Farnham trio Kit Trigg are about to embark on their first headline tour, and we hope they'll be buoyed by the news that their recent Down To Earth single is the latest winner in our Tracks Of The Week fandango. Indeed, we hope they mention it every night.
Danielle Nicole and Grace Potter picked up the silver and bronze medals (disclaimer: there are no actual medals), and an exciting new batch of rockers and rollers are now eagerly awaiting your ears. They're below.
Sweat - Open My Eyes
Pittsburgh’s bell-bottomed, curly-cabled brigade evoke the freewheeling, anthemic heat and richness of The Who circa Who’s Next (along with some tasty 70s organ action and swirls of psychedelia) on Open My Eyes. And is that a touch of Elton John’s Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting we hear? Tried n’ tested classic rock sensibilities, lovingly cooked up to commanding effect. A vibrant, fulsome three minutes and forty-seven seconds.
Bleeker - Feel It Again
A big, hard-kicking rocker, full of teeth and swagger, the Canadians’ latest sounds like something that belongs in arenas and on festival stages. It’s anthemic but gritty; the riff and central hook are relatively simple, but they jazz it all up with dynamics and subtle touches (e.g low-key backing vocals, pacing shifts) that elevate it above standard pop/rock song territory. Check out more on its parent album, Elephant, which has just come out.
Gen & The Degenerates - Hotter On The Internet
A raw, garage-fresh hit of New York art punk riffing (from the North West of England), Hotter On The Internet kicks, sidles and struts with the same power, self-deprecating humour and sensuality captured in Genevieve Glynn-Reeves’ deliciously satirical lyrics. The synthed-up, dreamlike bridge section feels a bit out-of-the-blue, but just about works. Either way, a lip-smacking cocktail, teasing their next album Earthly Delights, which comes out in January.
Europe - Scandinavian Eyes
One of our favourite tracks from the Swedes’ excellent new album, Come This Madness (their first since 2017’s Walk The Earth), Scandinavian Eyes finds Messrs Tempest, Norum, Leven, Michaeli and Haughland going full Deep Purple – in the best way. Think galloping riffage with fiery organ lines and beats in hot pursuit, plus theatrical flourishes in the form of orchestral layers. Nice growl from Opeth mainman/friend/fan Mikael Akerfeldt, too.
Airbourne - Kid In A Candy Store
Ahhh Airbourne, doing their Airbourne thing in such a straight-shootingly likeable manner of which has never shifted and is not about to change now. Accordingly, Kid In A Candy Store finds the Aussie foursome rocking the bejeezus out of a big fat A-chord boogie, complete with drums that charge forth like dinosaurs gatecrashing a school sports day, and lyrics about using ‘the back door’ and ‘69 on the seventh floor’ that make Def Leppard sound like Shakespeare. Imminently reliable fun.
Scarlet Rebels - Chains
Captured on film as headliners at Chepstow Castle, the Welsh rockers fly high on this upward-punching new single. The sort of moody, euphoric banger that lifts them up a league. It all sets the stage in style for their next album, Flawed By Design, which comes out in November. “This song dropped out of the blue, quite literally,” frontman Wayne Doyle says. “I picked my acoustic guitar up at home, hit the first chord and sang ‘Set my soul on fire again’. It went from there. This was the first song we started to work on for the record.”
Stanley Simmons - Cold
Stenley Simmons have now released an estimated eight singles (to be honest, we've lost count), and the quality shows no sign of dropping. The latest, Cold, has a Fleetwood Mac vibe, with the sweetest of harmonies and the kind of relaxed, impossibly breezy vibe you only get with Californian types and those attempting to sound Californian. Lovely guitar solo too. The pair's debut album, Dancing While The World Is Ending, is out on physical formats now.
Silvertomb - Graves In The Sky
American doom metal supergroup Silvertomb (featuring members of Type O Negative, Inhuman, Agnostic Front and Empyreon) have come up trumps on a new single that sounds like Black Sabbath (expected), Pink Floyd (less so, but not a surprise) and Oasis (probably an accident). The end result works well, with Kenny Hickey's Ozzy-ish vocal matching both the spectral vibes of the first half of the song and the Gallagher-ness of the second. New album The Interpretation Of Nightmares will surface in November.
