We love old music here (obviously we do) but there’s something uniquely exciting about hearing brand new tunes that make us smile (or cry, or punch the air, depending on the track of course). We hope you enjoy listening to this selection of quality cuts as much as we did listening to and choosing them. Last week the three you liked best were these:
3. Megadeth – Lying In State
2. Judas Priest – Firepower
1. FM – Make The Best Of What You’ve Got
Well done to those guys; top tracks from three veterans of their respective fields. Have a listen to first prize winners FM then get stuck into this week’s list – and don’t forget to vote for your favourite. Happy weekend all!
Black Stone Cherry – Burnin’
Hell and, indeed, yeah – Kentucky’s finest are back with that bourbon-laced, T-Bone steak hard rock they serve up so well. Packed with chugging mammoth-sized guitar chops and priceless lyrical pearls like “my senorita, I know how to treat her”, it’s taken from their upcoming new album, Family Tree, which hits shelves in May.
Monster Magnet – Mindfucker
The Space Lord (aka Dave Wyndorf and his band of merry men, who briefly went under the name ‘Triple Bad Acid’) cometh, and be bringeth riffs most mighty and robustly stoned hoodoo aplenty. Psychedelic but gnarly, if anything’s going to be fucking with your mind this weekend you could do an awful lot worse than the colossal fuzz of Monster Magnet.
The Temperance Movement – Built-In Forgetter
Next up we’ve got one of the more upbeat moments on TTM’s upcoming third album A Deeper Cut. As a taste of their first recording with the altered line-up (guitarist Matt White and drummer Simon Lea replacing founding members Luke Potashnik and Damon Wilson), it harks back to the fresh-faced classic rock of their debut, in contrast with the softer moments and piano touches that filter across the rest of the record.
A Perfect Circle – Talk Talk
The cat’s out of the bag; Maynard, Billy and co (perhaps the ultimate alternative supergroup, whose collective CV includes Tool, Smashing Pumpkins, Eagles Of Death Metal and Ashes Divide) definitely have a new album, the wonderfully named Eat The Elephant, out in April. We recommend whetting your appetite with this deftly pensive hybrid of progressive metal and soaring alt rock.
Black Foxxes – Manic In Me
The new single from the Devon-based trio marries bright-eyed, Biffy Clyro-esque catchiness with tender melancholia – and a beautifully bleak setting in the accompanying video. A sad but ultimately cathartic boost to combat the blues.
Blacktop Mojo – Underneath
These guys do amped up hard rock oomph very well, as seen on such no-bullshit tunes as Burn The Ships. But underneath (see what we did?!) there’s much contemplative sensitivity, as this tender acoustic ballad proves. On a similar note they also do rather a good unplugged In The Air Tonight, FYI.
Sloan – The Day Will Be Mine
Now for some youthful optimism and bittersweetly harmonised pop rock from 90s’ Nova Scotia indie troupe Sloan. A stirring anthem for the young (or young at heart) and hopeful, it had us grinning away like happy fools within seconds.
Manic Street Preachers – International Blue
How about a really pretty acoustic ballad to finish? Go on then, we’ll have that. Even in its quietly picked, intimate form, it’s amazing how the melody still shines through as inimitably Manics-y. Lovely stuff.
