Welcome, rock fans, to Classic Rock’s latest Tracks Of The Week face-off. In last week’s contest former Lionize frontman Nate Bergman fought some stiff competition and claimed first place with his soulful solo track Back To Nashville – a marked shift from his former reggae-rock guise, and a powerful one.
Meanwhile the mighty Blues Pills came a close second (releasing their first new music in four years), with the excellent Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts claiming third place. Congratulations to all of them, and to everyone else featured. It’s a pleasure having so much strong stuff in contention for these eight spaces, not to mention the public-voted top spots.
This week brings eight new tracks and bands from various rock schools of thought, each one vying for your votes. We hope you enjoy them. But first, here’s last week’s winning track, Nate Bergman’s Back To Nashville.
Royal Republic - LazerLove
The Swedish ‘power-disco’ funsters go full-80s on LazerLove, and not in the fizzing turbo-boogie sense that fans might expect. A minor-key, starry-eyed cascade of Def Leppard’s Hysteria with flecks of funky guitar straight out of Michael Jackson’s finer moments, it’s a sumptuous power ballad that bleeds glitter by the gallon – less moshpit, more brooding slow-dance. A first for Royal Republic, and they’ve nailed it.
Wine Lips - Fried IV
Canadian garage punks Wine Lips have written a version of Fried for all four of their records since they formed in 2015. Occupying a manic, buzzy headspace between King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and Bad Nerves, this latest one is a tight, ultra-caffeinated blast of distortion and psychedelic punk rock – dipping into slow stoney territory midway through that gives them a 90s sheen. Frantic, freaky and a lot of fun.
The Treatment - Let’s Wake Up This Town
"We wanted to create an album that pays homage to the golden era of rock'n’roll while infusing our own modern twist," the longstanding, lineup-shifting Cambridge rockers say of their upcoming sixth album, from which this one’s taken. We’re not sure how much of a case there is for the ‘modern twist’ bit, but as a catchy, energetic, gleefully cheesy shot of AC/DC-style boogieing, Let’s Wake up This Town scores highly. Watch out for the full album, Wake Up The Neighbourhood (apparently there’s a theme there…), due out in May.
Dea Matrona - Black Rain
Last year this Irish duo were on shitkicking form as they opened for Chris Shiflett’s rootsy solo shows across the UK. Black Rain finds them in more brooding, atmospheric territory, building from low acoustic guitar into something that rocks with the velvety mystique of Fleetwood Mac and First Aid Kit, with a streak of Led Zeppelin III in the background. Nice.
Marko Hietala - Left On Mars (feat Tarja Turunen)
Meeting in a juicy, hooky space between Nightwish and Led Zeppelin, former NW singer/bassist teams up with symphonic siren (and his former singing partner-in-crime) Tarja on this taste of his solo palate. “A love song to my wife which ends up uniting two old friends,” Hietala says. “Even if the song itself sucked, I would be pleased about the result!”
Jesse Dayton - The Hard Way
The last time we heard Jesse Dayton was on record, and on the road, with fellow bluesy guitar star Samantha Fish. Now the outlaw country singer/guitarist returns as a soloist with the title track from his next album (Dayton’s first solo record since 2018, produced by Shooter Jennings), The Hard Way. A bouncing shot of bluesy, road-worn rock’n’roll, it hinges on melancholy storytelling told in a warm voice, peppered with Dayton’s sweet Telecaster stand and licks.
Kissin’ Dynamite - Raise Your Glass
Falling proudly into the ‘guilty pleasure’ category (and yes we know there’s ‘no such thing as a guilty pleasure’... except stuff like this), Raise Your Glass is a bright, big-hearted toast to the 80s at its happiest, all chugging riffs, Spandex and big hair “Raise Your Glass is a hymn-like tribute to the more than seventeen years spent side by side as friends!” the German melodic rockers say. “And sure, there have been setbacks, but in the end our glasses were always half-full and never half-empty! “
The Lemon Twigs - A Dream Is All I Know
The title track of the New Yorkers’ next album offers just the sort of luscious pop rock we’ve come to expect from them. Building its retro textures (Beach Boys, Beatles, Monkees…) on a foundation of loving, thoughtful tunecraft, it’s an ode to the “impermanence and the dreamlike nature of our day to day lives.” “It was written when I was feeling a strong sense of unreality in my kitchen,” says Brian D'Addario, one half of the Twigs’ core sibling duo. “Unfortunately, ‘Unreality In My Kitchen’ didn’t have much of a ring to it so we had to go with ‘A Dream Is All I Know’ as the title.”
