Written by Erik Grönwall is better than the Rolling Stones. That’s the only possible conclusion we can draw from our most recent Tracks Of The Week farrago, where the former H.E.A.T and Skid Row frontman roundly defeated the West London octogenarians, possibly in a battle for the ages. So congratulations to him.
Third place went to the ever-excellent Joanne Shaw Taylor, so congratulations to her, too. And this week’s options are below. Just down there. Below the lightning bolt thingy.
Deep Purple – Arrogant Boy
The urgent, hooky first taste and opening track of their next album, Splat! (out in July), Arrogant Boy finds Deep Purple capturing the excitement of their Machine Head era, and thoughtfully bringing it into the present. Think Highway Star with a brooding kick, boosted by new(ish) guitarist Simon McBride’s Satriani-infused blues rock licks. Fancy seeing that in real life? Well, you can – when they hit the UK for shows in November.
Green Lung – Evil In This House
Hello Sabbath my old friend… One of the heavy metal legends’ rapidly rising acolytes, Green Lung cook up tales of paranormal adventures in a woozy, thickly riffed metal package on Evil In This House. If you like the dirtier sections of Ghost’s catalogue – and also enjoy your heavy metal videos with a side of bloody corpses – this’ll have your name on it. Oh, and there’s a new album coming out in September, the spicily named Necropolitan, billed as a “love letter to gothic London in riffs”. Nice.
Crobot – Trouble
Pennsylvania’s original 21st century beardos and righteous rockers return to their fuzzed up, hard rocking weirdo roots on Trouble, and it is all most agreable. Think enormous dirty grooves. Think Clutch-meets-Kyuss fuzz. Think heavy-duty swamp funk with riffs the size of wooly mammoths. Think lyrics that draw from strange cocktails of philosophy, religion, spiritual thinkers and hallucinogenic headfuckery, as peppered over upcoming album (from which this lil’ banger is taken) Supermoon. Yeah, think of that, and dive in.
Brian Fallon – Not Bad For New Jersey
The roughened honey voice of The Gaslight Anthem, and solo troubadour, Brian Fallon leans into the Tom Petty-esque colours of his musical palate (“almost Wilburys-esque”, as our editor put it) on this heart-warming, uptempo new number. Pensive Americana-come-heartland with an uplifting melody and a chorus that soars. We’ll wanna fire up the BBQ, crack open a beer and watch the sun go down with this one. Plus we enjoyed Bri’s excitable-puppy Youtube message to his fans: “YO – all these other artists release one song for you all, but not ya main man BF! – I got TWO new babies for you because I love you MORE THAN THEY DO AND THATS WHY YOU SHOULD STREAM ME MORE!!!!!” Oh yeah, there’s another, more tortured, introspective track by the name of Better Before, also out now.
Datura4 – Dirty Laundry
Grizzled, old-school 12-bar blues with a few freaky twists is the dish of the day from these retro Western Australia rock mavericks (led by national garage-rocking stalwart Dom Mariani, best known for fronting Perth’s 80s alt dudes The Stems). Laidback but full of colour and cool edges, Dirty Laundry combines classic Freddie King blues with woozy, desert-fried psychedelia, early 70s swagger and even a saxophone sojourn. Hooky, heavy, trippy but not too trippy – yeah, we’ll totally take that.
Bywater Call – No One Else
The rising Canadian rock’n’soul collective add a moody, contemporary sheen to their signature classy fusion on No One Else – sort of Alabama Shakes-esque with a hint of Amy Winehouse, but still very much their own earthy, commanding mix of melody, roots and soulfulness. “This song is a reflection of how, in the current world of manipulation and misinformation, we continue to allow deceitfulness to cause harm,” says guitarist Dave Barnes. They’ve got a new album, Broken Souvenirs, coming out later this year.
Saint Agnes – Get Them Out
From Saint Agnes’s upcoming album Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin, Get Them Out is a right old industrial racket, and if you’re thinking it’s got a Nine Inch Nails kinda vibe, and that the video looks kinda familiar, well, you’d be kinda right, for both are a homage to Trent Reznor’s very own March Of The Pigs, the clattering first single from 1994’s classic album The Downward Spiral. Top stuff.
John Densmore And Chuck D – Every Tick Tick Tick
This collaboration between The Doors’ drummer John Densmore and Public Enemy frontman Chuck D isn’t one we saw coming, but it works surprisingly well, with Densmore providing a sly, funky rhythm, Chuck sounding just as urgent as he did back in PE’s 80s heyday, and a Riders On The Storm-style guitar solo. The song was the official Record Store Day Song Of The Year last month, and comes from the pair’s concept album do+pe=no country for old men, a limited-edition RSD release the pair formulated more than a decade ago.
