Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week

From lederhosen to leeches, this week’s selection has something for everyone. Especially those who love leeches. And lederhosen.

Tax The Heat - Animals
Joining 90’s Chicago band Dovetail Joint as the only act we can immediately think of named after a Beatles lyric, Tax The Heat come straight outta Bristol via the Californian desert, melding late-60’s maximum B&B with driving, QOTSA-style riffs.

The Dahmers - Stalker
The press release accompanying this Swedish outfit’s new singles promises “melodies that will stay in your head like a leech to your eye,” which sounds like it might require a visit to the ophthalmologist. However, their video is so delightfully demented that we can forgive any medical misdirection, and instead celebrate the band’s Undertones-meets-Thin-Lizzy-at-the-fairground brand of fun-rock.

Vodun - Mawu
Vodun led the way in our Tracks Of The Week a few weeks back, and here they are again with more thundering, psychedelic fright-rock. The band describe themselves as being born “midst the rushing screams of Mother Earth; the pounding drums of Ouidah; the markets of Lomé and the open heart of Erzulie,” and that sums them up way better than we ever could.

Toseland - Puppet On A Chain
James Toseland is a man of many talents. A former Superbike champion who’s as comfortable playing jazz piano as he is roaring down Starkey’s Straight at 200mph, Toseland is clearly capable of rocking as hard as he corners. Puppet On A Chain thunders along with enormous aplomb, an adrenaline-fuelled mix of metallic edge and melodic allure.

Kontrust - Dance
Like a Tyrolean Gangnam Style, the appealingly choreographed Dance — from Austria’s leading lederhosen-sporting crossover act Kontrust — has been around for a while, but benefits from the exciting visual perspective provided by a well-produced video. Wikipedia tells us that the band’s last album, Explositive, peaked at number 42 in the Austrian charts, where it remained for one week.

Love Buzzard - Wild
For some reason we can’t think about Love Buzzard with thinking about the popular Bedfordshire commuter town Leighton Buzzard, but that’s not why we’re here. We’re here because Wild is a thrillingly unhinged example of lo-fi garage rock with a video that appears to have been filmed by men in the midst of a narcotic breakdown. Warning: this material contains flashing images which may cause problems for some viewers. But in a good way, perhaps.

Cortes - Close To Nowhere
Bonding over a mutual love of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones, London-based trio Cortes are almost certainly on the road to somewhere with Close To Nowhere. It thumps along, several gigantic riffs welded together via squalls of feedback. File under, “Ooh, watch this space.”

Reef - How I Got Over
Judging by this video, it must be great fun being in Reef. For it looks like they spend all day shooting tubes and pulling ollys on the beaches and byways of Cornwall. How I Got Over is a cover of the old gospel classic, a song Mahalia Jackson performed on the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Martin Luther King delivered his famous I Have A Dream speech at the same event, so if you’re ever at a pub quiz where someone asks about the connection between MLK and Reef, you know the answer.

Classic Rock is the online home of the world's best rock'n'roll magazine. We bring you breaking news, exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes features, as well as unrivalled access to the biggest names in rock music; from Led Zeppelin to Deep Purple, Guns N’ Roses to the Rolling Stones, AC/DC to the Sex Pistols, and everything in between. Our expert writers bring you the very best on established and emerging bands plus everything you need to know about the mightiest new music releases.