How's 2024 so far? Good, yeah? Well, Troy Redfern will almost certainly think so, after triumphing in our first Tracks Of The Week contest of the year. So congratulations to him, and also to Jayler and the Lemon Twigs, for being good but not quite winning.
So here's Troy again, and then it's on with this week's combative shenanigans.
This week's eight contenders follow. Please vote down there ⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇.
The Black Crowes - Wanting And Waiting
Back with the hatchet seemingly buried, after years of in-fighting and separate ventures, the Robinson brothers sound exactly the way fans will hope to find them: very much like they did back in the early 90s, when they broke out as Atlanta’s fired up answer to the Rolling Stones. Re-energized, hand-clapping and riffing out like absolute beasts on the swaggering, swamp-baked Wanting And Waiting (the first single from their first all-new album in fifteen years) it’s almost as if no time had passed. Vintage Crowes, in other words. It’s good to have them back.
Sheer Mag - Moonstruck
Originally written for a disco EP in 2021, Moonstruck has evolved into a starry-eyed, twin-guitar dose of retro pop rock warmth – its innocence pepped up by Tina Halladay’s sweetly biting vocal tones. And yes you can still dance to it, very happily. Think Aja-era Steely Dan fronted by Karen O at a high school disco in the 70s. Like what you hear? Do yourself a favour and check out their next album, Playing Favourites, which comes out via Jack White’s Third Man Records on 1 March.
Zach Person & Kathy Valentine - We Don’t Play
Austin-based singer/guitarist Zach Person teams up with Go-Gos bassist Kathy Valentine on this atmospheric new swirl of lo-fi blues, garage rock and chorus ‘ooh-oohs’ that evoke internal replays of Sympathy For The Devil. The sort of song that’s cool and concise, but also gets your head bobbing and your toes tapping. Nice.
Ashes Of Billy - Feel You Around
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it Stone Temple Pilots reborn in the form of three Danish kids? We’re being facetious of course, but only slightly, on the evidence of Feel You Around. Following a couple of promising first singles sent to the Classic Rock inbox last year, this one’s another remarkably mature swagger-punch of heavy, atmospheric grunge, now with a twist of Porcupine Tree-esque menace. Natural old souls, those chops and deep gravelly vocals suggest (either that or frontman Daniel started smoking really young…).
Chemtrails - Bang Bang
Oddball dancefloor-filler stuff from Manchester, Bang Bang is a hooky, heady marriage of psychedelic pop colours with post-punk fuzz and tongue-in-cheek lyrical sensibilities, its cuteness tempered by a deliciously weird dark side. Sort of like hearing Rosalie Cunningham being fed riot grrrl records, set to a treacly glam rock stomp. Their new album, The Joy of Sects, is out on January 19.
Kris Barras Band - Hourglass
Torquay’s prizefighter-turned-modern hard rocker mixes some commanding left turns (tempo shifts, prog-metal touches, a beautifully moody bridge section, whistling that’s a bit The Good, The Bad And The Ugly-ish) into this latest taste of his Earache debut, The Halo Effect. “It’s a fairly personal song for me, as one of my only regrets in life was living my twenties like life ended at 30,” Kris admits. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to hit life goals in a certain time frame rather than just enjoying the ride. Now, with my career change, from pro-fighter to musician, I have a new lease of life and a completely different outlook on things.”
Lucifer - Maculate Heart
Tuning into the Stockholm nostalgists' smouldering, shitkicking new single is like stepping back in time. Back to some smoke-filled dive in the 70s, where the gear is analogue, black clothes are the law and rock'n'roll is still the coolest fucking thing on the planet – and performed by bands who know it is. The Hellacopters vibes in the riffs are about as 'contemporary' as they get, but it works for them (confusingly, the 'Copters' guitarist Nicke Andersson actually plays drums in Lucifer).
The Black Keys - Beautiful People (Stay High)
Written with longtime collaborators Beck and Dan The Automator, The Black Keys' new single Beautiful People (Stay High) is a particularly joyous affair, with horns that parp, nan-na-naaaa singalong sections, and a groove that's both slinky and sultry. It comes from the duo's upcoming album Ohio Players, presumably named in tribute to the great American funketeers, and presumably a hint that the rest of the album will be as groovy as Beautiful People (Stay High) is. “What we wanted to accomplish with this record was make something that was fun,” says Black Key Patrick Carney. “And something that most bands 20 years into their career don’t make, which is an approachable, fun record that is also cool.”
