Neon Dreamland is the new album by young Northern Garage punks TV Death who recorded the album at Blank Studios in Newcastle with Chris McManus producing and mixing the album, apart from Village Mentality that was produced and mixed by Sam Grant. TV Death are Jack Burlison, Robert Owens, Andrew McAskell and Michael Adamson.
The Album opens with Propaganda a track that lays down exactly what TV Death think of modern society and where it's headed, with endless lies and distortions all around them, the only option left is to be in an incandescently raging post punk, apocalyptic blues band, howling at all the madness of the 2020's.
Plastic People isn't about the glam metal band of that name, or the Czech revolutionaries, but more about the soulless, faceless blandness of anyone currently trying to fit into the modern, so-called mainstream and how forgettable they all are. With a jittery post punk wailing tune that is more interesting than those Plastic People will ever be.
The fuzzy guitar intro leads into Bad Thing a dark distressed tale of how they use that bleach, why they might be misunderstood in a Blues Explosion kind of way, he's got the dark urban blues.
Shangri La is seeking paradise through herbal remedies and taking leave of the current mess, going someplace less distorted and evil, but will you end up hopelessly addicted to this wellness cure too, careful what kind of Shangri La you seek or you could end up with a face full of goop.
New World Disorder has figured out that our so-called leaders only want chaos and disorder, so they can pilfer and control everything, this is distended, distraught urban preaching blues power, dancing to the end of humanity, or is it just the end of sanity, in a post truth society.
Face Like Thunder he is just about to blow a gasket, we need to get the hell out the way, this is a less frantic tune, but the sense of the paranoia of our times is never far away. Can you survive the storm or will you also be consumed by anger at the madness of everything going on.
Village Mentality has a huge dollop of organ and wailing guitars to help delve into the madness of having a Village Mentality, with all the prejudices it breeds insidiously these days, by only reading news from one distorted voice, then following them down the rabbit hole of hatred they are hoping to breed.
Neon Dreamland is slow caustic gothic blues rock song, welcoming us to his very own Neon Dreamland a dystopian theme park you may wish you'd never entered, this gets more frantic like And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, this has a brilliant loud quiet dynamic at work.
Lease Of Life opens with a synth sound that could easily come from Nico's The End album, before it opens out into an exploration of why you would follow the expected route through life. Whatever you do find your own path, this gets more urgent in a Boss Hog style
Crank Bugs has a disturbed Cramps style jittery tune for all the itching and addiction you feel, the evil Crank Bugs making you go searching for more of that evil Crank, your so hooked you think you have hordes of Bugs running around just beneath your skin.
Up The Hill From Paradise a place you can only reach by going backwards as David Bowie taught us, they have seen what some people think of as Paradise and they want none of it, the dashboard lights have stopped flashing, everything seems to be disappearing, certainly anything good, how to get back to sanity.
The album closes with Hallowed Ground that is slow enough that it could be a Violent Femmes cover, but isn't, the first part with just one guitar and vocals is enticing, drawing you in to why you need sanctuary on that Hallowed Ground, before it explodes with rage at the stupidity of nationalism, when it is not directed at making the world a better place for everybody and instead is like some exclusive club for all the most awful idiots you can name.
Find out more at https://tvdeath1.bandcamp.com/album/neon-dreamland???https://www.facebook.com/TVDeathOfficial https://linktr.ee/TV_Death
