In a week when it was announced that Aerosmith would be returning to the stage, bassist Tom Hamilton clearly had bigger things on his mind: the debut release from his new band, Close Enemies.
It would seem the week went well, for Sound Of A Train (the song in question), soared to victory in our Tracks Of The Week contest, casting asunder Those Damn Crows' No Surrender and Skunk Anansie' An Artist Is An Artist as it did so. So well done to him. And to them.
This week, another eight runners and riders are in the stalls, bucking and whinnying as they prepare for the race to start.
And they're off!
Larkin Poe - Easy Love Pt. 1
Oh hell yeah, this is a good ‘un. Possibly our favourite song on Larkin Poe’s game-raising new record, Bloom, Easy Love Pt. 1 (and yes there’s also a Pt. 2) packs the sort of toe-tapping, southern sun-soaked Americana that evokes the Lovell sisters’ rural roots and their blues rocking years in Nashville. Plus they shot the video in a magnificently kitsch, all-pink abode – it's like stepping into Liberace's holiday house. A total winner on all fronts, in other words.
Split Dogs - Lafayette
If you managed to bottle the sound of a particularly good night out at your favourite rock pub, Lafayette might be the result. A love letter to the northern soul nights of 70s and 80s Wolverhampton (frequented by Harry’s mum and passed on, through music and stories, to her child) and the musical influences of the band’s families in general, it’s a boot-stomping, head-banging, arse-shaking boogie to see you through this last grey stretch of January. Find more boozy yet sharp goodness like this on their album, Here To Destroy, out next month.
Tuk Smith - Little Renegade (ballad version)
Little Renegade is perhaps our favourite track on Tuk’s latest album, Rogue To Redemption, so we were pleased to find that this searing, stripped-back reworking lends an additional tenderness to the original version. "This is the first song I’ve ever done without a single guitar track on it. I used my old 70s upright piano and an analogue synth from the early 80s for this. Then I took some real drums from another recording session and built loops and ended up having a lot of fun with this one. It’s got elements of a 70s piano ballad, an 80s pop banger, with a little more modern production with an orchestral feel."
Ricky Warwick - The Crickets Stayed In Clovis
We don’t know if Ricky and Tuk have met, but it’s not hard to imagine them getting on like a house on fire – maybe jamming some glam-booted, rough-throated Thin Lizzy-style romps like this one, hot off Ricky’s excellent new solo album Blood Ties (out in March). Expect rich twin-lead guitar muscle and meditations on life’s unpredictable course. “Life’s a game of chance,” Ricky says, “sometimes it’s better to play the long game and not be envious of others, as you never know what tomorrow brings.”
Nova Twins - Monsters
Alt rock’s hottest rising duo return with this ribcage-rattling beast of a single. Bassist Georgia South gives Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr a proper run for his money – conjuring pulsating layers of deep, distorted magic with four strings and a mysterious cocktail of pedals – while singer/guitarist Amy Love drives the melody with a fiery voice that oozes rage, sass and sincerity. If Rage Against The Machine and Destiny’s Child had babies, they might have put out something like this.
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Stitches
Opening the case for their brilliantly titled next album, Death Hilarious, Pigs x 7 land somewhere woozily groovy between a smoke-filled stoner gig and a primal scream session on Stitches. Think Monster Magnet meets IDLES, and you’re in the right club. “I’m aware our band sits in a world largely commandeered by bravado, confidence and macho-ism,” frontman Matt Baty says, not inaccurately, “but Stitches is an expression of vulnerability, paradoxical emotions and those so familiar pangs of anxiety I wrestle with while butting heads with societal expectations and personal struggles.”
Dorothy feat. Slash - Tombstone Town
This is the fourth song to emerge from Dorothy's upcoming album The Way (out March 14), and our old friend Slash has clambered on board to add a stinging guitar solo to something that sounds like a hoedown at the world's most metal barn dance, or a heavy metal disco where everyone's dressed in plaid, depending on which angle you're coming from. "Tombstone Town is a sexy rock'n'roll grind featuring Dorothy’s inimitable swagger and great guitar hook," says Slash, adjusting his stetson.
The Doobie Brothers feat. Mavis Staples - Walk This Road
Michael McDonald has had several stints with The Doobie Brothers over the years, but he hasn't been an official member of the lineup for nearly three decades, so his return to the fold in time for the upcoming album Walk This Road (out June 6) will be celebrated by Doobie lovers the world over. Joining them on the title track is the great Mavis Staples, and the results are typically soulful, with horns that tastefully parp and vocals from McDonald and Staples that ooze experience and class. Smooth times indeed.
