try to set out and make a video for, unless there were some chemicals involved.

My barber and an old partner in the Irrational Library shop, Rob (now named the Mad Daddys Barbershop) gave me a good tutorial about putting shit online for promo. Insta, Fbook, YouTube, all that stuff that I can never really get into for promo reasons.

But he convinced me of the benefits it can have of at least making people aware of what you are doing, like a candle in the middle of a clusterfuck. Anyway…my family were at the camping we hide out at during the temperate seasons here in NL – and often during the summer, there are hot air balloons passing by in the sky in the early evening. This one sort of hovered for a bit above the camping, then dropped out of sight, then just made it over the tree line to finally set down in the farmland behind us.

I just started filming cause it was kinda cool looking. Later on that night, I thought that it would be a good fit for the song. Plus the length of the video pretty much matched the length of the track. Oppurtunity and convenience.”

Suppose the record would be the soundtrack for a movie, which one would it be?

“We have always thought that our music lends itself to cinema quite well. Maybe one day we will end up on a soundtrack. Qua soundtrack to an already existing movie…hard to say since I feel like we are so based in this time period of existence. For sake of the interview, I will say SLACKER, the first film from Richard Linklater. How the story weaves seamlessly from one character and discussion to the next. I miss the quality of filmmaking from that era of the early 90’s. Our music is also a product of that period.

Lots of rough and tumble edgy work came out during that period. From film (early Tarantino, music like Morphine, writing like Chuck Palahnuik) I feel fortunate to grown up in a period of time that was looking towards the future but still in tune with and open to learn from the past.”

What is an IRRATIONAL LIBRARY gig like and which
band/artist would you love to tour with and why?

“A gig is a coming together. A happening. And for us, an evening or day out with the boys. We come to play. And be that for five of five hundred, that is what we do. We go hard. Even in the softer numbers, we reach deep. We want people to get with us as we want to get with them. Has to be a give-and-take. I aim to hit the people in the head by what I say and th band is responsible for the neck down. Best compliment I ever got was when a woman told me that “we were the only band that made her dance and think at the same time.” Get loose, get lost, get yourself free.

In December we will be heading to the UK for our first time to do one show with the band Dead Anyway and label mates Rick & Rudie (Floprecords.com). Dead Anyway were here last winter for a show with us. We met when both bands were featured on the playlist of an online radio program called Bagel Radio out of New York from a super cool dude named Ted Liebowitz.

Dead Anyway reached out to us to say hello and how much they dug what we did. It was again just a pure and inspiring moment of contact. I like doing things with people I see as contemporaries, like minded searchers. Also helps that we are all grown ass adults with very few illusions about what we do and why we do it. In the end doing shows with people you champion as much as they champion you is a gift.”

.
What’s the band’s ultimate goal?

“Me doing interviews that contain much shorter answers.”

Thanks a bunch for this interview, Joshua.
May the road rise with The Irrational Library.

STREAM ALBUM

BUY ALBUM

.
TIL: Facebook – Instagram
TUTV: Blog – Facebook – Instagram

Turn Up The Volume’s 20 BEST TRACKS For AUGUST 2023

Posted on August 31, 2023 by JL

The best of the best of the month

ALL TOGETHER

.
TRACK-BY-TRACK

1. ‘The Sinner’ by THE CORAL (Liverpool)

The seasoned psych-folk-pop-rock dreamers have two longplayers out next week,
on 8 September, titled Sea Of Mirrors and Holy Joe’s Island Medicine Show.

Suppose David Lynch wants to make a Spaghetti Western then this wistful lullaby should be part of the soundtrack. I’m sure he would like it for the shadowy vibe, the psychotic sinner (he likes psychotic sinners) and for the guitar reverberating sparks, thinking that’s it his fav nostalgic Casanova Chris Isaak on guitar (note: Lynch directed Isaak‘s Wicked Game video that featured flashes from his 1990 Wild At Heart movie).

Press play.

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2. ‘Constance Street’ by KRISTIN HERSH (US)

The stirring Throwing Muses/50 Foot Wave songstress has her
new solo LP, titled Clear Pound Road out on 8 September.

Hersh about the song: “I lived on Constance Street in New Orleans
when that song’s story happened. Buying slips in the Irish Channel/broken
prince in fluorescent camo is a very Southern day. I was born a hick and
I guess I’ll always be one.”

It’s a subtly groovin’ beauty
with Hersh poetic storytelling
adding a magical touch.

Enjoy.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. ‘Huevos Rancheros’ by THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY (The Netherlands)

This Dutch-American rock band has its roots firmly planted in both the regional
and international counterculture. They produce a raw, dirty groove influenced by
punk, Provo, and punk icons. Their poetry is packed with social criticism.

The IL have canned their 4th LP. It’s named Good Busy and arrives via
Floprecords, digitally on 11 September and physically (vinyl/CD) 4 days later.

This first single is a tremendously catchy and melodic tune that mesmerizes from the kick-off. Stimulated by a sparkling and melancholic guitar riff à la Kurt Vile, a foot-stompin’ beat and word-smith Joshua Baumgarten‘s expressive storytelling, it becomes an electrifying pop gem, after a couple of spins. One for which the repeat button was invented for. One that invites you to stop for a while and look around to find the light at the end of the tunnel.

Stream/buy.

.
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4. ‘We Did Nothing’ by GRAHAM PARKER (UK)

No retirement yet for the imperishable, now 72-year-old, pop-rock songsmith.
From the early 70s on he wrote/recorded/released a countless number of LPs
featuring several masterpieces.

His brand new one, called Last Chance To Learn The Twist,
featuring his new band The Goldtops shows up on 8 Sept.

Ahead of it comes this vintage Parker pearl.

.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. ‘I Am A Wave’ by DEATH VALLEY GIRLS (Los Angeles)

Photo by Little Ghost/Kelsey Hart

Last February the Los Angeles‘ psychedelic garage pop/rock darlings
released their 5th longplayer Islands In The Sky. Their best ever to
my satisfied ears.

I Am A Wave is a new standalone single.

It’s a haunting mid-tempo psych jam, a sonic torch in the dark. The combination of the characteristically high-pitched Bloomgarden vocals, her 60s-sounding Hammond organ, the weeping guitars, the howling backing vocals, the steady drum beat and the glowing finale is just riveting and engrossing.

This is not a Mexican wave, it’s Bonnie‘s wave.
Follow her flow, she’s really kind of amazing.

Stream/buy.

.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. ‘Everybody’s Save Until…’ by PARIS TEXAS (US)

This sharp-rap-cutting Los Angeles duo released their highly acclaimed riot-gun album
Mid Air last month. This 3rd single is nothing less than fucktastic, with a sickly sticky flow, a killer guitar riff and the tandem’s adrenalized vocality.

Stunning strike.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. ‘METALLI!!’ by BABYMETAL (Japan)

The kawaii metal girls teamed up with Rage Against The Machine
guitarist Tom Morello for this new head-banging blast. Their mix of
glam metal, pop-punk melodies and pithy/screamy vocals are an
infallible formula.

Hell bloody metali yeah!

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. ‘Bauhaus Staircase’ by OMD (UK)

The beloved synth-pop duo is around since the late 70s, and they have no
intention to go and sit in their lazy rocking chair counting their money.

On 27 October their 14th LP, baptized Bauhaus Staircase comes out.

The title track is the 3rd appetizer. A happy-go-lucky summer tune.
Irresistibly infectious. These two manoeuvres in the dark still come
up with vitalizing electro thrills.

The accompanying video is an animated spectacle, that features a nod to the imagery
of various sci-fi films, notably Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, Run Lola Run, and Blade Runner.

Listen/watch.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. ‘Your Side Of Town’ by THE KILLERS (Los Angeles)

Following their underrated 2021 album Pressure Machine and last
year’s single Boy Los Angeles‘ pop champs return with a new gem with
a vintage, nostalgic Killers flavor.

Tune in.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. ‘Blue Shadow’ by ASALONE (US)

Asalone is the solo project of singer/songwriter/producer
Adam Stanley Putzer from Buffalo, NY.

His new song is a reflection on returning to the place you
grew up, only to feel like a stranger in your own hometown.

Uplifting tunes like this one are always welcome on my busy headphones.
It’s a richly orchestrated melody that grabs your aural attention straight
away with its jaunty piano touches, scintillating guitar play, a bracing refrain
and last but not least Asalone‘s impassionate voice.

Amplified pop melancholia is what you get here.
Don’t be a stranger, enjoy and embrace the shadow.

Stream/buy.

.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. ‘Fingerprints’ by : TREMENDOUS (Birmingham, UK)

Fingerprints is a post-break-up love song starting slowly and smoothly, only with
frontman’s Dudzinski‘s heartbroken voice and his weeping guitar, but 45 seconds
in, the emotions and the decibels go up and turn the song into a goosebumps power ballad, proving once again that lovesickness can lead to compellingly cathartic music.

Think the romantic vibes of The War On Drugs mixed with Noel Gallagher‘s raw guitar
play of the early Oasis days. To my persuaded ears Dudzinski has a torch-burning gem
on his hands. In a normal world, it would be a hit. Hands down.

Check it out.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

12. ‘Cosmic Dance’ by COMMON FLAWS (Italy)

Common Flaws is the solo project of Giacomo Oberti,
the singer/songwriter from Italian synth-pop outfit
The Bankrobber.

Cosmic Dance offers ambient vibes, jungle-esque drum beats, scintillating
synth sparks, and echoing vocals. It trips in your mind from the get-go.
Its tempting, playful flow and its melodic resonance have a tranquilizing
effect. A dream-stimulating effort.

Tune in.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. ‘Prize’ by GHOST PATTERNS

This London-based quartet formed in 2019. They blend psychedelia,
shoegaze and post-punk influences into their music.

Prize is the first 2023 music following a couple of new ones
last year and their excellent 2019 debut album Infinite.

I wonder if they invited Interpol‘s stellar guitarist Daniel Kessler and
give him a license to overdub the guitars at play on Prize. The result is
a wall-of-shoegaze vibrancy that progresses in slo-mo and grows in
intensity along its route, with foggy vocals all over it.

More melodic than My Bloody Valentine, tighter than Slowdive. Is it real or
fantasy? No idea, but who cares when it’s as ear-and-mind pleasing as this.

Stream/buy.

.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. ‘ExtraTerrestial’ by SMALL MIRACLES (Wales)

Small Circles is an indie act from Cardiff, Wales. Inspired by the early New Wave movement, they infuse elements of Punk, Blues and Grunge into their genre-bending sound. Their music has a distinctly queer, underground feel, finely balancing heavy grooves and breakdowns with catchy hooks and choruses.

Mirari tackles all war-greedy political leaders. You can feel/hear
the anger, the frustration and the in-your-face rage on ExtraTerrestrial.
Its cast-iron slow-mo drones, its vocal aggression, its ear-piercing guitar furor
and its razor-sharp Mirari rap sequence combine for a volcanic knockout.
We need big miracles to end all the Warshit!

Feel the heat.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

15. ‘The Light At The End Of The World’ by IAN WILLIAMS (UK)

Williams started his music career in Edinburgh (Scotland) in the mid 1980’s as a founder
of Beautiful Pea Green Boat, whose ethereal, atmospheric sound pre-dated the vogue for dream pop by at least twenty years. He is now based in London and more recently, he has worked with singer Claudia Barton aka Gamine, releasing two albums of dark, piano-led torch songs and lullabies.

This new piece will feature on his new, forthcoming
full-length ‘Slow-Motion Apocalypse’, out in October.

Think Vangelis sharing ideas with Tangerine Dream and Jean-Michel Jarre.
Cinematic, with spacey, melodramatic vocals. It could be part of the soundtrack
of a nature documentary about an eagle flying between the sea and the sky. Proud, mighty, fearless and untouchable. These are the images I see on my screen in
my mind.

Listen/watch.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. ‘Body’ by STRESS DOLLS (Buffalo, NY)

📸: Peter Heuer

Stress Dolls is the moniker of alt/pop/rock artist Chelsea O’Donnell.
Her new single is a fully electricity-charged stunner with O’Donnell
expressive vocals adding a poignant resonance.

Steamy score.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

17. ‘Rosebud’ by SWAN HILL (UK)

These busy British indies have a new double
A-side single out, with Rosebud and Landlines.

Rosebud is my favorite.

A riff-loaded ripper with a vibrant pop edge.

.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

18. ‘Deadweights’ by SEADOG (Brighton, UK)

The dream-pop duo from Brighton, UK enthrall with their new musing that
will be part of the new, forthcoming album, named Internal Noise, out in
the autumn via Austerity Records.

It features the vocal harmonies of Jack and Lily Wolter,
both from the band Penelope Isles, while Jack also
drums on it.

Singer-songwriter Mark Benton encapsulates his psychologically and physically
crushing insomnia experiences in a bittersweet and melancholic pop tune that
babbles like a sparkling brook, yet underlying this humdinger resonates as if
the after-effects of the sleepless years are still wandering around. In the end
here’s proof again that music can be healing. Beautiful.

Listen/watch.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

19. ‘Alphabet City’ by THE NATIONAL

The Cincinnati heroes fronted by Matt Berninger, their songwriter
and one of the best crooners of the modern age released their 9th LP,
named First Two Pages Of Frankenstein last April.

Last week they dropped two new gloomy ballads to keep
the momentum going. One of them is Alphabet City.

Lit a candlelight.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

20. ‘My Submission’ by DEXYS (Birmingham, UK)

Now, after 45 (!) years, several line-ups and several hiatuses Dexys released (only)
their 6th album, the highly entertaining and feel-good full-length The Feminine Divine.

Mastermind Kevin Rowland celebrated his 70 birthday a couple of weeks ago,
and still has the gift to write a goosebumps balledis about. My Submission is
a diamond of a song.

Listen/watch.

TURN UP THE VOLUME

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