In a world of fake news, you can only rely on us to bring you the very best in new rock music every week, in a bi-partisan celebration all things loud and pure and soulful and true.
This week is no different. It's all win, all the way. But first, here's last week's highest scoring entrants, in reverse order.
3. Testarossa - Rock-N-Roll
2. Kris Barras Band - What You Get
1. Lionize - Heavy On My Mind
So congratulations to Lionize, who swept all before them – scoring enough votes to swing a state – and here's a reminder of the winning entry before we crack on with this week's candidates.
The Cadillac Three - All The Makin's Of A Saturday Night
Shit's about to get sassy y'all, with this short n' sweet new one from TC3's forthcoming album – to be featured on ABC and ESPN's College Football broadcasts throughout the season. Hot on the good-time heels of Crackin' Cold Ones With The Boys (and not exactly straying far in terms of subject matter) it wears its classic and contemporary Nashville-fried roots on its sleeve, and will no doubt go down famously with weekend crowds on both sides of the Atlantic.
Brittany Howard - Stay High
The Alabama Shakes singer mixes the lush, hairs-standing-up-on-end tone of Al Green with her own unique rock n' soul charisma in this gorgeous new tune. Oh, and it's a live session too. Like what you hear? Check out more on her solo debut, Jaime, which is due for release on September 20.
The Hu - The Great Chinggis Khaan
Everyone's favourite Mongolians release their third video, and the quality is not slipping. The song doesn't so much reinforce the band's sound – those galloping rhythms, that clever mangle of Central Asian music – as remind you once again just how improbably exciting they are. It's glorious. What's more, the footage was shot in Burkhan Khalduun, the birthplace of Chinggis Khaanin, in temperatures that dropped to minus thirty degrees centigrade. And that's proper hard.
The Dust Coda - Breakdown
We're not even going to bother describe this one, apart from to say that The Dust Coda are clearly going from strength to strength. We'll just let the band tell you what it's about.
"The song is a commentary about the desperation for fame in the industry and in popular culture in general and the void in personality of performers that it cultivates," they say. "The business these days is full of puppets, hacks and wannabies all lining up like cattle for the great break that comes in the way of so called talent contests that have nothing to do with talent or artistry.
"We didn’t grow up wondering what supermarket Chris Cornell, Trent Reznor or Axl went to. We imagined them hanging upside down in dens of inequity surrounded by crazy vampire groupies. That’s a much better image and far more interesting, even if it’s a load of bollocks”. Thanks, guys.
Sturgill Simpson - Sing Along
In a world as traditionally risk averse as "country" music, Sturgill Simpson is someone to celebrate. Dispensing with anything resembling the usual Nashville sheen, Sing Along has more in common with The Black Keys that it does with most contemporary country, with plenty of R&B bluster backed by electronic rhythms and keyboards that scrape and squelch and do all sorts of things that probably horrify the good folks at the Grand Ole Opry.
Alter Bridge - Take The Crown
Alter Bridge seem to produce slick, smart rock music so effortlessly these days, and Take The Crown is no exception. That riff thunders. The chorus soars. And you can almost sense gig promotors all over the globe figuring out the next venue up from the one they played last time.
Sonny Jim - No Shame
Often the best riffs are the simplest, as the thumping 'nuh-nuh-nuh!' opening notes here prove. The Welsh tunesmiths mean business on this hard, politically aware new single; powerfully accented by singer Jay Donagh's brilliantly brazen roar. A punchy, slick dose of contemporary rock that manages to be sweet and nicely ragey.
Airbourne - Boneshaker
There's something reassuring about a world in which Airbourne are still in the ascendancy, where a wall of Marshalls and the consumption of larger are still celebrated. Boneshaker doesn't really offer anything new, but that's part of its appeal, turning cliche upon cliche into a masterful, mindless, monstrous mash of high-voltage Australian boogie. It just rocks.
