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In 2013, LA’s Beware Of Darkness released their debut album Orthodox, a fairly explosive introduction full of slithery Zep-isms slathered with emotionally raw lyrics from frontman Kyle Nicolaides. It shook up an otherwise stagnant year for rock’n’roll and set them up as next-big-things.

Well, they waited that shit out and have returned with a wallop of a follow-up that doesn’t necessarily reinvent the band, but certainly nudges them further away from the more hoary classic rock moments of their past and into something decidedly newer and shinier.

There’s smoky blues, sure, and there are booms of black-leather thunder, but it all sounds decidedly futuristic, like the first Top 10 hit of the 22nd century. The obvious singles – the slinky Motherfucka and the swirly Beatles pastiche Dope – open the album in style, but its richest rewards are deeper cuts like the psychedelic jangler Surrender and the gorgeously gigantic Sugar In The Raw.

Beware Of Darkness: Orthodox

Came from the sky like a 747. Classic Rock’s least-reputable byline-grabber since 2003. Several decades deep into the music industry. Got fired from an early incarnation of Anal C**t after one show. 30 years later, got fired from the New York Times after one week. Likes rock and hates everything else. Still believes in Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction, against all better judgment.