Another seven days have passed in Tracks Of The Week land and Sheffield blues rockers The Heavy Souls are this week's champions of everything. They triumphed over Nashville ensemble Parker Barrow and hotly-tipped retro-rockers The Band Feel, and we'd like to congratulate them. So we will. And we'll share their song again. Look, here it is.
It's Monday, so we're starting again with eight new songs. They're below. Please vote for your favourite.
Whiskey Myers - Time Bomb
One of the rockingest presences in today’s burgeoning countrified rock sphere, Texan firebrands Whiskey Myers have always had an extra layer of grit in their songs that’s resonated with massive audiences in the States. Now they’ve cooked all that up in Time Bomb – a mammoth rootsy banger with at least as much of a footing in Rolling Stones-esque rock’n’roll as the cowboy-booted steps of their countrymen. It went down an absolute treat in the Classic Rock office, but what do you think?
When Rivers Meet - Never Change
Grace and Aaron Bond get into a slow blues groove on this latest piece of their next album, Addicted To You. Peppered with sensual New Orleans-y inflections, keys, trippy tangents and tasty guitar slides, once again it finds them stretching beyond their blues rock foundations into something richer and more interesting. “Never Change is about staying true to each other in a relationship, even when doubts or challenges arise,” says Grace. “It’s about trusting the love and connection that burns between us, refusing to let outside influences change who we are together.”
AK & The Red Kites - Proverbial Storm
Recently named The Dust Coda’s new frontman, Andrew Knightley strikes ragged notes of Chris Cornell and Richie Kotzen on this driving new rocker from his 'other' band AK & The Red Kites. “It can be taken as a relationship song where you feel you don’t match up to expectations with anyone, in any situation, but you have to remain true to yourself,” Andrew says. “It's also a respectful nod to my past and welcoming what’s to come in the future.”
Halestorm - Darkness Always Wins
A cinematic slow-burner packed with moody details and twists that build with Mastodon-meets-Led Zeppelin intensity, Halestorm’s latest track plants them in new territory, shot through with the melodic sincerity that’s connected them with so many people. “Darkness Always Wins is not a song of hope, nor is it a song of despair,” Lzzy Hale says. “It is reality. History repeating. Evil prevails and the good depart first. But we are not doomed as long as we persist and keep our fires burning. The war may not be won in this lifetime. But our mission is to pass the torch so that those who follow have a light to fight with.”
Laura Jane Grace - Active Trauma
The product of a perspective-shifting residency in Athens, Greece (with space for some quality sight-seeing and road-tripping along the way), LJG’s gnarly, ultra-groovy new single features her wife Paris Campbell Grace on vocals, marrying insistent punk grit with a backdrop of surfy energy and sunshine. Check out the full album, Adventure Club, which comes out in July.
![Laura Jane Grace - Active Trauma [OFFICIAL AUDIO] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vTRMDUyA5tI/maxresdefault.jpg)
Gyasi - Snake City
All dirty glitter, boot-stomping energy and deep, strutting grooves, the West Virginia-turned-Nashville glamster's new single turns straight-ahead foundations into a vibey shot of floor-filling blues rock. Seemingly he's soaked up some good serpentine juju from Alice Cooper, having just filled (late Cooper guitarist) Glen Buxton's shoes on forthcoming album The Revenge Of Alice Cooper. More where this came from on Gyasi's new album, Here Comes The Good Part, which is out now.
Nate Bergman - Wild One
Former Lionize frontman turned soulful heartland solo troubadour, Nate Bergman serves up a beautifully slowed-down rendition of Thin Lizzy’s Wild One. Leaning into the song’s tender core with an intimate quality that smoothly avoids becoming cloying, it’s a great example of the thoughtful covers Nate does so well (check out his brilliant take on Robyn’s Dancing On My Own). Catch him on tour across the UK with Chuck Ragan, already underway and with dates through til Sunday 4th May.
Gordian feat Graham Bonnet - Eyes Wide Open
Gordian were a band of Greek session men who formed in London in 1973. They played a single show – at the Troubadour in West London – and recorded an album, Madeka, that didn't see the light of day until 2016. Now, more than half a century after going their separate ways, Gordian have remade one of the album's highlights: six minutes of celestial prog, with a vocal from former Rainbow man Graham Bonnet plus added all-star extras from Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake, etc), Tony Franklin (The Firm, etc), Tony Carey (Rainbow, etc) and Brian Tichy (Michael Schenker, etc). It's never too late, etc.
