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Greta Van Fleet may have returned to action last week, but the impact of their Play Your Games single wasn't enough to knock The Trace Outlives, the similarly fresh new release from Finnish opera-rocker Tarja Turunen, from the top of the Tracks Of The Week tree. So congratulations to her.
The filling in this GVF/Tarja sandwich was provided by Jayler, whose tasty Hate To See It End track was a welcome addition to the musical menu. This week, we have another eight dishes to try, and we're already salivating.
Europe - The Cult Of Ignorance
Back with a certifiable banger and a new album in the wings (their first since 2017’s Walk The Earth), the men who brought you The Final Countdown and one of classic rock’s most consistent latter-day catalogues fly high on The Cult Of Ignorance. Tom Dalgety (Ghost, Rammstein, Royal Blood etc) was in the producer’s chair this time, and the video for this finds them joined by Swedish rock royalty, including the Hives’ Pelle Almqvist and Opeth mainman Mikael Akerfeldt. You can feel the buzz of all that in the song. Stay tuned for more.
The Bites - Aftertaste
La La Land’s bright-eyed, bushy-haired hopefuls are back, sounding a little less retro than before (but not too much) and full of zingy, catchy rock’n’roll with dirt on its boots and sunny pop rock harmonies fresh off the beach. “We couldn’t be prouder of this album, and we wouldn’t change a thing about it if we could,” singer Jordan says. “The Bites was the only name that made sense. This is who we are, and we can’t wait for people to join us on the ride!”
Korslagda - Är Det Här Det Är Party
We don’t understand a word of this, but kind of love it – such is the universal language of rock’n’roll, packaged with care and, yes, ample party vibes by these Swedes in Är Det Här Det Är Party (‘Is This Where The Party Is’, according to Google Translate). With Message In A Bottle-style guitars that morph into a more straight-shooting, dirtied up rock chorus boogie, it’s powered by a vocal melody that’ll make you chortle at first and then jump on a table in raucous, heartfelt solidarity with whatever the hell it is these guys are singing about. Hurrah!
Die Spitz - A Strange Moon/Selenophilia
A deliciously weird jewel in the Austin foursome’s breakout debut Something To Consume, this one’s a gnarly, thumping yet blissed-out spiral of stoner, psychedelic and alt flavours. Plus they continue to throw themselves into music videos with refreshing levels of gusto and imagination, as the fur-coated tripping and stop-motion desert and underwater worlds captured here reflect. Nice.
Mastodon - Your Ghost Again
Coming off the back of a year punctuated by the sudden death of former bandmate Brent Hinds, along with the loss of drummer Brann Dailor’s mother, Your Ghost Again finds the Atlanta rockers capturing grief in its rawest, most head-spinning form. Building to a thrillingly proggy, heavy climax, it’s a commanding taste of this next chapter. “When we were in the studio recording, I kept seeing Brent,” Dailor says. “I’d see him on my right holding the guitar because that’s where he’d usually be. It’s the same with my mom: I keep seeing her.”
The Bitter Pills - Set Me Free
Eastbourne duo The Bitter Pills hurtle into Tracks Of The Week with this breakneck, bullshit-free rocker. They tell us they’ve picked up inspiration from Royal Blood, Nirvana and Turnstile, which you can hear in the mix of heavy fuzz, garage and punkoid sensibilities of Set Me Free. Above all, though, it’s huge fun – alt rock but with a groovy, classic heart that injects a serious bounce into its beefiness. Keep an ear out for their debut LP later this year.
Märvel - Connection
Swedish mavericks Märvel might be better known for high-voltage party rock’n’roll in leather masks, but as this new single proves, they’ve got big hearts underneath it all. A melodious, emotionally charged power balled with slight whiffs of All The Young Dudes and the Pretenders’ I’ll Stand By You, Connection captures that primal yearning at the core – the need for human connection. Big feelings matched by big guitars, big chorus and big harmonies.
Stanley Simmons - Cellophane
Nick Simmons looks like he had more fun making this video than Gene has managed in a half-century of Kiss, but Stanley Simmons do so many things differently to their famous fathers: The lightness of touch, the Lauel Canyon harmonies, the apparent determination not to take themselves too seriously. Cellophane is another effervescent period piece, coming on like Badfinger after a light dose of the psychedelics, with hints of Steely Dan and Super Furry Animals. It's very good, and at this rate, it won't be long before people are writing about Stanley Simmons without mentioning their lineage.
