Last week’s winners were King King, followed by Chris Cornell in second place and The Godfathers in third. Bravo to the lot of them. But who’s going to emerge victorious this week? A wizened old pro or bright new young thing? The power is in your hands guys, so use it wisely; listen in, judge brutally then vote for your favourite at the foot of this page.
First of all, however, let’s have another spin of last week’s winning track. Just because it’s good, and it won.
Steven Wilson – Permanating
If the rest of (upcoming Wilson album) To The Bone is ‘pop’ with a small, tastefully modernist ‘p’, then Permanating is the uppercase, sunshine n’ rainbows, ELO-on-happy-pills version. Unsurprisingly, the comments from Wilson’s Youtube devotees have been a bit extreme: ‘What the absolute fuck’, ‘IT’S GOOD!’ ‘What the fuck is this shit Wilson?’… Personally, I really like it. So there.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Nothing But The Night
Featuring an inviting, sumptuous vocal lead from Noah Hunt – plus melodious guitar lines that are good enough to eat, of course – this is a suave highlight from Kenny Wayne’s latest album Lay It On Down. Tasty.
The Claypool Lennon Delirium – Satori
The pairing of Les ‘Primus’ Claypool and Sean ‘Son Of John’ Lennon was never going to result in middle-of-the-road rock. The hypnotic, psych-rocking Satori, taken from the Lime And Limpid Green EP, offers further proof of this. Accompanied by the most spectacularly trippy, richly colourful stop-motion video, it’ll seriously mess with your head. In a good way.
Dirty Thrills – Law Man
Forget ‘law man’; it’s all about the ‘soul man’ vocals in this standout track from Dirty Thrills’ upcoming debut LP, plus groovy, bluesy rock hooks. And the burning shed and dark deeds in the video. Mmmm smokin’…
Little Mammoths – Hungover In New York
If Drive-By Truckers had a baby with The Gaslight Anthem, they might have sounded like this outfit from ex-Noah And The Whale bassist Matt Owens. Acoustic strumming meets sweet, sweet pedal steel in this warming dose of blue-collar yearning.
Night Ranger – Running Out Of Time
Time now for something completely different. Time for twin-lead guitars, a simple-but-effective steak sarnie of a riff, lyrics about “wide open canyons” and “mountains left to climb”, and lashings of distressed denim. Night Ranger, you’ve made our Friday that bit jollier. Thank you.
Nothing More – Go To War
Themes of war, deception and the like aren’t exactly thin on the ground given the present climate. This angered statement of intent from hard rock/metal Texans Nothing More picks up on such themes, but it does so with real conviction. Hard-hitting stuff.
Walter Trout – Do You Still See Me At All (feat. Jon Trout)
Given that his upcoming album (due for release in September) features starry collaborations with Joe Bonamassa, Warren Haynes, Sonny Landreth and the like, it’s rather nice to see Walter’s first released track is a duet with his son, Jon. It works well, too: the axe-work in this melancholic, smooth piece of traditional bluesiness is classy and convincing.
