Last week’s winners were The Dives, followed by Junkyard Dolls in second place and Necromandus in third. Well done to them all. But who’s rocking the hardest/coolest/tastiest/bestest this week? We’ve throughly enjoyed ingesting this smorgasboard of new tunes, and hope you do too. And don’t forget to vote for your favourite at the foot of this page
But first, let’s have a listen to last week’s addictive winning track from The Dives (which we might be doing some desk-dancing to right now…):
Triggerfinger – Flesh Tight
We like these Belgian rockers, so were delighted to find that their new single – and the first taste of their upcoming new album – is a total winner. Stylish and groovy, with a dash of garagey grit, it’s music to get you pumped for a night out/social occasion/feat of courage, when you need that extra little push of confidence.
Otherkin – Enabler
The output from these Irish upstarts keeps getting better. Moodily soaring and assured, Enabler adds mature, arena-friendly oomph to the Stooges-meet-QOTSA-esque rock’n’roll we’ve heard from them so far. We’re looking forward to the album, currently set for release later this year.
Hadi – Like A Stone
Of all the Chris Cornell tributes that have cropped up across the internet in the last week or so (and there have been many, unsurprisingly) this is our favourite. Audioslave’s uptempo highpoint Like A Stone becomes a heart-breaking acoustic ballad in the hands of Lebanese singer Hadi, and it’s beautiful.
Biters – Stone Cold Love
Ladies and gentleman, we’re delighted to present T.Rex! Erm, sorry… Biters! Stone Cold Love doesn’t so much flirt with Marc Bolan as lavishly make out with him, but that’s no bad thing in our eyes. This is a first-class banger, oozing the kind of groovy, come-hither charisma that Bolan would doubtless have loved.
Benjamin Booker – Believe
New Orleans-turned-LA resident Booker seems to have found his mojo on second album, Witness – specifically his frontman mojo, as this super-cool piece of gravelly soulfulness confirms. Joined by a bigger band, strings and backing singers, he steps away from the guitar in favour of his most confident, convincing performance yet. Lush.
Broken Teeth – 4 On The Floor
No it’s not a lost Bon Scott-era AC/DC demo, it’s shit-kicking Texan dudes Broken Teeth and they’re here to partay… or so we assume, given the imminently danceable, hooky nature of this raucous shot in the arm of no-arsing-around rock’n’roll. Original? Hell no, but sometimes total familiarity (well-executed familiarity, that is) is just what you need.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Baby Got Gone
As a child Kenny met blues guitar icon Stevie Ray Vaughan, and it set him on a musical course that’s seen him rise through the ranks of guitar heroism – to the point where fretboard kings like Joe Satriani now sing his praises. Baby Got Gone is a swaggering, swashbuckling highlight from his new record Lay It On Down, which proves he has a
Roger Waters – The Last Refugee
This number is taken from the ex-Floyd singer/bassist/songwriter’s new solo album, Is This The Life We Really Want?. Apparently 25 years away from making solo records hasn’t done him too much harm; as you’d expect from anything Waters-shaped this wears its political overtones on its sleeve, but remains a sonically masterful, thoughtfully composed piece of music.
