British indie rockers YARD ACT shot to the top like a
comet last year with their ace debut LP The Overload.
Last summer they came back with a high-caliber, stand-alone single,
named The Trench Coat Museum. A harbinger for album number two,
titled, WHERE’S MY UTOPIA that will show up on 1 March 2024.
Press info:” The return of Yard Act. Where’s My Utopia? is the follow up to the Leeds band’s critically-acclaimed debut record The Overload which arrived in January 2022. Written in snapshots of time between a relentless touring schedule, and produced jointly by the band and Gorillaz’ Remi Kabaka Jr, the quartet’s second act is a giant leap forward into broad and playful new sonic waters. Across the record, influences ranging from Fela Kuti to Ennio Moricone via Spiller’s ‘00s pop smash ‘Groovejet’ make themselves known.”
In order to not miss a beat Turn Up The Volume scans the musical
horizon daily (doing it for years now, actually) to stay in touch with
all new things sonically great and shares the results on a weekly
basis.
Check the 10 new rad cuts just
added to this rad 2023 playlist.
This Italian punk-rock songwriter is gearing up for his
4th album, ‘Life Burns‘ set for release on 1 March 2024.
Ahead of it, you can go bonkers to his new single Off My Chest
De La Vega: “The way interactions shape the way we are, especially in the formative years, is often under-looked. It took me a while to understand that some features of my personality exist and to face them openly, to be outspoken and verbal about them felt immediately redemptive and even liberating during the writing of the lyrics.”
Holy smoke! Off My Chest is a hurly-burly glam stormer. Wham bloody wham bam it goes while De La Vega exorcizes his demons. Riffs fly all over the place and make you want to start a one-man moshpit.
Photo: Catalino Alvarez Jr / Cat Eye View Photography
Long-running San Diego/Temecula gunslingers return
with a new head-over-heels steamroller It’s Not A Phase.
“We joke around that when people like our wives first met us, they thought the band was a temporary phase. Now, decades later, we’re still going strong. While being in a band has great potential to be disruptive to the rest our lives, it is in fact the glue that holds us together.”
This easily could be a bonus track on Blink-182‘s new LP One More Time. This haymaker’s head-spinning velocity has a similar rapid-fire and breakneck dash. Dive in, go nuts.
These young swirling wolves have all punk burners and rock cylinders on. Fast-forward all the way. No breaks, no brakes, no mistakes. Ablaze drum/bass, manic riffs, agitated vocals and a blistering chorus combine for a fiery flamethrower that tests your stereo’s flexibility.
Petroleum is the 2nd single. A lazy funky-bass and hip-shaking sucker-punch.
James Smith (frontman) “I lost it with the crowd in Bognor Regis and told them I was bored and I didn’t want to be there,” frontman James Smith said in a statement about the song. Me and Ryan [Needham] had a row after, and Ryan rightly dressed me down for the way I acted. It got me pondering the idea that, now this is a job, what are the requirements of it? People think they want honesty but they don’t, they want me to portray the version of honesty that they’ve paid to see and that’s part of the illusion.”
Tunnel Lights is the 3rd piece from the forthcoming LP, Wolfe offers us.
Wolfe: “‘Tunnel Lights’ is about actually living instead of just ‘getting by.
It’s about waking up to the fact that you’ve been languishing in the dark
and it’s time to start taking steps towards the lights that’ll guide you out
of the tunnel-cave.”
6. ‘Heart-Shaped Jacuzzi’ by LOGAN’S CLOSE (Scotland)
It’s the title track of the quality-crafted debut album by this Scottish baroque pop duo.
It evolves slowly from a sepia-colored Beirut vibe with heartfelt organ fragments
to a highly emotive post-break-up cry out that stirs heart and soul. Stellar achievement.
This fresh captivating Liverpool act shines with chilling verve and impassioned flair
on this electrifying power ballad with its stupendous vocals and its mighty imposing
chorus. Better than before is an astonishing stonker of a song.
Having lost her eldest brother in May of 2021 NYC-based songstress Kiirstin Marilyn
has written an extremely personal yet universal 6-track EP, titled Kristoffer that will
take listeners on a heartfelt journey through a spectrum of emotions. With soulful lyrics, unforgettable melodies, and a raw, emotive delivery, this EP is a testament to the power
of storytelling through music. Stream it here.
Real Life is one of the breathtaking highlights. A sky-scraping vocal tour de force. Combined with the mind-blowing guitar play the emotionality runs high. Music can be a healing force. I hope it works for Marilyn.
Singer-songwriter Campbell displayed her moving vocal warmth before and she does one again on Too Late. A magnificent musing with both subtle and charming acoustic guitar sparks, tender piano touches, and angelic backing vocals near the end. High-quality songwriting. Don’t miss this tender little pearl.
British indie rockers YARD ACT shot to the top like a
comet last year with their ace debut LP The Overload.
Last summer they came back with a high-caliber, stand-alone single,
named The Trench Coat Museum. A harbinger for album number two.
WHERE’S MY UTOPIA shows up on 1 March 2024. Pre-order info here.
Album artwork
Following infectious lead-single Dream Job they just dropped a 2nd one
called PETROLEUM. A bang-on bass-funky corker that triggers limbs action.
James Smith (frontman) “I lost it with the crowd in Bognor Regis and told them I was bored and I didn’t want to be there,” frontman James Smith said in a statement about the song. Me and Ryan [Needham] had a row after, and Ryan rightly dressed me down for the way I acted. It got me pondering the idea that, now this is a job, what are the requirements of it? People think they want honesty but they don’t, they want me to portray the version of honesty that they’ve paid to see and that’s part of the illusion.”
The celebrated British indie rockers prepare for the launch
of their 6th LP, titled ‘Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations’, with this
new stonker, bringing the sonic euphoria of The Killers to mind.
This synth-pop duo is warming up for their third full length ‘A Kiss of the Mind’
Lead single ‘In Slow Motion’ is dark-synth-wave pizazz at its haunting best.
Booming beats rotate on and on towards a full orchestral plangency while
shadowy vocals add even more sinister vibes.
These masked synth-punk freaks from Vancouver (CA)
produce lots of mayhem on their new album Play Cobra.
One of the 5 best albums of the month on TUTV’s list.
Mouth Yellow is one of the crazy corkers.
Fasten your seatbelt, folks. It’s a rough ride.
The veteran superstar born Leonard Albert Kravitz in New York City 59 years
ago has his new longplayer – a double one – dubbed ‘Blue Electric Light’ out
on 15 March 2024.
On the video for the first taster ‘TK421’ Kravitz
drops his towel and shakes a lot of body parts.
6. ‘Downtown Operation’ by DUBINSKI (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Four brothers who’ve literally been through everything together – from childhood
through adolescence, success and grief – using music as the gel to hold them in place.
This first cut from their forthcoming 2nd album is a pure not-so-happy
pop pearl about the doom and gloom era we’re living in.
Its whirling groove, its ebullient beat, its glistering synth flashes, its vivacious
harmonies and last but not least its tremendously infectious chorus combine
for a top-notch earworm. Think Everything Everything and/or Hot Chip turning
up the heat.
Beginning as a solo project and growing into a band, Millie Milner & The Deadnames
of Manchester, UK was forged with a stronger mission at the heart to be the queer representation that the band’s members struggled to find in their own teenage years.
Lie was inspired by a breakup of Milner‘s and co-penned by a friend. It tells of
a need to take ownership of their life and their choices and the newfound element
of fun and recklessness they found themselves surrounded by as a newly single
person.
It’s indie at its vivid best. Sparkling guitars going berserk now and then, firm
drum hits, crystal clear vocals/harmonies, evocative lyrics, and a steamy chorus.
10. ‘Dead Moon Rising‘ by CACTUS FLOWERS (Houston, Texas)
This psych-rock act is fronted by Jessica A.M., whose mother photographed bands for
the legendary Rolling Stone music weekly during the magazine’s counter-culture heyday.
Their new sultry mid-tempo garage blues-rock corker is fuelled by echoing, rollicking
riffs, steady drum hits and bewitching Jessica A.M. vocals. Dead Moon Rising resonates
like glorious legends The Cramps with a mean machine vibe, rock-and-psycho-billy
swagger and footstompin’ dynamics. From bad moon rising to dead moon rising.
The Libs met in the studio once again for a new LP.
It’s been 8 years since the release of their 3rd album Anthems For Doomed Youth, which was their first
in 11 years back then.
Their new one ‘All Quit On The Easter Esplanade‘
and comes our way on 8 March 2024.
Run Run Run is a sickly sticky runner.
A vintage Libertines anthem.
Two years after the release of their charged self-titled debut EPEmpty Head are
back with a brand new follow-up EP named Tales Of A Modern Man. A 5-track
one anchored by the overarching theme of the Modern Man and bristling with
a wiry tension.
Opener Violence sets the tone with its hammering beats, its inflammable
guitar galvanism and frontman Simon Galloy‘s sky-scraping vocals.
This Belgian/Iraqi launched their excellent debut
full length The Shedding Of Skin, last year.
Their new piece is “a cynical “c’est-la-vie” anthem, set to a heavy 95 BPM beat and a disarray
of fucked up samples & sounds, about ten little wanderers who wander kilometers from home trying to belong. But home is where the heart is. And the House will never share its wealth.”
The release was initiated before the brutal reality of the genocide happening in Gaza.
Now, the cynical message must make way for solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
Expect a both haunting and hypnotic trip, with ominous slo-mo beats pounding
relentlessly with eerie chants all over it. Dark clouds in the air, calm before the storm, subdued electronic anger. It’s an alarming beast of a track.
Carter and Co release their fifth LP Dark Rainbow on 26 January 2024.
First single Man Of The Hour is a gorgeous surprise. Sonically and vocally
we get the softer side of the post-hardcore punk and tattoo artist. A super
duper ballad.
Abdelbarry: “The song reflects on having a friend who is acting in immature
ways you’ve outgrown, but knowing they still need your support and friendship.”
Birthday Cake is slow-progressing musing that appeals instantly with its
rudimentary PJ Harvey-esque guitar play and Abdelbarry‘s affectional voice.
The song has both a romantic and wistful sonority that captivates and moves.
And halfway melancholic synths accentuate the overall ruminate timbre in
an endearing way.
Caleb Orr is a young skilled country-pop-rock singer-songwriter who grew up in Helena, Alabama. He found his passion for music at a young age. He and his two older siblings were raised on music legends like Alan Jackson, Van Halen, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.
Great voice, great musicality, and great guitar play, echoing classic country
melancholia, and proving that the genre is simply timeless. As we all know, music can
have a healing, comforting and cathartic power and it also works here as Orr wants
to shake off bad habits of the past and want to focus on the future as a compelling
singer-songwriter.
This is the brainchild of seasoned Norwegian singer-songwriter Hans PetterGundersen
Dusty Road is a smooth mid-tempo country musing with a bluesy feel and both
a melancholic and yearning sensitivity. Warm voice, captivating melody, vintage
pedal steel guitar charm. All the matching ingredients for a warm sepia-colored
nugget.
Dan Cummings fronts Boston’s rowdy trio Already Dead
No wall-of-Already-Dead-dynamite electricity this time. Cummings
picked up his acoustic guitar and wrote this bone-chilling cry-out
about living on the edge of drowning or surviving.
Imagine British leftist/political activist and terrific veteran songsmith Billy Bragg
raising his voice or equally politically driven folk legend Woody Guthrie killing fascists
again with his wooden guitar. Landlord‘s profound emotions go from hope to despair
and back, and Cummings‘ anxious vocals send shivers down your spine.
British indie rockers YARD ACT shot to the top like a
comet last year with their ace debut LP The Overload.
Last summer they came back with a high-caliber, stand-alone single,
named The Trench Coat Museum. A harbinger for album number two.
WHERE’S MY UTOPIA shows up on 1 March 2024. Pre-order info here.
First single DREAM JOB is an awesome funky-bass-driven earworm
with frontman James Smith telling about his dream post-Brex-shit job.
Smith: “In part, I was scrutinizing and mocking myself for being a moaning ungrateful little brat, whilst also trying to address how the music industry is this rather uncontrollable beast that hurtles forward unthinkingly and every single person involved in it plays their part. Myself included, obviously. As with pretty much everything else going through my head last year, trying to find the right time to articulate the complexity of emotions I was feeling and the severity to which I was feeling them couldn’t be found — or accommodated, so instead I tried to capture it in a pop song that lasts less than three minutes once the fog had cleared a bit. It’s good and bad. I’m still glad that everything that happened to me happened.”
Canadian singer-songwriter Jeen launches her 5th album
later this year and Just Shadows is the first taster.
“I wrote “Just Shadows” just thinking how the darker parts of everything can snuff
out some of the best people’s light. It’s about trying to get out from under it so we
don’t just become casualties of our shittiest days.”
Just Shadows is a cast iron, drumming energy-stroke detonating with firm
puissance when the chorus hits your ears and Jeen‘s towering voice spices
all things up with flamboyant flair. The vitalizing impact of this effervescent
summer anthem is heartening.
It features The Cure drummer LOL TOLHURST (64), BUDGIE (65),
former Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer and Siouxsie‘s husband,
and Irish music producerJacknife Lee.
Los Angeles is the title track of their first, forthcoming LP.
It features LCD Soundsytem‘s mastermind/voice James Murphy
and soundwise it’s what you may expect from these musicians.
Los Angeles is a stompin’ and pumpin’ percussion burst
to stomp your feet and pump your fists like mad.
Happy mondays Shaun Ryder, and rapper Kermit (Paul Leveridge) are back.
They fabricated a new, their 4th, LP named Orange Head hitting the streets
in November.
Milk is the lead single. A pounding disco-rock blast
with the 24-party madchester vibe of the 90s.
The British post-punk mavericks announced a few weeks ago that they finished their
2nd longplayer, but first we can go gaga to this new smashing stand-alone single.
The Trench Coat Museum is an 8+ minute dancefloor filler infused with a flabbergasting bass riff, spiced with Smith‘s parlando vocals, schizo guitars and yes, cowbells. I guess that for the second half of this super-duper knockout, Smith left the studio for a cup of tea. Anyway, from there on jumbo techno-like beats take over.
I swear, when this knife-edged tune hit my ears for the first time, I thought
I pushed the wrong button and instead of these young Irish gunslingers I got
post-punk legends The Fall on my headphones.
These young Irish gunslingers’ combination of hyperkinetic drum/bass beats,
fanatic guitar riffage, Mark E Smith sneering and an overall staccato sonority
is irresistibly engrossing.
If you haven’t found your sonic twilight summer companion yet, then this new Coral tune will be the one. The Liverpool gang are experts in writing/creating hum-along, whistle-song, sing-along and dream-along pearls while you can tap your feet to the beat. Imagine sitting in a rockin’ chair on the porch of your farmhouse in a Serge Leone-directed spaghetti western. That’s the vibe.
8. ‘Do You Mind I’m A Little Late For Life?’ by BY FAR (Belgium)
Their debut single Bricks already entertained my music-addicted ears,
and this new one is a stone gold gem too. The fervent passion and the
overwhelming psychedelic resonance are nothing less than astounding.
The song’s bone-chilling progression blows you away, slowly but surely.
This is a diamond of a song. Vampire Empire is another staggering
new gem by a staggering band. Intense, dynamic, jaunty and avid
vocals by Adrianne Lenker. I love Big Thief.
Through To You is a track from the group’s sophomore album,
titled Days Are Mountains. It lands on August 11th.
It all starts with a steady, feet-activating drum beat, soon followed by an explosion
of hectic guitars. And in an eye/ear blink the whole resistlessly sonic process steamrolls over you, again and again, and riffs and grooves and moves it’s way like an electric-charged whirlwind to a sped-up climax. Frontman MacDonald wants to bang his head against a wall. That doesn’t sound like a bad idea in case you need to get rid of some demons, that is.
The energy developed here is off the charts. Meres rock their tails
off on this sinewy punk missile. Chainsaw guitars, forthright drums/bass
spanks and the both sensual and spiced vocals of Mary Shannon.
This hit-and-run uppercut will start lots of moshpits.
Clone is a lush rock ’n’ roll collage collective that fuses the sequined swagger of 70’s glam with the DIY gut punch of early punk and polishes it all off with the audacious vocals of contemporary pop.
Their new single Queen is a big wham T.Rex bang.
The British trashy 70s riffs, groovy hooks and flashy licks are all over the place. It also echoes Bowie‘s smashing 1974 hit Rebel Rebel. And I can’t but think of glam rock icon Suzy Quatro when front Amazon Juniper Watters comes on with her sensual and sultry vocals.
She’s not a clone, she’s for real, she’s the perfect queen for this firecracker. She’s extremely inspired by drag culture and is a huge supporter of the drag community.
Expect a titanic wall-of-shoegaze-layered sound that takes your breath away for almost
4 razzle-dazzle minutes. It feels as if this spectacular piece of a hallucinatory symphony comes out of space with its reverberated and tremoloed guitars, its scintillating synths,
its mystifying melodiousness and its cosmic vocals.
These British gunslingers kick-start your adrenalin production from the first chord on with this peppery pop-punk cryout fed by schizo guitars and distressed vocals. A thrill, although the song is about the wake of a breakup, an anthem of self-loathing, regret, and ultimately, forgiveness. I said it a million times before, heartache can lead to explosive catharsis in music.
Fury is an explosive cocktail of speed metal(lica), synth sketches, post-punk tumult
and dark-Goth-wave vocals. It’s a fuzz and buzz rocket that whirls forth and back. These messed-up times cause mind-madness and paranoia that leads to furious eruptions as pMAD experiences too.
Floatin’ Stone is a robust tune powered-up by a mean hard rockin’ machine.
References? Muscular Australian noisemakers Wolfmother and stoner rock
mavericks Queens Of The Stone Age. Say no more.
This must be the closest The Underground Youth come to sound like The Velvet
Underground. The repetitive jingle jangle pattern, the midnight hour vocals of Dryer, the dreary harmonies and the ongoing melodic catchiness. All ingredients
for a psych gem are in place here.
This slow-progressing musing appeals instantly with its rudimentary PJ Harvey-esque
guitar play and Abdelbarry‘s affectional voice, think Sharon Van Etten.
Birthday Cake‘s has both a romantic and wistful sonority that captivates
and moves. And halfway melancholic synths accentuate the overall ruminate
timbre in a warm way.
Love Town is a heart-warming and reflective musing about falling in love.
A romantic candlelight ballad for mind-relaxing moments. Sweet and sensitive.
Tuplin‘s vocality made me immediately think of The National‘s melancholic crooner Matt Berninger with its affectional resonance. Beautiful. Let’s follow him to Love Town,
wherever that might be.
In order to not miss a beat Turn Up The Volume scans the musical
horizon daily (doing it for years now, actually) to stay in touch with
all new things sonically great and shares the results on a weekly
basis.
Check the 10 new rad cuts just
added to this rad 2023 playlist.
The Swedish punk madcaps nail it again with the third single from their upcoming LP,
titled The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons (who?) and out next month, August 11.
Following last year’s triumphant debut album The Overload the British indies return with this 8+ minute dancefloor filler infused with a flabbergasting bass riff, spiced with Smith‘s parlando vocals, schizo guitars and yes, cowbells.
This Michigan-based collective mixes ska, pop and indie with head-spinning effects.
You can’t but go skagaga to their effervescent burst of music like here with a single
from their upcoming debut album, titled Treats that lands on July 25th.
Turn up the trombone.
6. ‘Bloodscreamtorture (Theme From Bathtime)’ by DEAN STACY
Photo by Connie Ann
Bluesy, groovy and electrifying, driven by a magnetic guitar riff and ending with
a vocal climax. An absolute highlight from this Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter’s
new 7-track EPThe Bathtime Tapes.
This German pithy pop-punk act just released their punchy debut album All Change Please. Drift Away is a standout track pushed by bass/drum energy, jangly guitars and
riot grrl vocals.
Melancholic Americana folk the English way. Fourteen Days is a pearl of a song. Gripping, heavy-hearted and forthwith captivating. I’ll feature on his new EP Back In The Day that lands on 28 July.
The Scottish veterans have their album number 12, baptized Nothing Last Forever
on 22 September. Single Foreign Land is vintage TF. Harmonious dream pop for relaxing moments.
This Belgian singer-songwriter is blessed with a mesmerizing that fits
his candlelight musings spot-on. Discover De(e)pends and you’ll hear what
I mean.
His debut album ‘Catharsis‘ arrives in September. More info here.
It’s PART 4 of Turn Up The Volume‘s yearly hot summer playlists.
A mix of new and old tunes. A mix of adrenalin-infused punk/rock
anthems, dance fireworks, and some moony musings to end the
party when the sun comes up.
Last week the post-rap-punk gruppo YARD ACT out of Leeds, performed the title track
of their victorious debut LP on the popular American Tonight TV Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Until early last year, after a couple of singles, nobody ever heard about them (except me, of course). But halfway 2021, their name started to pop up here and there in the British media (the experts on hyping). A few months later they were suddenly the next big thing
of 2022 on multiple music websites/zines/blogs. And now they woke up Amercia up too.
Last January the debut LP The Overload landed and got euphoric reviews. Agreed, it’s a great debut, but after several plays it sounded too familiar with other British bands from the ongoing post-punk rebirth (Ditz, Crows, Life, Shame, Squid etc…) and therefore will not go in into history as one of the best debuts ever.
Anyways, from nowhere to American TV, here’s Yard Act…
Band: YARD ACT Who: Outspoken mavericks from Leeds (UK) led by
sharp-cutting storyteller James Smith Album: THE OVERLOAD Released: 21 January 2022 – purchase here here.
NME says: “Fire up the Rover! The Leeds band’s debut is a wild ride through their Yorkshire upbringing, and the curly characters they picked up along the way. The familiar touchstones
of the post-punk scene’s rigid sound – minimalist grooves, sharp guitars – are all here, but the band thrive when they shake up the magic eight ball… The tunes, however, are secondary to how miraculous the story of Yard Act existing is, really. Having made their debut just 18 months ago, and now due for an upcoming sold-out slate of UK shows, their journey is a reminder that the most rewarding endeavours – in life or art – sometimes arrive later than you expect or had hoped. Good things may come to those who wait patiently, but for those who put the graft in, like Yard Act, it tastes all the sweeter.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.
Turn Up The Volume: If you can make it in Leeds, you can make it everywhere, and
when iconic crooner Elton John says he’s a fan (read all about it here) you know you’re a crocodile rock band on the verge of world domination. Their debut LP makes the press and their by now massive fanbase (#2 on UK’s Album Chart last week) go ballistic.
They rattle and rumble while sharp-cutting wordsmith James Smith spits and sneers, like
a punked-up Mark E Smith, about all the bullshit and about all the bullshitters that mess up our already long messed-up society. It’s only January, but this is without a shadow of a doubt one of the most remarkable 2022 albums.
