Heavy Rotation
What we’ve been listening to this month
1 Primadonna Like Me The Struts
The latest video from rock’s brightest, sparklyest new young things includes cowbells, casinos, a spot of knife-throwing with Alice Cooper, and oodles of wideeyed, jazz-handed charisma. If you thought they might have peaked on previous album Everybody Wants, think again. This is easily one of the best things they’ve ever done. Flick through to the page 82 for our lowdown on the whole new album
Young & Dangerous.
2 Do Your Worst Rival Sons
Jay Buchanan, Scott Holiday and co. are back with new music, and it’s right good. After the more pronounced soulful factor of previous album Hollow Bones, this new tune from the Long Beach band suggests a return to their bluesier, dirtier rock’n’roll side, while retaining the suave classiness that they’ve built upon steadily over the years. Welcome back, fellas.
3 Stranger Tonight Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats
We’ll take a little trip to the dark side (well, Cambridge) now with the latest track from these proto-metal/psych renegades. An up-tempo, galloping swirl of the trippy low-fi vintage sound they’ve cultivated over nearly a decade, it should whet your appetite for their new album Wasteland (reviewed on page 81).
4 City Girls Handsome Jack
Taken from the Lockport, NY band’s new album Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
(yours to buy from October 19), this laid-back cocktail of blues, soul, boogie and southern rock brings to mind the likes of Little Feat and Creedence Clearwater Revival, without losing sight of their own slightly off-kilter character. Good music for chilled times.
5 No Law City Lizzies
Riffy, no-bullshit rock’n’roll from Spanish rock/heavy metal four-piece Lizzies, which has a video in which the band systematically take down various undesirables and aid their victims, all ending with a big old jam, mixing hints of Motörhead and The Runaways with their own attitude-laden swagger.
6 See The Light Austin Gold
This is one of our favourites from these Brit rock’n’rollers’ debut Before Dark Clouds, and now they’ve released it as a single. A warm, rousing ear worm of a tune, it blends vintage rock guitar and organ tones with soulful but fresh-sounding vocals (singer David James Smith has been compared to Paul Rodgers, with good reason).
7 Where I’m Headed The Marcus King Band
Marcus King is only 22, but he sings and plays with the heartfelt worldliness of someone much older. One of the more chilled tunes from upcoming album Carolina
Confessions (reviewed on page 85), Where I’m Headed is a gorgeous swirl of brassy soul, southern rock and acoustic layers. Contemplative and uplifting.
8 Diablo, Take Me Home Saint Agnes
How about a bit of His Darkness Satan for your listening pleasure? Channelling the noisiest side of The White Stripes and Graveltones – all those juddering guitar shrieks and offbeat blues vocals – this is an assured, contemporary hit of garage rock and raw blues.
9 Watching Over Greta Van Fleet
You can read the review of their album, Anthem Of The Peaceful
Army, this issue (page 80), but first let’s start with this latest taster to hit the airwaves. Slower and slightly psychedelic, it adds a theatrical shot of Dio-esque vocals to their vintage palette. GVF’s rise seems unstoppable, their thirst for primecut classic rock unquenchable. Check ‘em out.
10 While Love Died Northward
Nightwish’s towering, ass-kicking lead singer Floor Jansen swaps symphonic metal for good old rock’n’roll on this track from her new band (with Pagan guitarist Jørn Viggo Lofstad). Mixing driving hints of Foo Fighters with snappy yet chunky riffs and some pleasantly screamy guitar heroics, it’s a looser contrast to her immaculately orchestrated day job.
11 JP’s Florida Blues #1 JP Harris
Something tasty from this robustly tattooed country dude (there are a few of them about these days; no bad thing, we reckon). Alabama-born Harris merges his zingy, jangling brand of countrified cheer with rollicking spirit on this highlight from his album Sometimes Dogs Bark At Nothing, which is out now.
12 Little Miss Crazy The Lazys
Based in Canada but originally from Australia (where they seemingly soaked up a healthy amount of AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Airbourne and the like), this hirsute bunch come bearing beer-drinking rock’n’roll pepped up with louche slide guitar and all the swagger.
13 Apocalypse Now (& Later) Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers
Chiefly known as the lead singer/guitarist of punked-up rockers Against Me!, with
Apocalypse Now (& Later) Laura Jane Grace takes a detour into pensive, acousticbased tones with this track from her solo band. A gritty yet warming brand of Americana, with nods to Tom Petty, it’s just a shame it ends after little more than two minutes.
14 Different Kinda Girl The Pearl Harts
London’s Pearl Harts pay homage to riot grrrl, 90s girl power, Cyndi Lauper and the suffragettes within the confines of this one song, combining scratchy garagerock guitars and pummelling beats with lashings of attitude.
15 Under No Illusion Massive Wagons
Holy shit! Lil’ old Massive Wagons, from Carnforth, made it into the UK Top 20 albums chart – the main, official one! That’s pretty bloody good going for a straightup rock’n’roll band operating decidedly outside the mainstream. Still, given that it’s stuffed full of feelgood, no-bullshit romps like this, it’s not hard to see how it caught on. Read our feature on them on page 26.
16 How Is Elvis? RebelHot
“How is Elvis, and have you seen him lately?” We have no idea why that line from the first Ghostbusters film is the first thing that came to mind when we read that title, but it was an oddly pleasing backdrop to this cool, catchy slice of late-60s/ Hendrix-inspired blues rock. Built around an infectious guitar hook, it’s a pleasantly unpolished shot of nostalgia.