Tracks Of The Week: new music and videos from The Struts, Royal Blood and more

Time for some new music-ingesting and brutal judging with Classic Rock’s Tracks Of The Week. But before flex your Simon Cowell-esque muscles let’s have a look at last week’s top three:

3. Trucker Diablo – Let’s Just Ride

2. SKAM – Take It Or Leave It

1. Alice & The Lovers – Boneyard

So which tune will sway your vote this week? We’ve got a deeelightful selection to tempt you with, so have a listen then vote for your favourite at the foot of this page. Vote wisely. Vote good. Yeah. But not before you’ve listened to last week’s winners Alice & The Lovers…

The Struts – One Night Only

The British four-piece continue to carry the Queen-infused torch for proper, unashamedly joyous rock’n’roll with this new, singalong-ready addition to their arsenal of good stuff. If you’re in a crap mood, this should lift your spirits. If you’re already feeling pretty chipper, take it up a notch with these guys.

Puppy – Demons

Opening with a pleasingly odd video of the band advocating some sort of fictional self-improvement cult (well, we assume it’s fictional…), Demons itself has a nicely creepy chill combined with hooky, fuzzy rock stabs – plus commanding lead guitar chops and ominous undertones.

Lovehoney – Try To Get Rid Of Me

Accelerated by the rawly soulful, star quality of singer Alysia Quinones, Brooklyn rock’n’rollers Lovehoney have an awful lot going for them. We sense there’s more to come from them in terms of songwriting, but based on the ingredients they already have we reckon it’ll be good. Just remember to type ‘Lovehoney - band’ when you Google ‘em, otherwise you’ll just get ads and toys from “the sexual happiness people”

Royal Blood – How Did We Get So Dark?

Cute fluffy bunnies take a ride on a gun-toting dude’s car bonnet, in this new video from Brighton’s darlings of modern hard rock; and continuing pioneers of the bass-tastic twosome formula. Musically it’s more of what they’ve always done – intensely fuzzy, blues-rooted grooviness – but boosted by three years’ experience in rock’s fast lane.

Sundus Abdulghani & Trunk – Like Water

‘70s-styled bluesy rock riffing is the order of the day with this Swedish gang (bet you didn’t guess they were Swedish from that name though). But before you sign ‘oh come ahhhn not another retro rock lot from Scandinavia’, get a load of the charismatic, ballsy vocals and matching classic-sounding guitar flourishes… see, it’s pretty damn good isn’t it?

Pugwash – What Are You Like

Aaaaand relax… Or at least that’s we did upon hearing this warming, gently bittersweet piece of first-class songwriting from Thomas Walsh and Jason Faulkner. Beautifully textured, effortless stuff from a duo with enough experience to know precisely what they’re doing, without the hype to cause any ego issues.

Rews – Your Tears

Collette Williams and Shauna Tohill were session musicians for years before joining forces to make sweet, fuzzed up rock noise as Rews. Based on this latest dose of sugar and (heavy) spice from upcoming album Pyro (which comes out on 3 November) we’d say this experience has served them well.

Bad Touch feat Mollie Marriott – Baby Get It On

The Southernest men in Norfolk take on the Ike & Tina Turner ‘choon with the slick, soulful Mollie Marriott (yes we mean Steve Marriott’s daughter) on guest vocals. True they might not capture the history and life experience of Ike n’ Tina, but still prove that youthful enthusiasm and talent can shake the dust off faithful stalwarts like this – especially when they hit the vocal harmonies of the chorus.

Polly is deputy editor at Classic Rock magazine, where she writes and commissions regular pieces and longer reads (including new band coverage), and has interviewed rock's biggest and newest names. She also contributes to Louder, Prog and Metal Hammer and talks about songs on the 20 Minute Club podcast. Elsewhere she's had work published in The Musician, delicious. magazine and others, and written biographies for various album campaigns. In a previous life as a women's magazine junior she interviewed Tracey Emin and Lily James – and wangled Rival Sons into the arts pages. In her spare time she writes fiction and cooks.