Tokyo Taboo

Turn Up The Volume’s 20 KNOCKOUT TRACKS Of 2020 – Simply The Best!

Posted on by JL

22 December 2020

I love the smell of rock and roll.
Here come Turn Up The Volume’s
20 Knockout Tracks of 2020.
Nothing but the best! Hands down!

1. ‘State Of The Union’ by PUBLIC ENEMY (Long Island, New York)
Time to get up and leave the White House, Donald Dumped. You split the USA right down the middle, you’re a disgrace for America, for humanity and the whole wide world. GO!

From brill album: What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?

Unprecedented, demented, many president’d / Nazi Gestapo dictator defended / State of the Union, shut the fuck up / Sorry ass motherfucker / Stay away from me / State of the Union,
shut the fuck up…

2. ‘Ultra Plus Ultra’ by ELEFANT (Belgium)
The Belgian sound-exploring motherrockers unleashed their second stupefying album Behajung  early this year with Ultra Plus Ultra‘ as one of the dazzling highlights.
A schizophrenic sonic blast with balls. Abso-fucking-lutely cool! VREE WIJS! You betcha!

3. ‘Hot Slick’ by PINS (Manchester, UK)
A hot stuff disco stomper that should be played in all discotheques around the globe,
from one of the coolest gangs on the planet. Bad girls forever. Title track from their swirling party album. Saturday night pins fever all the way!

4. ‘Under The Spell Of Joy’ by DEATH VALLEY GIRLS (Los Angeles)
Sickly sticky like first-class glue. With an angelic choir, feet-tapping drum beats, sweaty
sax flames and a mental finale. Yes, it’s Death Valley Girls en-joy-ing themselves in a new sonic zone. Don’t resist the spell! From the rad, same titled full length.

5. ‘I Found Out’ by OFFWORLD (UK)
Hard-Fi‘s frontman Richard Archer and imposing vox Krysten Cummings realized a high-powered tour de force. An epic heart and soul explosion! TOP! Waiting for the album!

6. ‘Never Ever Ever’ by BOA Vs COBRA (Belgium)
Don’t mess with charismatic frontwoman Sandy Fee who rants unambiguously about a toxic relationship from the very start when ‘Bad bad bad boy‘ bursts out of your speakers. The decibels turn up when the ablaze chorus kicks in. Stunning uppercut!

7. ‘American Dream’ by TOKYO TABOO (London, UK)
A steamy stunner with an explosive in-your-orange-face-intro, kick-starting this
clamorous jackhammer instantly with a titanic wall-of-blazing-riff hurly-burly and deafening percussion slams. YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!

Hey Mr President
You’re just a joke
Kids dodging bullets
World’s up in smoke

8. ‘Sweet’ by PORRIDGE RADIO (UK)
A towering loudQUIETloud haymaker with Margolin‘s repeating magnetically ‘I’m charming, I’m sweet and she will love me when she meets me‘. Emotive belter from the band’s excellent album Every Bad. Porridge Radio is on its way to world domination! Capeesh??

9. ‘Mr. Motivator’ by IDLES (Bristol, UK)
A riff-roaring ripper made to start crowded moshpits at gigs (for now you need to pirouette yourself bananas at home). A red-hot-blooded corker that does your head in. Hells Bells! Album: Ultra Mono.

10. ‘A Hero’s Death’ by FONTAINES D.C. (Ireland)
‘Life isn’t always empty ‘ states frontman Grian Chatten in his characteristic parlando
flow while the band grooves non-stop. Album: A Hero’s Death.

11. ‘Dark Blue’ by THROWING MUSES (California)
A firm banger driven by a solid beat with a pounding guitar groove, Kristin Hersh‘s characteristic sensual voice, and a catchy polyphonic chorus. Throwing Muses rocks!
From the band’s highly acclaimed longplayer Sun Racket…

12. ‘The Rise And Fall Of America’ by THE MOODS (Manchester, UK)
A crystal clear stream of cutting lines as sharp as a brand-new Swiss knife. It’s The Moods‘ towering take on the bombastic American National Anthem. They rock, roar and rage. The Moods kick ass! Go home Donald Duck Trumpet!

13. Psychopath’s Monologue by THE CHRONICLES OF MANIMAL AND SAMARA
A 2020 Apocalypse Now Odyssey. It all starts enigmatically with Samara reciting her Dante’s Inferno inspired poem in a haunting foreplay tone until Manimal shows up and all metallic hell breaks loose. Learn more about this year’s most intriguing act in their interview with Turn Up The Volume right here.

14. ‘Paycheck’ by LEG PUPPY
A dizzy disco-ball drone making you jump up and down like a kangaroo on E. It goes bang, bang, bang, and bang with crazy duet vocals all over it and that psych-o-delic surf guitar riff that messes up your mind the way you like it. Dance floor blast. PAY THEM!

15. ‘A Reason To Celebrate’ by bdrmm (Hull, UK)
Delightful shoegaze rainbow. Like a nightingale symphony waking you up in the morning. From – yes, ladies and gents – the best debut LP of the year with Bedroom.

16. ‘Out Of The Shadows’ by GREAT HARE (Sweden)
From the stimulating intro on you’ll tap your feet, without even noticing it. This is the wake-up-call I want to hear when I can’t get out of my bed in the morning. You simply can’t resist this shot of adrenaline. This is what elevating pop is all about.


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17. ‘Man Of Chaos’ by FLIGHT ATTENDANT (Nashville, US)
A feverish cracker and jaw-dropping power slam. The sensual, magnetic, and spellbinding vocals create a sort of delirious trance. And when, unexpectedly, bouncy strings kick in as a harbinger for a vibrant finish you’ll reach a sonic orgasm.

18. ‘Rainbow Records’ by OCEANOGRAPHY (Oakland, CA)
Glorious guitar pop stonker getting your aural attention from the get-go with a repetitive riff sticking immediately. Inflammable passion, scintillating ardency, and vehement fervor. Big tune, big sentiments and a big voice reminding me of Greg Dulli‘s imposing vocals at times.


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19. ‘Maggot Line’ by THE BATTERY FARM (Manchester, UK)
“We all gonna die and it’s our fault.” This is not just a punk slogan. It’s the fucking truth. Middle-finger to all those buffoons who ignore global warming, corona and The Battery Farm. NO MERCY!

20. ‘No Rock Save In Roll’ by CORNERSHOP (UK)
A rattling Stones-esque garage rocker with an unstoppable groove that makes you
want to jump in the street and have a sweet little dance (with mouth mask on).

All together on Spotify…

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How Was 2020? A Chat With The Utterly Cool DOLLY From Outspoken Firework Rockers TOKYO TABOO

Posted on by JL

8 December 2020

TOKYO TABOO is a multi-coloured, outspoken, and eccentric off-center big bang duo
out of London. Exactly what makes Turn Up The Volume go bonkers. They made their impressive entrance in the power-punk-rock world with hot-blooded 2018 debut LP
titled 6TH PSYCHOSIS STREET. A boiling sledgehammer of a record, as mental as their flashy outfits.

Their massive tunes fueled by mind-bending guitars, crazed synths and Dolly Daggerz
in-your-face vocals make you forget you lockdown blues. Therefore we invited art-pole-dancer Dolly for a chat about the past 12 months and the way they dumped Trump.

Before doing so let’s start the fun with TT‘s fired-up 2020 single ‘No Pleasure Only Pain’…

Your anti-Trump song was one of the most explosive I heard all year.
Great sound, great lyrics. When was it written and recorded?

“It was written just after Trump’s election in 2016. We recorded it in the Summer
of 2018 in LA with the amazing Noah Shain. Pretty happy with how it turned out!”


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What did you feel the moment the fall of Trump was announced?

“Relief. Hope. Elation. I think we were scared of another four years.
I didn’t want to stop checking the results in case he took the lead.”

I’m pretty sure an anti-Boris Johnson will follow. Am I right?

‘I hope that’s true. The problem is there is no real strong left politician out there.
They are demonised by mainstream media. Look at what happened to Corbyn and
Bernie… until we have strong alternatives to the right-wing politics we are a bit stuck.”

Suppose you were asked to rewrite and put new music to the British Royal Anthem ‘God Save The Queen’. No restrictions whatsoever. What would be the outcome, in sound and vision?

“I would use the lyrics of ‘Make It Out Alive’ and keep the sound and visuals the same.
I don’t think it would make a very jolly national anthem though!

Lyrics include “World’s diseased/ Politicians selling every breath of air we breathe’”

Back in 2018 you were in Los Angeles to record new songs.
Is a new album waiting in the pipeline to be unleashed soon?

“We have released three singles: No Pleasure, Whiskey, and American Dream all from the new album. Currently working on writing new material. This second album is asked about a lot and we’ve had a few bumps in the road: Pledge taking our fans money, then burning to the ground, and now the pandemic. Just trying to survive day to day without going mental at the moment! Definitely going to keep working on that album though. We will get it finished. We are determined! ”


Your outfits are just awesome. Who designs them?

“We have collected all things colourful and bright over the years. Mickey always loved colour and I just copied him. We love thrift shops and one-off loud originals. It’s great
also wearing clothing no one else has.”

“A lot of musicians came up with a cover of another artist’s song during these bizarre times. Which one would you pick to cover?”

“We covered ‘Like A Stone’ by Audioslave over lockdown. I’ve always loved the desperate longing in the lyrics. I heard an acoustic version of it by Chris Cornell on Spotify and I fell in love with the song so much. I begged Mickey to learn it on guitar and we played the song a lot of our Facebook live stream whilst stuck at home in March.”

What was the best track and album you heard in 2020?

“Check out the new song by Dead Sara ‘Hands Up’ produced by the almighty Noah Shain!
If you don’t know this band check them out. Their new album isn’t out yet but their older stuff is amazing and got us hooked on Noah’s sound. If it wasn’t for them we would never have worked with Noah.”

“The video clip that impressed your eyes?”

“American Dream by Tokyo Taboo and Trump 😀. Honestly though it’s the best video
we’ve created and has a lot of views and made a big impact so fuck it!”

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Prick of the year and hero-ine of the year?

“Prick POTUS who believes that trees explode and denies global warming.

Hero: Anyone who survived this year is my hero it’s been a tough one.”

What made you laugh crazily and what made
you cry your eyes out the past 12 months?

“Mickey and I are in lockdown together and we’ve had cry moments and laugh moments for sure. I usually ask him to spin me around the pole if the pole stops spinning and once he got stuck in a chair and couldn’t stand up whilst I was shouting him to push me- which was hilarious. He also dressed up as me this year for Halloween and wore one of my pole outfits. That was quite special.

I’ve had moments during this second lockdown where I’ve just felt hopeless and like there’s nothing to look forward to so that’s where the tearful moments have come from. Sometimes just completely out of nowhere. It’s been a tough year for sure but definitely
a year where I have grown a lot (cliche) and really got used to not having any control whatsoever. Just making plans and being like ‘well hopefully..’ and not caring too much of they don’t work out. Relinquishing control and enjoying the moment. Trying not to worry and working on mental health.”

Which song will be on your stereo on 31st December at midnight?

“Hopefully we will be out in the middle of nowhere for the new year. COVID allowing of course… Probably won’t play any music or party at all just listen to the sea or the sounds
of nature. We love to be away somewhere new for the beginning of the year. Gives us time to exhale and think about things and gain perspective. It’s nice to have a break from everyone and everything.”

Christmas 2020 will be really weird. Any tips to have fun to celebrate Xmas Day, despite the coronavirus measures?

“Hopefully it won’t be Christmas via Zoom. I’ve spent so much time on Zoom this year!
I think just make the best of whatever happens. Just be with whoever you’re allowed
to be with and be grateful rather than hateful…There’s always next year anyways.”


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Name three things you really want to see happen in 2021?

“Real changes to save the planet. We can’t keep going on this path of destruction for much longer. Most people try to ignore it all, myself included, but we really need to grow some balls and tackle this problem. Business can’t keep going as usual and we can’t expect economic growth every year at the cost of being able to live on this planet. We need to face reality otherwise this won’t be the first year of pandemic there will be more to come.

I hope this isn’t a downer but I honestly think everyone is like ‘consume consume’ and obsessed by comfort and scared of change. Look at the outrage towards vegans and that’s just a reaction to people being like ‘Stop killing things that you don’t need to kill to stay alive. Stop destroying nature to feed animals that you want to eat just because that’s what you’ve always done. Stop destroying the planet just because you can’t be bothered to change your diet.’ A lot of people have a problem with change. But we desperately need
it across the board.

I hope live music returns as it’s fucking boring sat at home all the time and we need an outlet.

I hope we find a solution to right-wing populist movements that are driven by fear and segregation. Feeling that we are different when actually we have more in common. Look after each other rather than be selfish fucks hoarding toilet roll. Stand on the streets and demand a fairer, more just society.”

“Oh I’ll shut up now and go practise pole 😀.”

Thank you Dolly, thank you Tokyo Taboo.
Have a safe Xmas and a music-and-gig loaded 2021.

If you missed TT‘s awesome debut LP
stream/buy the 6th Street Psychosis
firepower right here…


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Want a cool, I mean, utterly cool 2021 calendar? Go to TT‘s
Bandcamp page and get your Dolly Daggerz signed copy…

TOKYO TABBOO: Facebook

(all photos by Gary Trueman Photography – received via the band)

Crucial #DumpTrump Days – TOKYO TABOO Remixed By The Devil In The Belfry

Posted on by JL

Daily fuel to load your sonic batteries…

24 October 2020

Why I love Tokyo Taboo? They look utterly cool, they dress utterly cool,
they sound utterly cool, they have an utterly cool band name, and most
of all, they don’t write fake songs.

Last month they dropped their #DumpTrump rant called American Dream.

Turn Up The Volume said: “A steamy stunner with an explosive in-your-orange-face
intro kick-starting this clamorous haymaker instantly with a titanic wall-of-blazing-riff
hurly-burly and deafening percussion slams”.

And as the following days will be crucial for America The Devil In The Belfry
(perfect name for the occasion) remixed the single. Hell yeah!

Hey white privilege
You’re so weak
So angry you’re threatened by minorities
Your skin’s so thin
Yeah you’re full of fear
You thrive on hate
And racists fund your little career

VOTE HIM OUT…


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The clip…

TOKYO TABOO: Facebook


(promo photo for the press – via band)

 

Turn Up The Volume’s 15 KNOCKOUT TRACKS For September 2020

Posted on by JL

This past month’s best…

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A swirling fusion of rhapsodic rippers and cool crackerjacks,
that activated my bloodstream and my limbs this past month!
Turn Up The Volume‘s 15 Knockout Tracks for September!

‘Under The Spell Of Joy’ by DEATH VALLEY GIRLS (Los Angeles, US)
L.A.’s garage devils surprise with this gospel stunner. Polyphonic choir, booming beats, crazed sax, towering tune, and a mental finale. The title track from their fourth album coming your way this Friday, October 2. Can’t wait!

‘So What’ by MEMES (Glasgow, Scotland)
Post-punk mavericks strike again. This new cut is more infectious than that horrible coronavirus, deeper carving than a Swiss knife, 103 seconds of high-energy swagger.
New EP in November via Fierce Panda.


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‘The Rise And Fall Of America’ by THE MOODS (England)
It’s this British collective’s towering take on the bombastic American National Anthem with razor-sharp lines and an addictive chant. They rock, roar and rage. Enough is enough! Play this on repeat until the elections in November. Make America, America again. It’s not too late! Vote that orange out!

‘American Dream’ by TOKYO TABOO (England)
‘Dumb Trump’ is the loud and clear message. These high-voltage noiseniks squeeze that orange idiot into pulp in 4 minutes and visualize their disgust with both a hilarious and frightening video clip. About time this buffoon gets kicked out of the White House!

‘Leon The Pig Farmer’ by CABBAGE (England)
These post-punk gunslingers describe their racket as Apocalyptic Sprautrock. Sounds
totally 2020 to my ears. This new amazeballs brain-breaker races like a hot rod on
the run without slowing down for a second. Bang-up stonker!

‘Psychopath’s Monologue’ by THE CHRONICLES OF MANIMAL AND SAMARA (It/Sing)
A soundtrack for an unmade David Lynch movie. Chemical bros beats, Leftfield bangs, industrial uppercuts and a nightmarish spoken-word sermon all over it. Sonic paranoia
for a baffled world in an ongoing virus crisis. Doomsday is just around the corner.

‘Tokyo Music Experience’ by RATS ON RAFTS (The Netherlands)
An electrical punch-sucker driven by hyperkinetic guitars, manic vocals, and a relentless beat sounding like legendary weirdos Devo are back with some fervent firepower. Expect to be totally puzzled after just one spin. You can get satisfaction here, folks!

‘Land Based Antics’ by STRUGGLES WITH SYNTAX (London)
A rage-against-the-machine motherrocker, a smash and clash crossover stormer, a
nasty rap brain-breaker, a brutal thwack challenging you to bang your head against
the wall while pulling your hair out. A volcanic spit and sneer eruption.

‘Moment In The Sun’ by SUNFLOWER BEAN (Brooklyn/NY)
Perfect pop play! Catchy as hell, totally uplifting and mood-boosting. Funky and groovy.
An earworm to listen to in your bath, in your car, at work, in the pub, and in your bed.

‘Truth II’ by BEND SINISTER (Vancouver, British Columbia)
A rambling, rumbling, rollicking and roaring ripsnorter with a scream along on the top of your lungs chorus demanding the truth. C’mon Bully Trump and Boris the Clown, stop
lying 24/7, you twin idiots.

‘7 Seconds’ by PORRIDGE RADIO (Brighton, England)
Earlier this year this amazing Dana Margolin fronted band released their contender-for-best-album-of-the-year tour de force Every Bad, they shine again on this brand new melodic humdinger.

‘Docker Martins’ by ARCO ARENA (Ireland)
A riff-loaded crackerjack that triggers your Saturday nightmare fever moves. Funky as
fuck and sickly sticky from start to finish. A kick-ass hammer sharp as a serrated knife challenging you to fight for your right to be the last man standing. Yeahhh!

‘Serotonin‘ by VIOLENT VICKIE (Long Beach, CA)
Put your Goth outfit, dim the lights, and trip on this pitch-black synthscape with
Vickie wildly yearning for lost love and lust. You’ll get goosebumps when listening
to this petrifying cry out on your headphones. Time to kick your evil demons out
of your bedroom!

‘We Are Chaos’ by MARILYN MANSON (Ohio, US)
Yes, the self-proclaimed ‘God of Fuck’ still walks the planet. No, he didn’t move yet
to his real home in hell. And the title track is a massive sing-along pop (yes, ‘pop’)
anthem celebrating what we became: CHAOS in these surreal virus times.

‘Cotton Fish (A Dream)’ by JAY CRAFTON (Toronto, Canada)
Don’t really know much about this Canadian musician and record producer just that his new (instrumental) single is a spellbinding guitar-driven jam with a relaxing effect on my mindset. Pretty special. Pretty dreamy.


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All together now on Spotify…

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See/hear you next month, music junkies…

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#DumpTrump While Dancing To Powerstroke ‘AMERICAN DREAM’ By TOKYO TABOO

Posted on by JL

Clips that will have an impact on your eyes and your ears…

29 September 2020

A couple of weeks ago British thunder and lighting noise-rockers
TOKYO TABOO dropped their anti-Trump rant AMERICAN DREAM.

“A steamy stunner with an explosive in-your-orange-face intro kick-starting this
clamorous haymaker instantly with a titanic wall-of-blazing-riff hurly-burly and
deafening percussion slams” wrote Turn Up The Volume after controlling if
his ears were still intact.

And here’s the video. A both gloriously hilarious and frighteningly reality check
clip. Hilarious because of the way that White House buffoon is portrayed. Frightening because – read the lyrics on screen – of the reminder of his devastating impact on the country he divided fiercely.

And let’s not forget how he encouraged (and still does) tons of far-right bullies and dangerous nationalistic politicians all over the world with his fascism inspired, daily propaganda Twitter show.

Help to share this #DumpTrump clip around the world…

TOKYO TABOO: Facebook

Trump Is A Joke – Turbo TOKYO TABOO Unleashed New Razorblade Ripper ‘AMERICAN DREAM’

Posted on by JL

Daily fuel to load your sonic batteries…

11 September 2020

British sharp-cutting rock turbo TOKYO TABOO just shared their new razor blade ripper AMERICAN DREAM with the world. A roasting attack on that 24/7 American idiot and pathological liar in the White House.

The steamy stunner starts with an explosive in-your-orange-face “L(i)a(r) l(i)a(r) l(i)a(r)
l(i)a(r) l(i)a(r) l(i)a(r) l(i)a(r) l(i)a(r)” intro kick-starting this clamorous haymaker instantly
with a titanic wall-of-blazing-riff hurly-burly and deafening percussion slams. Again,
the utterly cool and loudmouthed Dolly Daggerz tests your speakers’ bouncebackability without any mercy. And the blistering chorus will wake up the Disunited States of America.

Play this catchy as bloody hell wallop on repeat, every single day, until the November Dump Trump elections. That villain split his country down the middle, Tokyo Taboo will split his bully bubble down the middle.

Hey Mr President
You’re just a joke
Kids dodging bullets
World’s up in smoke
Guns in school
You shrug your shoulders
Hey you’re making money
Don’t care if they grow up

Open the gates…

Buy single here via Bandcamp…


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TOKYO TABOO: Facebook

Firm Rockers TOKYO TABOO Impress With Unplugged ‘WHISKEY’ Version…

Posted on by JL

Last October vigorous London rockers TOKYO TABOO released their blazing single WHISKEY. An explosive jackhammer, a rip-roaring stunner, an enormous slam that
feeds your hungry ears the way you actually love it the most.

Today the dynamite duo unleashed a hair-raising unplugged version. The vocal tour de force of flamboyant and utterly charismatic frontwoman Dolly Daggerz will send shivers down your spine. Her voice’s capacity is just breathtaking and capable of pulverizing your poor speakers. What a vehement performance. What a volcanic outpouring.

Catch the power here…

Also on Spotify…

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Here’s the original recording/clip…

TOKYO TABOO: Facebook


Purchase single via Bandcamp

London’s Raging Tandem TOKYO TABOO Goes Bonkers On New Red-Hot-Blooded Stroke ‘WHISKEY’…

Posted on by JL

Daily fuel to load your sonic batteries…

8 October 2019

Turn Up The Volume featured omnipotent and combative London tandem TOKYO TABOO several times before. Their HUGE and THUNDEROUS hard rockin’ all-powerful vitality and puissance is simply irresistible.

The in many ways notable duo unleashed a new sledgehammer called ‘WHISKEY‘. Remarkable frontwoman Dolly Daggerz revealed the story behind this new thrashing corker: “I wanted to describe how I’d become dependent on alcohol to feel ok. I got so used to drinking whiskey straight out of the bottle before jumping on stage. I thought being wasted was the only way I could perform as a riotous female. Turns out I never needed alcohol at all and that craziness lives in me!”

‘Whiskey‘ burns like a giant torch and sounds like a giant stunner that attacks your speakers relentlessly and feeds your hungry ears the way you actually love it. This enormous slam dunk proves once again that Tokyo Taboo‘s thumping potency is the perfect trigger to activate your adrenalin’s production. Wham bloody bam! Experience the brutal force
right here…

TOKYO TABOO: Facebook

TOKYO TABOO – New Single ‘NO PLEASURE ONLY PAIN’ Plus 3 Live Tracks Out Now…

Posted on by JL

New sonic impulses…

1 December 2018

After streaming it earlier on, London‘s exhilarating noise duo TOKYO TABOO just released new single NO PLEASURE ONLY PAIN plus live renditions of three brawny cuts from their hell-raising debut LP 6th Street Psychosis. As we said before Ophidian frontwoman Dolly Daggerz’s vox resonates both horny and hungry on this new one, like an insatiable coyote looking for its daily prey and electrical sidekick Mickey Danger creates some doomed Black Sabbath-like riffs that’ll give you a hairsplitting electric chair experience.

You can purchase the whole shebang
– CD or digitally – right here…


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TOKYO TABOO: Single via iTunes – Facebook

(Photo on top: artwork of single via band)