Written by Such was The Warning’s dominance in our most recent Tracks Of The Week contest (98% of voters picked their song Ego as their favourite) that we’re considering erecting a statue of them in the Classic Rock office. Very few can mobilise their fanbase so effectively, and for that, they should be saluted.
Greece’s Fuzzrider and East Anglia’s The Darkness appeared in the very minor medal positions, but their time will come again. Unless, of course, they come up against The Warning, of course. In which case, they’re screwed. This week’s entries are below.
Twin Atlantic – Don’t Quit It
These Scottish rockers make like a scrappier, funkier Muse on Don’t Quit It – a big juicy alt rocker, swaggering along with a deliciously thick bassline, peaking with one of their biggest, brightest choruses yet. “It’s about not being able to quit something,” frontman/writer Sam McTrusty says, “or someone, that no matter how much it hurts or drags you down, or disappoints or frustrates you sometimes, you can’t help but love it and need it.” First-class summer holiday fun, with mass singalongs surely in its future.
Greta Van Fleet – Play Your Games
They’re back! After a quieter stint – in which, among other things, guitarist Jake Kiszka embarked on a successful side venture (roots-infused rockers Mirador) with Ida Mae singer/guitar-slinger Chris Turpin – Gen Z’s darlings of luxury Zeppelin-fried nostalgia are back with this rollicking marriage of sunkissed dreaminess and uninhibited rock’n’roll bravado. Inspired by an early demo of theirs, it captures a feeling of looking back fondly at more innocent times. To think, they’re still barely out of their twenties.
Jayler – Hate To See It End
These young Brits have their hearts (and wardrobes) in the 70s, and a tour with Deep Purple in the diary for this year. Armed with rock’n’rollers like this bright-eyed number – kicked up with a touch of early Supergrass-esque breeziness – they shouldn’t struggle to pick up some new fans. “Hate To See It End is about that moment when you feel something slipping through your hands,” the band explain, “when you know it matters, but you can’t stop it. It’s raw, it’s honest – and it’s about not following the crowd when everything in you says go your own way.”
Koyo Bloom – Discipline
Previously known as KOYO and leaning further into proggy tendencies, the newly branded Koyo Bloom mix up a gauzy, beguiling alt cocktail on Discipline. What starts out as a simple blues-based guitar line blossoms deftly into a pensive summery delight – light and airy but full of clever touches, interesting vocal harmonies and the sort of emotional shadows found in so much of the best ‘feelgood’ music. It all bodes extremely well for their new album, Distance, coming soon.
Tarja – The Trace Outlives
Few do heavy, black-corsetted theatre with as much feeling and finesse as Tarja Turunen. Inspired by the Japanese phenomenon of “Johatsu” people who deliberately disappear from their lives, The Trace Outlives combines silky symphonic layers with tight, suckerpunch guitars and emotional intensity, Tarja’s elegant soprano soaring, birdlike, over the top of it all. More of that can be found on her new solo album, the snazzily named Frisson Noir, which comes out this month.
Split Dogs – Be Somebody
Part punked up boogie, part pub-rock party and about twenty parts all-inclusive carnage, Be Somebody is kicked up by a raucous video shot at the 49 Social Club in Weston-Super-Mare. Expect leather, pints, a glittering bodybuilder, a woman doing a crossword puzzle and guitar-powered joie de vivre for days. “We put on a decent spread of sausage rolls and cheese and pineapple on sticks,” singer Harry relates, “hired Elvis to perform a set and had a good old knees up. The vibe was Martin Parr meets David Lynch. The music video is a love letter to our community. Loud, brash, sweaty and unapologetically alive! Up the Punx!”
Tom Morello – Adjourn It
Some musicians wear their political colours quietly. Tom Morello is quite clearly not one of those people, and with gnarly bangers like this to show for it, why would he do otherwise? Completed by System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian at the mic (not to mention Morello’s son, Roman, on additional lead guitar duties), Adjourn It makes a catchy opening case for his next solo album, turbocharged by the injustices of our age and a fuckload of moreish riffage. Nice.
The Band Feel – Twice Alive
Hotly-tipped (by us, at least) St. Louis rockers The Band Feel are back with a new single that kicks off with the kind of riff Ritchie Blackmore might have come up with during Rainbow’s heyday, then proceeds to get blusier and wilder, veering into the kind of territory explored by Rival Sons at their most feral. There’s even an insouciant “Woo!” at one point, as if to emphasise that Twice Alive couldn’t be any more fun if it were covered in silly string, glitter and foam.
