We’ve elected this week’s successful candidates in the well-hung parliament of Rock. We hope they won’t let you down.
Biters - Restless Hearts Screw election results and cloudy day blues – crank up this 70s-riddled, power pop-charged dose of rock’n’roll. All performed by Atlanta-based youths who look a bit like The Ramones, or Joan Jett. Happy days!
Riddles - Wizards Of War Restless young scamps from Hastings, rebooting Hawkwind’s anarcho space chug for the scissor-kicking, adolescent biker jacket brigade of today. Did you know that everyone’s moving to Hastings? THIS IS WHY.
Paradise Lost - Beneath Broken Earth You’d have thought they’d have found Paradise by now, but no, the dark lords of Halifax are clearly still on a mission to explore gothic metal’s most nether reaches. This time, their mission takes then Beneath Broken Earth, where their explorations take the form of song so riven with doom we suspect it was recorded at the planet’s molten core.
Queen Kwong - Cold Daggers Discovered by Trent Reznor, Queen Kwong is the altar-ego Carré Callaway, who’s like about 12 years old or something. She’s backed up by Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland, former Marilyn Manson bassist Fred Sablan and AWOLNATION drummer Hayden Scott, so she’s clearly on the path to great things, including appearances at this year’s Leeds and Reading festivals.
Rolling Stones – Bitch (extended version) Hear that horn riff? We reckon Rocket From The Crypt based their entire career on those few short brassy blasts. From the new, expanded edition of the classic Sticky Fingers, this is the band at their most incendiary, like a revolution inside a firestorm caught up in a tornado. They really don’t make ‘em like this any more.
Rolling Stones – Can’t You Hear Me Knocking (alternative version) Woah! It’s another track from Mick and Keef and the boys. It’s not often you hear two variants on such well-known tracks in one single afternoon, and we’d like to pass on out thanks to the gods of rock themselves for this glorious and unexpected bounty.
Elvis Depressedly - Thou Shalt Not Murder A bit of a lo-fi departure from The King, yes. And the themes of despair and death might be a little sobering. Still, the homespun innocence of this folky rock duo is oddly beguiling – perfect for the contemplative soundtrack in the indie film of your life.
Lenny Kravitz - Sex
It’s inevitable that Lenny Kravitz would eventually get round to releasing a song called Sex, for the singer benefits from levels of sex appeal that would put most regular humans into paralysis. The song itself thrusts and grooves in a very suggestive manner, while the video spoofs the famously libidinous Robert Palmer clip for Addicted To Love. Schwing!
