Howdy folks and welcome to Classic Rock’s Tracks Of The Week, where the great and good of rock’n’roll do battle for your good opinion – armed with a scorching new track and a pocketful of dreams...or something… Anyway, here are the bands you voted into your top three last week, in reverse order:
3. Third Lung - Sister Sinner
2. Austin Gold - Another Kind Of Bad
1. Face The Legacy - United As One
Congratulations to Face The Legacy! And to second and third-place winners Austin Gold and Third Lung. Now, turn up your speakers and/or strap on your headphones and pass judgement on this fabulous little lot - not forgetting to vote for your favourite at the foot of this page. But first, a little spin of last week’s winners…
Thunder - Miracle Man
For their next record (as they gear up to their 30th anniversary) Thunder are doing things a little differently, by reimagining select tunes from their catalogue like this one. The hitherto amped up Miracle Man gets a pensive yet urgent, stripped back makeover, all primal bluesy acoustic guitar, gospel backing singers and organ whirls. And if the video’s anything to go by they had a lovely time doing it - all that juggling, face-pulling and general gentle high jinks, the rapscallions...
The Pineapple Thief - Uncovering Your Tracks
The beautifully brooding new single from TPT grows from low resonating notes through acoustic strumming and keys into an assured alt rock statement. Frontman Bruce Soord describes it thusly: “In line with the concept of the album, this song is about addiction - specifically to being connected. Sharing everything you do, no matter how inane.” Smart and tasty.
Wheel - Vultures
Some heavy, hooky progressive metal for you now, complete with layers of fuzzy grunge beef and a video that veers compellingly between witch-hunts present and past (i.e. online burning versus actual burning at a stake). If you enjoy the likes of Tool, Nine Inch Nails and Karnivool, you’ll want to check these guys out. Do it, do it now...
Hercules - Where?
If you thought they were all about black metal thoughts in Norway, this lot are here to prove you wrong - so very wrong. The foursome from Fåvang specialise in boogie-tastic rock’n’roll, as displayed here in this rollocking slice that doesn’t so much flirt with Status Quo-esque qualities as take them upstairs and shag them senseless. Which, in this instance, is totally cool by us.
Le Butcherettes - father/ELOHIM
A short yet sweet hit of melodiously quirky, jerky alt/punk rock from LA’s Le Butcherettes, taken from forthcoming album bi/MENTAL, which is out in February. A personal ode to mental health, described as being “filled with equal parts cerebral poetry, art assault and primal punk cacophony” it promises to be a thought-provoking record.
Snakewater - Girl Like You
Some straight-ahead but classily executed blues rock from Manchester now, courtesy of gnarly-voiced duo Snakewater. The clean guitar juts and struts suggest ample time spent ingesting the best of Stevie Ray Vaughan, while also nodding to more present-day bluesy acolyte Simon McBride. Nice.
Last In Line - Landslide
The meaty new single now from the late Ronnie James Dio’s former compadres/co-collaborators. Following the tragic passing of Jimmy Bain in 2016, Vivian Campbell and Vinny Appice are now the final men standing from that original group that worked on Holy Diver, Last In Line (from which they took their name) and Sacred Heart, but the emotionally charged heaviness that brought them together lives on here.
Girish & The Chronicles - Immigrant Song
The Led Zeppelin classic - monster riffs, ‘aaaaaaaaaahh!’s and much more - gets an energetic, heartfelt facelift by Indian hard rockers GATC. Mixing primal Zeppeliny hoodoo with updated guitar solos (less old-school Page more screaming Satriani), mainman Girish Pradhan and co have done the original proud. Enjoy...
