Welcome all to the latest edition of Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week, where the old and new faces of rock'n'roll vie for your favour – and, ultimately, your votes. We love to see who triumphs each time, and last week was no exception. Your choices put these guys in the top three, in reverse order:
3. Novatines - Hate Love
2. Asomvel - The Law Is The Law
1. Brass Against - Know Your Enemy
Congratulations to Brass Against! And to Asomvel and Novatines for close-fought second and third places. So who will you all fall for this week? Your vote could make the difference between your favourite song winning or not, so tune in, assess/ponder/brutally judge and vote for the best track at the foot of this page. Right after a victory spin for last week's first prize winners Brass Against. Enjoy...
Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind - Sex Robot
Because nothing says ‘Happy Monday!’ like the promise of a song called Sex Robot – or, more specifically, this deliciously dark, debauched sprawl of punked up, piano-thumping, hooky-as-hell rock’n’roll from Jim Jones and his Righteous Mind. Filth and lightning bottled up in just over three electrified minutes. Take that Monday blues...
Danko Jones – Dance Dance Dance
Sometimes the best things are also the simplest, as reflected in the Canadian rocker’s latest single. The sentiment (Danko likes to watch his lady “dance dance dance”) and video premise (three kickass dancers doing their thing, directed by hotshot Swede Amir Chamdin) are unfussy, and all the better suited to the punchy, contemporary rock guitars and catchy refrain at work. Check out more on his new album, A Rock Supreme, which comes out on April 26.
Starcrawler - She Gets Around
The LA youths have long wowed with their blood-spattered stage shows, give-no-fucks attitude and all-round raw potential. Now they’ve upped their songwriting game too. The melee of haunting intro vocals, suspenseful basslines and fuzzy noise of She Gets Around bursts out into their strongest, most infectious chorus yet. It’s the sound of a band growing up, but not *too* much. Here’s hoping there’s more where that came from...
The New Death Cult - Light Spills Over
‘Wait a sec, they look a bit Ghost-y,’ we half-stuttered on first glance at these ghoulishly masked rockers. It isn’t Ghost, of course – these guys come bearing a more intergalactic message than Tobias Forge and chums (something about the “humanoid inhabitants of the distant alien planet of Netuluna” and some other sci-fi-ish musings) – though the mesh of metal-friendly looks, chunky riffage and 80s-echoing, pop-tastic melody doesn’t set them a million miles away either.
Velvet Volume - I Think I Need You
The look and vocals of this Danish sibling trio say one thing (i.e. DIY alt/punk rock, and singer Noa is a total Marmite artist with the kind of drawly shoutiness that you’ll either love or hate). The beefy, hooky rock guitars and chest-pounding rhythm section say another (i.e. heavy, hooky classic rock). Put together they make a noisy, lip-smacking racket.
Lucid Recess - Cell
Indian hard rockers Lucid Recess merge metallic sensibilities with strong tastes of classic grunge stars like Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. The brooding guitars and heady, hazy chorus in Cell suggest it's working pretty well for them.
Kim Jennett - Let Me Be The One
Ticking every 'rawk' box with a consistency that doesn't let up as the video progresses (banshee howls, snakeskin flares, tattoos, leather, dancing in front of graffitied walls…), Kim Jennett makes like a pouting millennial Steven Tyler, flanked by T-Bone steak guitar chops (only jarred a little by that slightly odd phasey chorus effect).
LASHES - Daydreamer
We'll leave you with something a little softer and sweeter now, courtesy of London-based rootsy revivalists LASHES. Proudly inspired by the classic 70s likes of The Rolling Stones, The Faces and The Band (and they make no secret of it in the warming Daydreamer, with the Stones getting an extra sizeable nod), they'll transport you back to a simpler time – on a porch somewhere sunny and Southern, with a grizzled old boy playing a harmonica in the corner.
