Written by After another seven days in the rock’n’roll trenches, we’re delighted to report that New Zealand’s very own Pieces Of Molly are our new Tracks Of The Week champions, having triumphed with their excellent new single Don’t Take Me To The Disco (You Call Rock N Roll). It’s the second time the band have been awarded the big prize, which means that by this time next week, they’ll have signed a 14-album deal with Big Record Company Records and be preparing to hit the road with Guns N’ Roses. Or Massive Wagons, perhaps.
In a week packed with rockin’ rollers and rollin’ rockers, Pieces Of Molly consigned both Bolan feat Danko Jones and CJ Wildheart to the second and third place bins, but we won’t dwell on that. Instead, we’ll proceed directly to this week’s contest. Buckle up!
Low Cut Connie – Oh Yeah
“I’ve had some weird and unspeakable adventures over the years. Once in a while they end up in my songs. Life in America is so wild,” says LCC mastermind Adam Weiner, of this raw, sexy hit of rock’n’roll sass, all subterranean piano bar energy and frills-free good times. It ultimately set the tone for his upcoming album Livin In The USA. “We did this little slice of rock n roll in one quick take, live to tape. After that I decided to do the whole album like that – old school – just let it fuckin rip.”
White Denim – Ruby (Live At Bess St)
Recorded at a BBQ in frontman James Petralli’s backyard, Ruby was in the works for years before he landed on the rich yet loose, Stones-y spirit captured here. As Petralli explains: “I picked up a few old cassette recorders at a neighbourhood flea market that warbled audio in a way that vividly sparked a memory of the texture of the first few bars of Street Fighting Man by The Rolling Stones. This was enough for me to begin chasing the production of the song in earnest.”
Stanley Simmons – Dancing While The World Is Ending
Yes they’ve started out with the considerable open doors that such surnames inevitably bring (if you can tell whose kids they are, you’re probably on the wrong website), but Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons create such a joyful, toe-tapping pop rock’n’roll vibe here that they keep said doors open on their own strength. Expect gauzy harmonies, 60s energy and dancing sunflowers in one upbeat, hooky package. Plus they’re clearly having a blast – with care for musical and video details – which makes it all imminently more likeable.
Brass Camel – Everybody Loves A Scandal
Co-produced by the band with Crown Lands guitarist Kevin Comeau, and mixed by Rush collaborator Terry Brown, Everybody Loves A Scandal starts off on a gently retro note, before veering down a load of interesting, unexpected rabbit holes… And somehow, they pull it all together. It’s prog rock, but shot through with numerous clever pop, oddball and even funky quirks that keep it averse to neat categorisation – sort of like Frank Zappa sharing a fat spliff with Mott The Hoople, in a really eclectic record shop, dancing in the aisles as they hold up different sleeves.
Saint Agnes – The Ghost
All snappy, industrial vibe with thumping choruses, driving guitars and a nicely rave-friendly chorus, Saint Agnes’s new single turns the experience of feeling invisible and isolated into an expansive, nocturnal banger. “I envisioned dancing, surrounded by people, but feeling completely on my own,” singer Kitty A Austen says. “It’s the soundtrack to a hot, sweaty night in a vampire nightclub, the blood rave just before dawn.”
Sevendust – Threshold
Coming out fighting ahead of the release of their next album, One (out in May) – and following a triumphant return to UK stages with their old friends Alter Bridge last month – Sevendust combine searing minor-key melody with pummelling hard rock guitars on Threshold. A moody, T-bone steak of a track, kicked up further with this ultra-cool claymation video, in which the band are brought back from the dead by nefarious industry types with cackling motives and dollar signs in their eyes. Nice.
Trey Shreddings – Crawling Away
We don’t know much about Floridian musician Trey Geddings, a.k.a. Trey Sheddings, but Crawling Away is a monster of a song with the kind of moody riff that conjures up visions of Alice In Chains or Soundgarden, the kind of anguished vocal that goes with that sort of thing, and the kind of guitar solo that absolutely burns. It’s from Trey’s Under The Surface EP, which is out now via your local streaming platform. “These songs mean more to me than I can really put into words,” he says. “Each one came from a real place – moments of doubt, growth, late nights with a guitar, and the constant push to become better both as a musician and as a person.”
Jack White – G.O.D. And The Broken Ribs
For his first new material since 2024’s acclaimed No Name album, Jack White took a well-earned break from taking potshots at Donald Trump on social media to release a pair of songs previewing his weekend appearance on Saturday Night Live. Of the two, G.O.D. And The Broken Ribs is the one we like most, with riffs that crunch like gravel, a guitar sound that occasionally sounds like it’s being piped through a dozen or more distortion pedals, and White singing like a crazed evangelical preacher. What a glorious, wholesome racket it is.
