This week on Pump Up The Jam: Fischerspooner, The Birth Defects, Holy Motors, Priest, and JB Dunckel.
Way back in the early days of this millennium, a duo known as Fischerspooner was getting a lot of attention for being part of a new sound known as “electroclash.” That moniker came and went, but Fischerspooner stuck around and released a couple more albums during the decade.
Their last album came out almost a decade ago, so fans will be delighted to know their new album, Sir, will be released February 16 on Ultra Records. Produced by Michael Stipe and Boots, Sir has already produced two singles, “Have Fun Tonight” and “Togetherness,” the latter featuring the vocals of Deadlift’s Caroline Polachek. While the former’s sleazy appeal is heightened by its Cruising-inspired video, the latter is a straight-up sex ballad.
For more on Casey Spooner’s perspective of the upcoming album, check out this interview on W Magazine.
As if Ty Segall wasn’t already accomplished enough, one of his projects as a producer is set to go live later this month. The raw and aggressive punk/metal band The Birth Defects have released “YOLF,” the first single from their debut album Everything Is Fine, will be released on January 26 from Ghost Ramp. It’s one seriously savage jam.
If there were going to be a fourth season of Twin Peaks this year, I feel certain that Estonian band Holy Motors would make an appearance. “Honeymooning” is a dreamy, bittersweet track that makes excellent use of the band’s three guitarists and singer Eliann Tulve’s velvet crooning. Produced by Carson Cox of the woefully underrated Merchandise, Holy Motors’ debut album, Slow Sundown, will be available on February 9 from Wharf Cat Records.
Read an interview with the band on Noisey and learn about what happens when you play too many minor E chords.
There was a lot of controversy over the last two years regarding the Swedish pop metal band Ghost and some allegedly shady contract dealings between the group’s front man Papa Emeritus III (Tobias Forge) and various Nameless Ghouls.
Now some of the Ghouls have been in the news again, this time in connection with Swedish band Priest, whose New Flesh album hit shelves late last year from Lovely Records (part of the Almost Religious label in Sweden). Produced by Alpha and featuring a performance from Airghoul, Priest’s music is nothing like Ghost, sounding more akin to early darkwave bands like Ultravox, Visage, or Depeche Mode. Check out “Vaudeville” and “The Cross.” You can order the album here.
Videogram, the Swedish synthwave composer whose “Test Subject 011” was featured on the “It Came From Rue Morgue” compilation last year, has a new vinyl 7” out later this month. It includes all four of the songs that were released on the Test Subject 011 digital EP in September 2017. All four songs are inspired by Stranger Things and will be available from Videogram’s label SelectaVision.
You can order the EP from Videogram’s Bandcamp or check this list of stores to see where Videogram albums are available for purchase.
One half the dreamy French synthpop duo Air, JB Dunckel has a new album out in March called H+ and the first single, “Hold On,” has a cool futuristic video directed by Akatre. According to Dunckel, H+ “means Human+” and is “the symbol of trans-humanity.” The album is, in his words, “the soundtrack of a new positive way of life.”
For this week’s #FlashbackFriday, let’s check out Air’s stunning song and video from their 2004 album Talkie Walkie, “Surfing on a Rocket.”
