Last week it was all about bands returning to the limelight, as the returning Beth Blade and the Beautiful Disasters, the returning Fishbone and the returning Wytch Hazel did battle in our Tracks Of The Week competition. And, once the returning officer had tallied up the votes, Beth Blade was returned as your winner. So congratulations to her. Her disasters are more beautiful than ever.
This week, we have another eight contenders to contend with. We hope you enjoy them.
Please vote for your new favourite below.
The Marcus King Band - Honky Tonk Hell
In the past we’ve had dazzling bluesy fretwork, introspective heartbreak, contemporary soulfulness and more from this young South Carolinian. Now he’s gone full saloon boot-stomper with Honky Tonk Hell, billed by King as “an anthem for anyone out there like myself who have struggled with the permanence of sobriety” and joyously laced with piano, slide, brass, gospel backing and all those juicy accoutrements that make southern rock’n’roll so damn lovable. You could totally see him rocking up onstage with Blackberry Smoke or the Tedeschi Trucks Band or someone and having a jam through this.
Kadavar - Scar On My Guitar
Berlin stoner rock beardos Kadavar continue to set the tone for their next album, I Just Want To Be A Sound, with this driving, bright-eyed new number. Essentially a pretty straight-ahead rocker by their standards, Scar On My Guitar adds a touch of urgent, goodtime Hives-y mania to their psychedelic soup – still audibly them, but with a snappier sheen that’s more conducive to dancing than flopping into a beanbag and spacing out for a few hours.
Joanne Shaw Taylor - Summer Love
“I specifically had it in my mind that I wanted to write a summer pop single for this album,” says Joanne of this easy, breezy but heartfelt ode to the best of times destined to last a season, not forever. “It’s just something I’ve always loved—driving around Michigan, now Tennessee in summer and having that one song you love to hear on the radio that years later triggers happy memories. I hope this could be that song for someone out there.” Gorgeous Tele solo, too. Plus a key change for added happy-faced, major key vibes.
California Irish - Live Fast, Die Free
Cormac Neeson and pals drew from classic road trip flick Easy Rider for this latest single – all long-haired, freewheeling Americana and warm slide vibes, with a loose-limbed swampiness and sweet, gospelly harmonies. “The song tries to tap into some of the hippie ethos that’s captured so beautifully in the movie, themes of freedom, love and living life without regret,” Cormac says. “It’s also one of those loose, groovy songs that the live analogue recording process suited perfectly.”
The Scaramanga Six - Cultural Cannibal
Yorkshire-bred and proudly DIY to the core, The Scaramanga Six strike an angular but heartrending note with this slickly composed marriage of alt textures, beautifully rich yet smoky vocals and swooning minor-key sensibilities. You’ll find plenty of existential darkness and jagged, avant-rock twists in Cultural Cannibal’s sonic walls, but shot through with a yearning, melodic intensity that keeps you hooked through all its five minutes. Darkly romantic.
Bernie Marsden - Calling Card
The late, much-loved Whitesnake guitarist and rock scene stalwart does a beautiful, smooth job with Rory Gallagher’s pensive blues jam. Part of his posthumous ICONS album series (the latest of which is just out now, also featuring Jimi Hendrix, Allman Brothers and Albert King covers among others) it finds him dropping the tempo slightly and adding Hammond organ lines for a brooding, city-after-midnight ambience. Think neon lights and rainy streets around closing time.
Mark Morton - Dust (feat Cody Jinks and Grace Bowers)
The Lamb Of God six-stringer is joined by outlaw country dude Cody Jinks on vocals for this deep, crunchy, swaggered-up slice of his excellent rootsy solo album Without The Pain – with fast-rising, Nashville-based hotshot Grace Bowers popping into the studio to lay down some tasty guitar flourishes. “I wrote it in an afternoon together with Jaren Johnston and Cody Jinks,” Morton says. “And trading off guitar solos with Grace Bowers was a total blast…that’s me on the slide parts and Grace handling the shredding."
Battlesnake - Murder Machine
"The Exultants demonic hound pigs, their faithful servants built to hunt Jesus Christ," intone Battlesnake, regarding their latest opus. "The ‘Machina Mortifero’ in English ‘Murder Machine’, they feed only on bile and human waste. The scent of the Son of Man drives them into insanity and the hunt begins....". Now, we don't know about you, but we've no idea what they're on about. But that doesn't stop Murder Machine from being a literal behemoth of a song, churning with monstrous intent and NWOBHM/prog malevolence. If Godzilla started a band to play atop the pyramids, during a lightning storm, it might sound something like this.
