If there's one thing you can say with any certainty about Alter Bridge, it's that their fans are fully engaged in their support for the band. So when we included Silver Tongue in last week's Tracks Of The Week hoedown, it was no surprise to see the troops mobilise on social media, gifting the band a convincing, well-deserved victory.
Trailing in second and third places were Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado's Fire Inside, and Monster Truck's Get My Things And Go, but they're all winners in our book. Even the losers.
This week? It's more musical mayhem, as eight contenders line up for a week of sonic rough and tumble. Don't forget to vote.
Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown - Ain’t None Watered Down
This first taste of the Shakedown’s new album is a rollin’, rootsy co-write between Tyler and wife Rebecca Lovell (she of Larkin Poe fame). As Tyler explains, it set the tone for what was to come – i.e. a return to their bluesy roots. “When Caleb, Graham, and I started talking about what we wanted to do next, we kept kicking around the idea of getting back to our initial roots as a band,” he says. “So much of that was steeped in low down blues and rock and roll. One morning I was kicking around a little song idea with my wife and Ain’t None Watered Down was born. Everything fell into place so naturally.”
Bourbon House - Resonate
Old-school and proud, Wisconsin’s Bourbon House come bearing the smoky heat and buzz of their namesake, a shedload of honkytonk keys and a flash of showy guitar soloing – and it’s all packed into this rollicking new single. "We're inspired by so many of the rock music pioneers from the 60s and 70s,” says singer Lacey Crowe, “we wanted to pay our respects by creating a track that isn't just influenced by them but is a very obvious nod to them. What those decades of rock bands have accomplished with their music is timeless and still resonates today."
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Soul Sweet Song
A lush, loving tribute to Tedeschi Trucks keyboardist Kofi Burbridge (who died in 2019, the day the band’s gorgeous Signs album was released), Soul Sweet Song encapsulates the sort of light yet rich, moody textures and liquid sunshine that this bluesy rock n’ soul collective do well. Taken from the final instalment of their narrative four-album epic I Am The Moon (inspired by the same old Arabian Romeo & Juliet-style story that inspired Derek And The Dominos' Layla), it’s a beautiful Allmans-y gateway into the TTB universe.
Primus - Follow The Fool
Take a walk on the weird side with Les Claypool and his band of eccentric virtuosos, as they bring you this oddly addictive piece of far-out rock freakery – fresh from the new EP Conspiranoid, which is available now. Imagine ZZ Top’s La Grange hook, with extra bounce, pushed through some kind of screwed up Alice In Wonderland rabbit hole, and you’re in the right ballpark.
Avantasia feat Floor Jansen - Misplaced Among The Angels
All the symphonic feels. All the mahoosive top notes. A guitar solo you can sing back. Piano that Messrs Mercury and Steinman would approve of. Synths for days. You want a power ballad? Oh we’ll give you a power ballad – a planet-sized affair, with Nightwish’s Floor Jansen singing for her life alongside mainman Tobias Sammet. Extracted from A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society, which comes out on October 21.
Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts - Ballad Of A Misspent Youth
A couple of years ago it all looked rosey in Tuk Smith's garden. The former Biters frontman was back with a new band, The Restless Hearts, there was an album on the way, and they'd been announced as the opening act on the Stadium Tour. One pandemic later? The album had been shelved and the tour kicked off without them. But there's hope. New single Ballad Of A Misspent Youth suggests they'd have been right at home in those stadiums – the riff is straight out the Keith Richards playbook – and a debut album proper is scheduled for later in the year. It's good to have him back.
Earth Tongue - Miraculous Death
A few years ago LA quintet Here Lies Man successfully answered the question, "What would Black Sabbath and Fela Kuti soud like if you put them together?", and now New Zealand's very own Earth Tongue have done the same with Sabbath and Stereolab. New single Miraculous Death features a fuzz-monster of a riff from guitarist Gussie Larkin, but her voice floats above it all like a some sort of celestial creature who's accidentally found herself trapped on the dark side. Like a Hammer House film set to music, the divine mixed with sweet damnation.
Grace McKagan feat. Boots Electric - K-Town
Grace McKagan wrote K-Town with Eagles Of Death Metal frontman Jess Hughes (he's the "Boots Electric" in the equation) during lockdown, and it might just be the most fun song to come out of any pandemic. It's kinda bubblegum but also kinda filthy, like Toni Basil's Mickey might be were it customised with a fuel-injection system and a go-faster stripes. There's squealed vocals, daft lyrics, crazy sound effects, and a bassline that's greasier than a team of mechanics after a 12-hour shift. The video also stars another McKagan, Grace's sister Mae.
