They’re on an extensive tour right now, but made time to perform on American TV
on The Late Show, last week. They played SPACE INVADER from Laugh Track.
Last weekend, THE NATIONAL played at their own Homecoming Fest in
their hometown of Cincinnati. At one point, frontman/crooner Matt Berninger
announced a new LP, only 5 months after their grand LP First Two Pages Of Frankenstein.
It’s titled LAUGH TRACK and was already on sale, on a limited edition,
at the festival, with no front cover. Now the longplayer is available
worldwide.
Pitchfork says: “The National extends its predecessor’s subdued mood and
reclusive purview. This band still has a fierce rock record in them. Maybe
next time they’ll make it.”
TUTV: Laugh Track is The National by numbers. Not great, not bad. No idea
why they didn’t release it with First Two Pages Of Frankenstein as a double LP.
Commercial reasons, I guess.
Last Friday THE NATIONAL played their own Homecoming Fest in their hometown
of Cincinnati. At one point, frontman/crooner Matt Berninger announced a new LP.
Looks as if his writer’s block is a vague memory.
It comes only 5 months after their grand LP First Two Pages Of Frankenstein.
It’s named LAUGH TRACK and was already on sale, on a limited edition, at the
festival, with no front cover (so far). No exact release date, for everybody, so far.
The band immediately played a track off it after the announcement.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
9. ‘Your Side Of Town’ by THE KILLERS (Los Angeles)
Following their underrated 2021 album Pressure Machine and last
year’s single BoyLos Angeles‘ pop champs return with a new gem with
a vintage, nostalgic Killers flavor.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And they already return with two brand-new singles, titled Alphabet City
and Space Invader. It’s not like they were written/recorded yesterday.
These two gloomy ballads were definitely part of the new LP’s writing process, but I’m sure
clever label people told the band to release them as two new singles later on to keep the momentum going, instead of adding them to the album, where they belong. And the time of the release is fittingly planned too as on 16 September the band have their own homecoming festival day, featuring several friends.
Anyway, it’s always a dreamy pleasure to hear new The National music.
Cincinnati stars THE NATIONAL led by impassioned crooner Matt Berninger organise their own festival in their hometown on 16 September. For the occasion, they’ll invite some friends.
This sizzling Scottish trio nailed it with their 3rd LP. Heavy Heavy is one of those remarkable records (one every 3 months or so) 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 LP 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.
2. ‘First Tow Pages Of Frankenstein’ by THE NATIONAL
I second the multiple raving reviews for this brilliant album. It’s not the first time that troubled and depressed artists (Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave and others made a living out of it) come up with healing music.
Despite a temporary writer’s block and severe depression, Matt Berninger (aged 52)
found his way in his chaotic mind and came back to express the psychic fights with all of his demons in a most affecting manner. And his crooning voice, once more, is instrumental for The National‘s sound.
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-absorbing 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 bone-chilling sonic exorcism is more accessible than you thought at first. Their orchestral manoeuvres in
the dark are flabbergasting.
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!
5. ‘A Headlong Fall Into The Vast Ocean Of Anxiety’ by EYEMOUTH
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 sonic motion.
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. Relaxing, calming and triggering lazy dreaming.
The L.A. garage rock fury led by vocalist/guitarist/organist and natural-born
charismatic front-Amazon Bonnie Bloomgarden hit bullseye with their 5th LP.
(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. FACT!
The British glam and glitter popsmiths delivered
their best LP since hitting the scene back in 2014.
It’s their 4th one.
(Photo by Turn Up The Volume)
This album grew on me spin after spin. It’s still a mellow, laid-back, and familiar
resonating collection of tunes. But its sunlit spirit, its vivid vibe, and its melodies are so infectious. Let your thoughts ignore reality and drift away in your happy-go-lucky cocoon. Top-tier effort.
No pension yet for these veteran indies from New Jersey who started their journey
in 1984 and recorded/released 17 longplayers so far (new one included).
(Press photo)
They’re experts in creating uncomplicated, electrifying melodies and then giving them a psychedelic edge with distorted guitars. Different moods, different sonic tones. We all know 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, and it inspired them (again)
to can another topmost record.
It’s the second longplayer from these 4 Belgian mavericks.
Both sonically and lyrically, you get a mood-swings record that evokes both eerie and profound emotions. Filibuster fabricate a melting pot of grunge (Nirvana), slacker rock (Dinosaur Jr.) and anything post-punk edged. You can rock out to it, take a breather now and then, and go quiet/loud all the way through. Overall an impassioned job well done.
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.
Back In The Room is a hell of a must-hear-now record.
Weird collaboration? No, certainly not. The very popular EBM/house/hip-hop/DJ FRED
and legendary sound wizard ENO complete each other here on this surprising album. They create a sonic labyrinth where Eno‘s hallucinatory ambient waves progress in slow motion, causing a trance trip in a foggy environment and Fred‘s rare, ghostly vocals seem to come from a mysterious universe.
Secret Life is a hushed, soothing soundtrack for late-night mind entertainment after
another busy day and too much noisy music. Relaxing, calming and triggering lazy dreaming.
It’s the second longplayer by these 4 Belgian mavericks.
Both sonically and lyrically, you get a mood-swings record that evokes both eerie and profound emotions. Filibuster fabricate a melting pot of grunge (Nirvana), slacker rock
(Dinosaur Jr.) and anything post-punk edged. You can rock out to it, take a breather now and then, and go quiet/loud all the way through. Overall an impassioned tour de force.
Karl Strooban (frontman/songwriter): “It’s hard for us/me not to make music that’s
extremely personal. You tend to cut out the overly emotional bits during the writing process,
but somehow it just always turns out sentimental and angsty. Most of these songs were written during a tumultuous time in my/our personal life and while grieving a family member. So the title reflects this I guess. We don’t mean to say the quiet parts out loud, we just wanna have fun and rock out, you know, but we can’t really help it.”
Wanna know more? Read the full interview with Karl Strobanthere.
Who?“A trio of Edmonton, Canada-based musicians has built a sound that’s synonymous with the hardest-hitting country and rockabilly acts around with sound that stands on its own. Their sound fills dance floors with fans from age 8 to 80. Their thoughtful and hard-hitting songs are for people that believe that music should have a little dirt under its fingernails.”
Westernization is their 3rd album.
These motherrockers jump from hot-blooded blues jams to garage rock electricity, from peppery punk echoes to charged-country music in an eye/ear blink. And it’s good old riff-rotating rockabilly that glues all the frenetic havoc together. Confusionaires know all the tricks to activate you to get up, to stand up and to fight for your right to go apeshit.
Sounds fucktastic, right? You betcha.
By the way, these three desperadoes look (see band photo above) like the reincarnation of maddening noise maniacs Motörhead ready for that infamous digging-body-up scene in Maffia movie Goodfellas. Hell bloody hell yeah.
STREAM/BUY
. 4. ‘First Tow Pages Of Frankenstein’ by THE NATIONAL
Artwork: The cover features a photo of a young boy holding a mannequin’s head.
The photograph was taken by the boy’s father, John Solimine, an illustrator and longtime friend of vocalist Matt Berninger. They met as dishwashers in a Cincinnati restaurant.
I second the multiple raving reviews for this outstanding LP. It’s not the first
time that troubled and depressed artists (Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave and others experienced it too) come up with healing music. Despite a temporary writer’s block and severe depression, Matt Berninger (aged 52) found his way in his chaotic mind and came back to express the psychic fights with all of his demons in a most affecting manner. And his crooning voice, once more, is instrumental for The National‘s sound.
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.
Pitchfork said: “The National’s sixth album is their leanest and most aerodynamic, easily accessible and self-assured by virtue of focusing on the visceral power of Matt Berninger’s vocals and Bryan Devendorf’s taut, inventive drumming. It’s also their funniest and most
self-referential.” Score: 8.4/10.
TUTV: The National‘ at their familiar candlelight-crooning finest.
