NWOBHM-alikes Tailgunner are in the news this week, for they've just won our latest Tracks Of The Week contest with their latest single, Midnight Blitz. We hope they'll celebrate by dabbing on some patchouli and sinking a tin or two of Ruddles County. And if not? Those congratulations still apply.
Congratulations also go out to Skindred and Velveteen Queen, who also did well, but not quite well enough. And we'd be much obliged if you greeted our latest entries. They're below, as is the voting mechanism, down there at the foot of the page.
Massive Wagons - Everywhere We Go
Closing out 2025 with a new record label, fresh album plans afoot and tour dates lined up for 2026, Massive Wagons sound and feel like a bigger band than ever on Everywhere We Go – all heartwarming sentiments, Def Leppard-meets-Wildhearts guitars and huge, soaring chorus. “We wanted it to sound huge wherever it’s played… radio, kitchen, or concert hall,” guitarist Adam Thistlethwaite says. “Matt O’Grady completely understood that and nailed the energy in the mix.”
Gluecifer - Armadas
Oslo’s 90s/early 00s garage rock’n’roll stalwarts have been staging a comeback since 2017, but Same Drug New High (coming out in January) is their first album since they called time in 2005. The breakneck energy and deep, loose-limbed groove of Armadas suggests it was well worth the wait, marrying punkoid rage and goodtime rock’n’roll with laser-eyed incision. Nice.
Jay Buchanan - Caroline
Earlier this year we saw the Rival Sons frontman play this (and a bunch of other gorgeous solo material) live in London, and it was a beautiful portal into a whole other, introspective yet searing side of him. On record it’s just as good, his voice full of folk-imbued longing, loss and, ultimately, flashes of light up ahead. “As music continues to be choked out by technology, I wanted to draw pictures in the dirt,” says Buchanan, who shut himself away in an underground bunker in the Mojave Desert to write these new songs. “This approach is right with me, and I’ve just come to a point where there is no longer a choice.”
Danny Bryant - Tougher Now
Fun, fast-paced and funky, the blues singer/guitar-slinger’s latest single indicates the start of a new chapter – one in which his raw, impassioned chops flourish with a little extra spring in their step. Expect choppy, syncopated guitars, compulsory sunglasses indoors and the sound of Danny and his band having a bloody good time. Delicious bluesy solo, too (of course).
Starbenders - To Be Alright
Starbenders continue to enhance their reputation as one of modern rock's great singles bands, with To Be Alright their fifth single of the year and their 31st (we think) since 2016, which, by our count, is nine more than The Beatles released while they were active. This, of course, means absolutely nothing, but the latest is typically spooky, kicking off with some Jon Lord-style organ before evolving into a cinematic goth-glam surprise, highlighted by a whispered "Run, crush, kill, love!" bit that we'll be singing under our breath for the rest of the week.
Black Stone Cherry - Celebrate
The title track from Black Stone Cherry's upcoming EP Celebrate finds the Kentucky quartet pumping out a grinding riff that might suggest to the unwary listener that they'd "Gone Rammstein", but the arrival of Chris Robertson's vocal signals a return to something like business as usual, and by the time the arena-friendly chorus hoves into view we're safely back on familiar ground. The EP comes out next March, and allegedly includes a version of the Simple Minds classic Don't You (Forget About Me), a prospect so mind-boggling we're not even sure it can possibly be true.
Tyler Bryant - Mama Like To Rock
Tyler Byant's latest single continues his current foray into rootsy Americana, with the supremely badass Mrs Bryant (a.k.a. Larkin Poe's Rebecca Lovell) on hand to assist with the writing and performing of a song that sounds like it might have been gestated in a more sepia-tinted time, with a hat-tip to the early 20th century hymn Will the Circle Be Unbroken at the end. "Mama Like To Rock came to be on a sunny Tennessee morning in late September," says Bryant. “I’ve got a brand-new son named Jesse and I love sittin’ out on the porch with him and his mama. I started singing little tunes to make them smile, and this song just stuck."
Buddy Guy & Joe Bonamassa - Sweet Little Angel
Joe Bonamassa's 32-track B.B. King's Blues Summit 100 is a tribute to B.B. King's 1993 duets album Blues Summit, and finds JoBo hooking up with a host of stellar names to celebrate the great man's music. The latest batch of songs to arrive includes this collaboration with the great Buddy Guy, and is exactly as slow, smoky and smooth as you might expect. Other artists appearing on the album include Larkin Poe, Eric Gales, Jimmie Vaughan, Michael McDonald, Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks, Keb’ Mo’ and Gary Clarke Jr, while great excitement awaits the release of the classic The Thrill Is Gone, featuring Eric Clapton and Chaka Khan.
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