Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week

What’s that? It’s Friday? It’s Crackerjack?? OK, it’s not Crackerjack, but it is TOTW time. Which is at least as good. Get your laughing gear round these delightful rock goodies…

Lieutenant U.S. – Belle Epoque

Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel has taken the solo plunge, and done it rather well – as this lead track from the snappily titled _If I Kill This Thing We’re All Going To Eat For A Week _(out this week) proves. Lush indie-infused layers and a gorgeous melody make for captivating stuff.

The Quireboys – Gracie B

Enjoy the bluesy, acoustically based side of The Quireboys with this deliciously cool, steely-eyed ‘choon – preceding ninth album St Cecilia And The Gypsy Soul, out next week. Proof that there’s seriously good life in these stalwarts of British rock.

Whitesnake – Burn

Taken from Whitesnake’s new Purple Album, this version of DP Mk III’s_ Burn_ (see a theme developing here?) is ludicrously over-the-top and heavy-metalized. “The people laughed,” sings David Coverdale. And well they might.

Dan Patlansky – Backbite

Premiered via Classic Rock this week, this delectable number comes from South Africa’s king of contemporary blues guitar. Patlansky channels husky Lenny Kravitiz-meets-Stevie Wonder cool, mingled with the kind of blues rock riff we have to keep playing again and again…and again. Fab.

Tremonti – Another Heart

This is featured on Tremonti’s upcoming full-length Cauterize, due on June 9. We don’t know what’s going on with the smouldering rowing boat in the lyric video, but doubtless there’s a clue in the album’s title (which refers to an archaic medical procedure, when an injury is burnt to stop bleeding and prevent infection). Like in those old cowboy movies where a white-hot branding iron is applied to a gunshot wound. Not applicable to the paper cut we sustained this morning, thank goodness._ _

Black Diamond – Stranglehold

A swaggering meat fest from eye-wateringly youthful Liverpudlian rockers (average age of 17…yeah, we hate them a little bit too), Stranglehold packs a hard grooving punch, with a nice edge of wooziness – all aided by Oasis/Placebo producer Paul Tipler. Ones to watch out for.

Richie Kotzen – The Enemy

Richie Kotzen’s new video The Enemy was filmed at an abandoned drive-in movie theatre. The guitarist/singer/songwriter says: “The song is basically about loss and cause of loss, which in this case is one’s own actions. What ties the song and location together is that we are showing my childhood videos on the screen, which makes the entire piece that much more personal.” Hmm… deep, meaningful stuff. (And an unlikely pronouncement from a former member of Poison…)

Broken Hands – Death Grip

Time for some 21st century space rock, from the wilds of Canterbury. Death Grip precedes Broken Hands’ forthcoming debut LP (produced by Royal Blood/Killing Joke dude Tom Dalgety) and offers nicely heady, fuzzed up suggestions of interesting things to come. Mmmm fuzzy…

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