Tracks Of The Week: new music and videos from Halestorm, Inglorious and more...

Tracks Of The Week

Last week’s winners were Hellbound Hearts followed by Stone Sour in second place and Bad Company in third. This week we’ve got the likes of Halestorm, The Magpie Salute and Inglorious doing battle for the title of Track Of The Week, but who deserves to win? Listen in, then vote for your favourite at the foot of this page.

For now, here’s last week’s winner Hellbound Hearts:

The Magpie Salute – Omission

Ooooh that riffage is lush. The younger Robinson brother/ex Black Crowes man has struck gold with the Magpie Salute, and their proverbial star continues to grow with this bluesy rock’n’roll belter. Fuelled by rugged, hearty guitars, and stellar vocals from rock n’ soul wonderman John Hogg, it’s all good kinds of heavy.

Halestorm – Dear Daughter

Lzzy Hale addresses young girls everywhere with this super-sweet ballad from Into The Wild Life – now complete with new video, packed with slow, moody shots and go-get-’em messages. Heartstring-tugging, and on just the right side of schmaltzy, it’s Halestorm at their poppiest but no less powerful for it.

Don Broco – Pretty

There’s nothing ‘pretty’ about this new one from Don Broco – the most biting, badass rock outfit to come out of Bedford since…well, ever, pretty much. Blood, horror and DIY face transplants come together in one brilliantly macabre wedding scene, teamed with brutal, hooky hard rock. Ace stuff.

Inglorious – Black Magic

More gloriously (or should that be ‘ingloriously’??!! … I’ll leave now…) robust, lung-busting classic rockage from Nathan James and his band of merry men; harking back to the heydays of Whitesnake, Purple, Zeppelin etcetera etcetera. Complete with chorus the size of Brazil. We’ll take it.

Blacktop Mojo – Where The Wind Blows

Straight in, no messing around, this juicy T-Bone steak cut from Blacktop Mojo suggests they may have the tools to become America’s Next Big Hard Rock Thing; in manner of Black Stone Cherry, Alter Bridge and the like.

Suck The Honey – Bite Yr Tongue

This was a fantastically punchy little surprise when it cropped up on our radar this week. Taken from Suck The Honey’s debut album All Having Failed, it’s a deliciously gnarly mish-mash of swaggering guitar, avant-rock fuzziness and catchy chorus. It tails off a little towards the end, but it’s still a cracking track – bursting with promise.

Paceshifters – Stranger

Dutch trio make some excellent grungy rock noise on Stranger (an ode to guitarist/vocalist Seb’s ex-girlfriend). Heavy, shouty and soaring in all the right places, the overall effect is both stirring and fist-pumping.

Justin Johnson – RumbleStrippin’

Justin Johnson has good hippie hair and does insane, rootsy things with cigar box guitars (and many other guitars). He was almost named Robert Johnson, until his parents changed their minds at the last minute (NOTHING to do with the blues legend, apparently…). Part old-school bluegrass, part shit-kicking roots rock, RumbleStrippin’ is a great introduction to Justin and his countrified world.

Polly Glass
Deputy Editor, Classic Rock

Polly is deputy editor at Classic Rock magazine, where she writes and commissions regular pieces and longer reads (including new band coverage), and has interviewed rock's biggest and newest names. She also contributes to Louder, Prog and Metal Hammer and talks about songs on the 20 Minute Club podcast. Elsewhere she's had work published in The Musician, delicious. magazine and others, and written biographies for various album campaigns. In a previous life as a women's magazine junior she interviewed Tracey Emin and Lily James – and wangled Rival Sons into the arts pages. In her spare time she writes fiction and cooks.