Last week’s winners were Hellbound Hearts followed by Stone Sour in second place and Bad Company in third. This week we’ve got the likes of Halestorm, The Magpie Salute and Inglorious doing battle for the title of Track Of The Week, but who deserves to win? Listen in, then vote for your favourite at the foot of this page.
For now, here’s last week’s winner Hellbound Hearts:
The Magpie Salute – Omission
Ooooh that riffage is lush. The younger Robinson brother/ex Black Crowes man has struck gold with the Magpie Salute, and their proverbial star continues to grow with this bluesy rock’n’roll belter. Fuelled by rugged, hearty guitars, and stellar vocals from rock n’ soul wonderman John Hogg, it’s all good kinds of heavy.
Halestorm – Dear Daughter
Lzzy Hale addresses young girls everywhere with this super-sweet ballad from Into The Wild Life – now complete with new video, packed with slow, moody shots and go-get-’em messages. Heartstring-tugging, and on just the right side of schmaltzy, it’s Halestorm at their poppiest but no less powerful for it.
Don Broco – Pretty
There’s nothing ‘pretty’ about this new one from Don Broco – the most biting, badass rock outfit to come out of Bedford since…well, ever, pretty much. Blood, horror and DIY face transplants come together in one brilliantly macabre wedding scene, teamed with brutal, hooky hard rock. Ace stuff.
Inglorious – Black Magic
More gloriously (or should that be ‘ingloriously’??!! … I’ll leave now…) robust, lung-busting classic rockage from Nathan James and his band of merry men; harking back to the heydays of Whitesnake, Purple, Zeppelin etcetera etcetera. Complete with chorus the size of Brazil. We’ll take it.
Blacktop Mojo – Where The Wind Blows
Straight in, no messing around, this juicy T-Bone steak cut from Blacktop Mojo suggests they may have the tools to become America’s Next Big Hard Rock Thing; in manner of Black Stone Cherry, Alter Bridge and the like.
Suck The Honey – Bite Yr Tongue
This was a fantastically punchy little surprise when it cropped up on our radar this week. Taken from Suck The Honey’s debut album All Having Failed, it’s a deliciously gnarly mish-mash of swaggering guitar, avant-rock fuzziness and catchy chorus. It tails off a little towards the end, but it’s still a cracking track – bursting with promise.
Paceshifters – Stranger
Dutch trio make some excellent grungy rock noise on Stranger (an ode to guitarist/vocalist Seb’s ex-girlfriend). Heavy, shouty and soaring in all the right places, the overall effect is both stirring and fist-pumping.
Justin Johnson – RumbleStrippin’
Justin Johnson has good hippie hair and does insane, rootsy things with cigar box guitars (and many other guitars). He was almost named Robert Johnson, until his parents changed their minds at the last minute (NOTHING to do with the blues legend, apparently…). Part old-school bluegrass, part shit-kicking roots rock, RumbleStrippin’ is a great introduction to Justin and his countrified world.
