Sunlust was birthed in early 2018 in Toronto, Canada by Stephanie Woulfe (guitar and vocals), Dan Wiktor (drums) and Stefano Signorile (bass). Stephanie moved to Toronto from her small hometown in rural Ontario in 2017 looking to pursue music and find like-minded band mates to play her songs. In a short couple of months, a Kijiji classified ad lead to drummer Dan who was excited to join a thriving Toronto rock scene. After meeting and jamming, Dan recruited friend Stefano Signorile to play bass and the trio formed Sunlust.
Drawing from a variety of influences, including grunge, garage, punk, classic rock, and alternative, the trio began their musical journey playing live shows extensively throughout the city. Sunlust has had the pleasure of playing live with notable bands Ready the Prince, Zig Mentality, Frankie the Pig, Joe Cool, and Barry Lyndon to name a few.
With dozens of shows behind them, Sunlust began recording what was planned to be their 5-track debut EP in December 2019 with the help of engineer, mixer, and producer Lorne Hounsell. Lorne is best known for his work with Fucked Up, Cuff the Duke, Bedouin Soundclash, amongst other notable Canadian artists. As the EP progressed and the 2020 pandemic slowed down the live music scene, the band began recording an additional 5 songs with Dan’s brother and the band’s good friend Jack Wiktor at Cadence House in Toronto.
In early 2021, all 10 tracks were completed and compiled to make the LP ‘Geek Confessions’, with Side A being the songs done with Lorne Hounsell and side B being the 2nd session with Jack Wiktor.
LINKS:
https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/sunlust/1530877003
https://music.amazon.ca/artists/B08HNFJRLS/sunlust
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4WMqN2pDXq83U4OUc0IlQO
https://sunlustband.wixsite.com/website
https://www.facebook.com/sunlust.band
https://www.instagram.com/sunlust.band
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The Room in the Wood – Mars (Won’t Save Us)
Band members Paul Cavanagh and Dave Jackson are once again working together after a huge gap since their post-punk band The Room split back in 1985. After reuniting, this past year has seen them write over 30 new songs.
Featuring contributions by drummer Colin George Lamont (Mark Lanegan, Dave Gahan), this album was recorded by Steve Powell (Michael Head & the Red Elastic Band) at his Liverpool-based Ark Studio and mastered by Pete Maher (Barry Adamson, The Alarm).
“‘Every Lie’ is a bluesy, countrified stomper bemoaning the rise of the populist right, and inspired by the late great Johnny Cash – this is a response to Trump and Brexit. ‘Get Clear’ a Spanish guitar-tinged ballad extolling the virtues of escaping cult thinking. It follow-ups our song ‘Magical Thinking’, but is sung to a friend escaping some dogmatic cult,” says Dave Jackson.
“Time Machine’ is another vague sci-fi rumination, wistfully reflecting on the passage of time filtered through the vision of HG Wells. We thought that ‘Mars’ and ‘Time Machine’ gave the EP a science fiction edge and Mark Jordan’s video reflects that,” says Paul Cavanaugh.
Dave Jackson has been writing and recording since his teens – with The Room, 051, Benny Profane, Dust, Dead Cowboys, as Dave Jackson & The Cathedral Mountaineers, and also with former Shack guitarist John Head. He has recorded and released 10 albums with these various incarnations, notched up 7 John Peel sessions with The Room and Benny Profane, and has also appeared on the Whistle Test, Janice Long and Saturday Live.
Jackson has also toured the UK, Europe, and the USA extensively with The Fall, The Violent Femmes, Aztec Camera, The Lemonheads and The Wedding Present. He currently teaches creative writing at Liverpool John Moores University and has developed his novel ‘Violet City’ as a low-budget fantasy feature film.
Apart from The Room, Paul Cavanagh has performed as a solo instrumentalist as Cabin in the Woods and as one of Mike Badger’s Shady Trio. He worked with The Room drummer Alan Wills at Deltasonic Records with The Coral and The Zutons. Paul has also recorded 4 John Peel sessions and released albums with Top, It’s Immaterial, Moongoose, as well as critically acclaimed singles with Gloss. He also played guitar for Chinese Religion, The Balcony, and Ludus.
A Turntable Friend Records is an independent record label. currently in its second life. Based in Germany with distribution through SRD (Southern Record Distributors) and Rough Trade, their mission is to keep vinyl alive while casting light on sonic gems of yesteryear and today. 1990s peers of Sarah Records and Slumberland Records, ATF Records has always had a roster as diverse as Secret Shine, The Wolfhounds, Boyracer (with Even As We Speak), The Claim, The Ropers, the Hellfire Sermons, Lorelei, Bradford, Easy and Dose.
As of November 23, The Mars EP will be available across music stores and streaming platforms such as Spotify. It can already be pre-ordered via Bandcamp.
“Candid and catchy.. between Wall of Voodoo’s Stan Ridgway, The Fall and more folk-pop territory with The Doors also a likely deeper influence”
– Big Takeover Magazine“Brilliant offering, loaded with optimism and wit. This lush and highly memorable music calls to mind other local bands like The Railway Children and Echo & The Bunnymen… gives every indication of a band that is going places”
– Louder Than War“With delta blues riffs and a style that burrows deep into the subconsciousness like Iggy’s ‘Passenger’, it’s an insidious cut”
– God is in the TV“The Room in the Wood play their new set out of their sonic window, and the result is not only rich and diverse, but also significant”
– The Record StacheLINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/theroominthewood
https://twitter.com/davejacksonroom
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi7t-iOS-5UXW26DdPnFRJQ/videos
https://soundcloud.com/theroominthewood
https://theroominthewood.bandcamp.com
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/the-room-in-the-wood/1376319762
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6NAEwzJ6Ygbnx2Bw1rSjTz?si=BEK-hnFYRNeT00Zmquq07A -
The KillerHertz – Innocent Sinners
The Killerhertz has officially dropped their new EP called ‘Innocent Sinners’. Packed with that ‘purrfect’ smooth and thick set of guitar tones most guitarists spend their whole lives seeking, and combine that with valid and thought out songwriting and hook mentoring, and you have The Killerhertz.
Every song is laid out like a well-planned attack. And each band member is solidly in step with each other as the songs vary from moods and manners yet remain true to the original vision capped off with the well-fitting vocals of Thomas Trold.
ABOUT THE KILLERHERTZ
The KillerHertz is a Danish Hard rock band from a small town near Copenhagen called Kastrup. The band was formed in early 2011 by childhood friends Thomas Trold (vocals/guitar) and Kent KillerHertz (drums). Together with Jonas Roxx (lead guitar) and Jakob Nielsen (bass), their harmonious guitars, tight beats, and catchy choruses create a melodious style.
The lyrics are based on personal experiences and express the multifaceted aspects of life, addressing issues such as crisis and broken relationships, which most people can relate to. Their main inspiration stem from the 80s’ and 90s’ heavy metal scene, such as Metallica and Megadeth, combined with a more modern rock approach and a touch from the Danish rock-scene.
In 2014, the band released its first full-length studio album “A Killer Anthem”. The album was recorded at Earplug Studio, and later mixed and mastered by legendary Metallica producer Flemming Rasmussen. This created the sound The KillerHertz was searching for. A sound that brings the audience back to the glorious days of the 90s.
The band now had a more powerful product with a broad variety of tracks differing both thematically and musically. Fans and critics received the album with great response and many fine reviews, and it certainly deserves a spot at the rock-scene of Copenhagen.
In 2017, The KillerHertz is due to release their long-awaited second album “A mirror’s portrait”, which will include 10 solid songs, again recorded in Earplug Studio and once again mixed and mastered by Flemming Rasmussen. The album is set to be released this Autumn, followed by plenty of concerts.
SOURCE: Official Bio
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/thekillerhertzband
https://www.facebook.com/NoiseGateRecordsDK -
Tulipomania – Off the Map
Philadelphia-based Tulipomania is releasing their new maxi-single ‘Off the Map’, together with the remix of ‘On the Outside’ by London-based electronic producer Spinello. This three-track offering is being released via Sursumcorda Recordings just 10 months after their latest EP, which saw the band offer the original version of ‘On The Outside’, along with the Seahawks remix of ‘Don’t Be So Sure’.
On ‘Off the Map’, band members Tom Murray (lead vocals, bass, drums) and Cheryl Gelover (synthesizer, background vocals) were joined on guitar and glockenspiel) by Mitch Smith, who also contributed to the band’s eponymous first album. Recorded and mastered by Richard Hartline, the final mix was produced by Mark Plati, famed for his work with such artists as The Cure, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Philip Glass crafted the final mix, in addition to producing, recording, mixing or performing on most of Bowie’s musical output from 1996 to 2003.
To date, Tulipomania has released four albums, as well as numerous singles. Their music is built on conflict and contrast, internal battles between hazy dream-pop and angular indie, between fractious and shattered vocals and muscular beats, swirling psychedelia and sonorous, drifting keyboard washes, between sinister atmospherics and raw guitars.
Tulipomania’s music has variously been referred to as ‘cult synth punks’, ‘glam-leaning’, ‘art-rock’ and ‘muscular chamber pop’, while many reviewers are quick to reference the affinity with early 4AD Records’ output, an association that is underlined by the fact that the duo have utilized legendary 4AD graphic designer Vaughan Oliver for album packaging.
‘Off The Map’ is a trance-like dark moody affair with bluesy elements, with Murray’s smoky deep tenor sparingly backed by Gelover’s vocals. ‘On the Outside (Spinello Remix)’ is a more upbeat offering and is dramatic, dark and dubby. It was created by Spinello (a.k.a. Shane Woolman), a London-based producer and remixer, who also hosts shows on NTS Radio, Resonance FM and New New World, in addition to working at The Wire magazine and DJing as part of The Wire Soundsystem.
A rather art-conscious duo, Tulipomania round out their already notable collection of notable videos by presenting not one, but two, new animated music videos to accompany this release. The animation was created by band members Cheryl Gelover and Tom Murray. This resolute juncture between music and visual art has always made Tulipomania videos stand out among their peers.
The collage-animation process for the ‘Off The Map’ video was quite intensive, with Murray and Gelover alternating fragmented self-portraits with imagery they pieced together, frame by frame, from thousands of individual sheets of paper. These fragmented self-portraits alternate with imagery torn and pieced together, matching the contradictory mood of the lyrics. The result is a stunning visual that reinforces the contradictory nature of the song’s lyrics.
Similarly, the video for ‘On the Outside (Spinello Remix)’ features vintage objects animated frame by frame as torn paper and tape collages on sheets of black paper. Loaded with a quaint naiveté, this animation was inspired by the inclusion of a space-age era broadcast layered into the Spinello Remix.
This video for ‘Off the Map’ has been chosen as an Official Selection at the BAFTA qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival in York, UK. Described as “artistic and inventive” and “gorgeous”, the music videos created by Tulipomania have been featured in many other film festivals worldwide, including the London Short Film Festival (England), Leeds International Film Festival (England), Aesthetica Short Film Festival (York, England), Encounters (Bristol, England), Zubroffka (Poland), StopTrik (Croatia, Poland), Brooklyn Film Festival (USA), and Animation Block Party (USA).
The ‘Off the Map’ maxi-single is being made available across the main online stores and streaming platforms, and can also be ordered from Tulipomania’s Bandcamp.
LINKS:
http://tulipomania.com
https://twitter.com/tulipomania.com
https://tulipomania.bandcamp.com