Last week fans of The Zac Schulze Gang unleashed a torrent of voting so powerful that the rest of the field were completely engulfed, leading to an inevitable and eventual triumph in our Tracks Of The Week contest. So congratulations to them, and to Luke Spiller and Sparks, who didn't stand a chance, really.
Here's Zac again. And then it's full steam ahead with this week's battle.
Don't forget to vote for your new favourite below, via the handy form at the foot of the page.
Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown - Bloodshot Baby
Fresh from co-producing his wife’s band’s new album (Larkin Poe’s excellent Bloom) and gearing up for more Shakedown activity, Tyler Bryant and his merry men hit an utterly joyful home-run with this beefed up take on 50s rock’n’roll – like Aerosmith ripping through Lucille. Now who wouldn’t enjoy that? Nothing faintly new, but they make it sound exciting. “Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee…” Tyler says, of the song’s inspirations. “Those guys sounded like they were having the most fun, and we wanted in. We aren’t tryin’ to reinvent the wheel, but we figured we’d at least give it a good spin!”
The Rattlebacks - How Calm The Silence
A small band with big sonic ambitions, The Rattlebacks turned the whole CR magazine team’s heads with this commanding single (from debut album Sidewinder) that’s part American college rock, part GN’R and full of cool little touches – pace and tone shifts, interesting guitar solo, blissed-out strains, an absolute beast of a riff… Too bad they released it with such a gratingly boneheaded music video, which won't do them any favours. Do yourself a favour, then, and listen without watching, and give the song the platform in your brain it deserves.
Joanne Shaw Taylor - Hell Of A Good Time
The good times keep rolling with the Black Country-turned-Nashville guitar star with the Bonnie Raitt purr. Joanne Shaw Taylor’s long been billed as a big fish in the blues rock world (emphasis on the 'blues' part), which she absolutely is. On Hell Of A Good Time, though, she just rocks. Grooving and riffing with a rich, classic swing and a warmly rootsy kick, it’s live-in-the-moment stuff that showcases her sizeable vocal and guitar chops in spadefuls.
Creeping Jean - Spice Rack
Wasting zero time following last year’s first-rate Business Is Dead record (and having picked up a few more fans on the road with Rival Sons last year) Brighton rock’n’roll beatniks Creeping Jean hit a White Stripes-y analogue tone on this fuzzy, psychedelic headbanger. Sumptuous yet cool, and videoed here in their vintage clothing store, Mammoth, in Brighton’s North Laine bazaar. Catch them doing their thing on tour across the UK in April.
Black Spiders - Never Enough
According to their press release Pete Spiby and his fellow eight-legged sons of the north “tip their beanie hats” to the Beastie Boys’s iconic So What’cha Want video (but, like, in the woods somewhere in England) in this latest single. The beanie hats are pretty much where those Beasties comparisons end, but no matter because Never Enough finds the Spiders rocking, rolling and raging in the way they do so well. “Whatever you do, shit happens,” says Spiby. “Luckily being cursed we expect it, so we’re ready for it!” All together now: ‘FUCK! YOU! BLACK! SPIDERRRRRS!’
Sweet - Circus
A new video if not a new song (Sweet have been playing it live since 2023's Full Circle tour, and it's the opening track on last year's album of the same name), but Circus is still a minor miracle to behold, not least because it sounds so feisty. More than half a century on from their glam heyday, the lyrics find Paul Manzi angrily pleading, "Life is a circus surrounded by clowns / Life is a circus let's tear the big top down" with all the righteous fury of youth. Rock, and indeed, roll.
The Dead Daisies - Love That'll Never Be
Sometimes it's hard to keep up with all the comings and goings of the Dead Daisies, who change lineups with the bewildering regularity of a sports franchise, but they inevitably get things right on the field of play and Love That'll Never Be is no exception. The words "power" and "ballad" spring to mind, with the epic sweep of the arrangement allowing John Corabi's vocals to truly soar. "[It's] a bluesy 70’s Rock ballad reminiscent of The Allman Brothers," advises Corabi, "about a girl who thought the grass was greener until she realises that what she wanted…. she already had! Now, it’s too late to get it back.”
Samantha Fish - Sweet Southern Sounds
The title Sweet Southern Sounds is pretty apt here, as Samatha Fish drops a blues that conjures up a sultry New Orleans vibe. The first single to emerge from Fish's new album Paper Doll, which will arrive in April, it starts in a relaxed mood before the tempo and urgency pick up at the climax. “It’s an anthem about being on the road and feeling guilty about not prioritizing the people in your life,” says Fish. “It’s hard to find that balance between taking care of your relationships and dedicating yourself to your music, and there’s definitely a tinge of heartache to that song.”
