The Rock Hall Of Fame announced this year's nominees last week, and you know what? We couldn't believe The Enid aren't up for a prize. Sundays at the Reading Festival in the 80s wouldn't have been the same without them.
But enough of the past. Unless we're talking about last week, when Aussie busking brothers Mixed Up Everything won our Tracks Of The Week competition with their version of Nirvana's In Bloom. Finnish prog gods the Von Hertzen Brothers (another band of brethren) came in second with All Of A Sudden You're Gone, while American rockers Plush (not to be confused with South African alt-rockers Plush or Chicago Ork popper Plush) aren't related at all as far as we know, but this didn't stop them from finishing third with Better Off Alone.
So congratulations to Mixed Up Everything – check out how quickly they've turned around a version of the Chili Peppers' new single Black Summer – and here's that winning entry again.
And don't forget: vote for this week's best song at the foot of the page.
Brave Rival - Guilty Love
Portsmouth five-piece Brave Rival mix blues, rock and soul on this hooky, spirited new number that makes us think of what Heart might sound like if they joined the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Its ingredients might be rootsy, but its heart is in the 80s. Lyrically billed as “a celebration of leaving a relationship that just isn't right for you”, it makes a gutsy opening case for their forthcoming album, Life’s Machine, which lands on May 6.
Dan Reed Network - Pretty Karma
Their tour might have just been rescheduled (thank you covid…), but they’re not about to leave fans empty handed, as Pretty Karma shows. Still fiery and full of ammo after thirty-plus years, Dan Reed comes out swinging, thumping and generally kicking arse with this catchy cut from DRN’s next LP. It’s a bit like hearing Bon Jovi’s Living On A Prayer with dystopian dynamics, synths and “sexy robots”. And who doesn’t want to hear that?
Ceramic Animal - Tangled
With a warmth and fragility that befits their band name, this Pennsylvania-based family operation (three are brothers while the remaining two are childhood friends) marry After The Gold Rush-era Neil Young with the tender, kitchen-sink indie rock of The Strokes. If you enjoy those bands, as well as the pensive Americana of War On Drugs, these guys should definitely be on your radar. Their new album, Sweet Unknown (produced by Black Keys man Dan Auerbach, whose label Easy Eye Sound they’ve also signed to) is out in March.
Goodbye June - What I Need
We love a good uptempo shitkicker here at TOTW. Of course we do. That being said, one of our favourite tracks from this Nashville-based family band’s new album, See Where The Night Goes, is also one of its more melancholy moments. A bighearted, Joe Cocker-style ballad that builds into a gospel-fired climax, it affirms them as a rising group worth watching out for - especially if the southern-fried likes of Whiskey Myers also do it for you.
Colours Of One - Bones Of Hope
Colours Of One are aiming high. On the evidence of this soaring single, the Welsh alt-rockers have their sights set on big stages. Arenas. Festival fields full of singing, arm-swaying fans – the same ones that lap up anthems by the likes of Biffy Clyro and Twin Atlantic, and are intimate with a good portion of Pearl Jam’s catalogue. “We have never felt stronger about a batch of songs we’ve written,” the band say, of their upcoming debut Vessels (out in April). “We’re very proud of the fact that we persevered through the adversity that we’ve experienced over the last few years”.
The Bad Day - Devil's Lullaby
This lot have been around for a while, but they appear to have truncated their name (there used to be a 'Blues Band' bit at the end, unless we're very much mistaken) and Hey! Presto! this is much more lively than some of the stuff we've heard before. Devil's Lullaby is a driving piece of heartland rock of the type that's just sent Scarlet Rebels soaring into the Top 10, and it comes from the Bad Day's upcoming concept album, which, they say, "tells the tale of a tragic love story set against the backdrop of a strange and ever changing society." Sounds like fun.
Tiger Island - Spike Heals
Leeds-based Tiger Island describe themselves "rock'n'roll thrill seekers", and we're not going to argue, for debut single Spike Heels is most definitely rock'n'roll. Pitched somewhere near the centre of a L7/Muffs/Detroit Cobras Venn diagram, it's scrappy, it's sassy, it's more fun than an entire semester spent at clown college, and it includes a guitar solo that's almost hilarious in its stunning simplicity. Literally good.
Acid Row - No Church On Sunday
YouTube's algorithm pointed us in the direction of this bad boy, and we're sure glad it did, for the epic No Church On Sunday is a giant of a song, with a riff that comes atcha like a monster truck through a rabbit hutch. Czech trio Acid Row describe themselves as "stoner rock with tendencies and attitude of punk, echoes of doom metal, elements of psychedelic rock, poignant noise rock or 90s grunge," and they've been conjuring up the darkest of forces for a decade. All this augers well for upcoming album Afterglow.
