We think we've finally discovered a surefire way of winning our Tracks Of The Week farrago. Just form a band with 1000 members, ask all of them to vote, ask all their friends and families to vote too, and Hey! Presto! Even if not everyone gets involved, that commitment to the cause will surely guarantee success.
That may have been what happened last week, as Rockin'1000 (remember them?) conspired to score more votes than Extreme, HAWXX, and seven other artists we've already forgotten. Alternatively, everyone just thought their How We Roll track was great, and voted accordingly. In which case, congratulations to all 1000 of them.
And now it's on with the next episode of show. Eight songs, eight possible winners, eight reasons to vote. Enjoy!
Greta Van Fleet - Farewell For Now
For all the "Baby Led Zeppelin" jibes, we have a theory that Greta Van Fleet's rockn'roll legacy may not be formed by their likeness to bands of yore, but by their determination to usher in a new Age Of Aquarius. Farewell For Now – which seems purpose-built for emotional, smartphones-in-the-air concert climaxes – fits the bill perfectly, with its acoustic guitars and its lines about makin' love and drinkin' wine and stuff. And Lord knows, with the world as divided as it it, we could certainly do with some more of that. So we happily salute our new hippie overlords.
Nita Strauss feat. Dorothy - Victorious
She's back, and she's brought Dorothy along with her. It seems that Nita Strauss is releasing a new single every week at the moment, and Victorious – recorded with Californian-Hungarian vocalist Dorothy – is another powerful addition to the arsenal. Undeniably epic, with an absolute screamer of a performance from the singer, it's the kind of crowd-pleaser Lzzy Hale excels at, but with an absolutely savage guitar solo thrown on top, and a video shot in a boxing ring. Hashtag girlpower indeed.
The Glorious Sons - Mercy Mercy
The first single from The Glorious Sons' upcoming album Glory, the video for Mercy Mercy finds frontman Brett Emmons playing guitar on a comfy chair positioned – perhaps unwisely – on the back of a pickup truck as it speeds though what's presumably the Canadian countryside. While this is clearly a matter of concern for the band's Health and Safety team, Mercy Mercy is a gospel-tinged anthem so rousing that we'll overlook the reckless disregard for the singer's health. "Mercy Mercy is my own quiet little prayer," he says. "It’s me fighting through some twisted process of self-forgiveness and acceptance."
Big Red Fire Truck - Love Bite
Sydney's Big Red Fire Truck are another of those Australian bands who could only come from Australia, with a rip-snorting riff and the kind of party-on, party-hard vibe so beloved of the Oz rock scene. "We’re making this music because there’s not enough of this style in the mainstream, and I miss bands like Van Halen, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith releasing new music," confirms shaggy-haired frontman Digby Robinson. "I wanted to write upbeat and melodic heavy rock music to listen to. We want to keep that alive while ripping off your car speakers." We hear you, man.
Robert John & The Wreck - West Coast Eyes
Another regular fixture on the Tracks Of The Week scorecard, Robert John & The Wreck's Deep-South-by-way-of-California vibe has been enticing listeners for some time now, and we're predicting that West Coast Eyes will entice them even further. It's soulful, it's got some lovely slide guitar and some equally lovely organ, and it's more relaxed than a contented panda bear who's just eaten a load of bamboo and is about ready to turn in for the night.
Skinny Knowledge - Goes Around Comes Around
When Robert John & The Wreck featured on our Tracks Of The Week battle last November, they were immediately followed by British alt-rockers Skinny Knowledge, and here we are again. What goes around comes around. And, as if to embellish this serendipitous moment further, the South coast trio's new single is actually called Goes Around Comes Around. It's also very good, with a riff that thuds and judders like Queens Of The Stone Age and a chorus that leaps like the most powerful salmon you can possibly imagine. There's also a Kickstarter campaign for their second album, which you should probably spend all your money on.
Alabama 3 - Thank You
Way back in the last century, Sarf London's Alabama 3 took "a fistfull of blotters and half a dozen disco biscuits" and set out on a long career at the centre of a very complicated rave/blues/drugs/country/rock'n'roll/gospel/techno Venn diagram. Nearly 30 years later they're still at it, taking it all the way to the church by way of the Ryman Auditorium and the needle exchange, and we, for one, are delighted. Beneath its extremely funky exterior, Thank You fires some well-aimed barbs at the establishment, with frontman Larry Love proclaiming, "We are all living in some black and white movie where politicians are comedians and where memories of the Cold War keep us all hot under the collar. Thank You for sweet FA." Preach, brother Larry, preach.
King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard - Dragon
By our reckoning, psychedelic Australian larrikins King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have released three hundred and eighty six albums, and we're willing to bet £5 that history will judge the upcoming three hundred and eighty seventh – PetroDragonic Apocalypse; Or, Dawn Of Eternal Night: An Annihilation Of Planet Earth And The Beginning Of Merciless Damnation (the band's second "thrash" album, following 2019’s Infest The Rats’ Nest) – as being among their very best. New single Dragon is an appropriately monstrous teaser, coming on like Mötorhead playing Mastodon in the middle of raging storm while the Earth is torn asunder and the planets literally eat each other.
