With Hellraisers & Vampires, KK Wilde is able to bring 1980s hair metal back to the fore. On this single, there’s a gritty set of vocals, sizzling guitar riffs, and booming drums all seeking dominion. KK Wilde ensures that the chorus buries itself deep into the minds and hearts of listeners. The band creates a cohesive single here with equal amounts of technical prowess and alluring humanity. A guitar solo…
Jeff Liberman’s “The Windy City” is a hard-rocking pop track that is able to tie together Corrosion of Conformity with Don Henley. The sizzling guitar riffs blend with horns to make for a discordant sound that showcases the hellish landscape of the titular area. The instrumental bridge showcases some serious chops; we love the switch over to a more hopeful narrative during The Windy City’s second half. The production is…
Angel Music Lover starts out in a very deliberate, thoughtful style. There’s a bit of memory, a whole lot of sadness, and it is this honest approach that will ensure that fans stick around until the song’s end. The production is spot-on during Angel Music Lover, building up as Simmons winds up each stanza without overwhelming the delicate approach adopted. There’s a surprising depth to the song as well; listeners…
My Appreciation is one of the more interesting spoken word efforts we’ve heard. The backing instgrumentatrion blends sweeping synthesizers with sequenced drums, acting as a supportive base upon which Ta Mi Ko’s prose can lie. The unique delivery presented here is a part Yoko Ono, a part of Gil Scott-Haron. There’s a bit of harmony presented by Ta Mi Ko here, making for a fuller composition than we typically experience…
Davie Simmons’ new single Traffic Disruptor has one of the most unique sounds we’ve heard this year. With a video that has tremendous cinematic quality, what Simmons does here is truly a multi-media experience. There’s a bit of Arthur Brown, a bit of disco, and some funk scattered within the song. The vocal range of Davie is something to behold; it’s truly something that both ferries the narrative of the…
On Shine Your Light, Amanda Davey is able to craft a truly timeless track that showcases deep faith. Her vocals are provided a boost through taut and engrosdsing instrumentation, rendering the track into something that can easily play on CCM stations from the 1990s until today. Everything experienced during Shine Your Light works towards contributing to a mighty whole. It is this cohesion that ensures Amanda Davey is able to…
Came Out A Beast begins with a killer backing beat that calls back to the halycon days of the Dungeon Family. Flau’jae’s rapid-fire flow is the opposite of this more chill and laid-back sound. The song will have listeners bopping along, while the single’s Lil’ Wayne feature is a sea change from what had preceded it. Wayne’s bars on Came Out A Beast are sharp, witty, and give the song…
On Las Vegas Alien, Chris Barclay is able to create a wholly-engrossing epic that requires fans to strap on their headphones to hear each and every twist that is deftly included. The unique vocal flair of Barclay ensures that Las Vegas Alien is able to stand out boldly among hard rock, progressive, and even alternative music genres. By switching approaches at a regular basis, Barclay makes Las Vegas Alien into…
The narrative that is built out during Edwin Cohen’s Alexander’s Messiah is something that will keep fans’ attention throughout the entirety of the song’s run time. The vocals are able to both lay out this melody and contribute to the overall arrangements. The range that the vocals achieve here are amazing, with the dulcet tones standing aloongside performers like The Beatles and They Might Be Giants. The production of Alexander’s…
Ocean Breeze is the new single from Porter Block. This single calls back to the surf rock of the early 1960s, albeit with a much more deep and intricate backing instrumentation. The video (embedded below) further builds up this comparison. Listeners will have to put the track on replay before they hear each twist and turn that the act has placed within the single’s run time. There’s a certain timeless…
Bhloom’s Doomscroll is an interesting track that builds upon 1990s metal like Fear Factory and Sepultura while bringing in death metal (e.g. Cradle of Filth) and even some of the more melodic metal genres. This eclectic mix will pique listeners’ interests throughout Doomscroll’s run time. All aspects of Bhloom’s latest are technically proficient and ultimately engrossing. We’re partiuclarly fond of the sizzling guitar work that bubbles up at around the…
Do it Big is a powerful anthem, the latest from hitmakers HVRMNY, that will bury its harmonies deep into the minds and hearts of listeners even after a single play. The confidence of the vocals works well with sizzling guitar lines and authoritative drum sequences. There’s a pop sensibility that is built out during Do It Big that will make playlist and rotation placement a no-brainer. Check out the single and…
Pistols At Dawn’s “Not Sorry” immediately brings an intensity that few bands can achieve. The taut arrangements present on the band’s new single make Not Sorry into something that could easily gain radio attention. With nods to Deftones and Seether with a bit of the gutteral heaviness of mid-career Pantera, the act gives all fans of hard rock something to sink their teeth into. We love the sizzling guitar bridge…
Summer Girl has an absolutely timeless sound, with The High Plains Drifters linking together Roy Orbison, Jimmy Buffett, and a bit of later Beach Boys. Including steel drums to the band’s traditional guitars, drum, and bass is a massive victory here, as this song is able to expand upon the HPD’s inimitable style while keeping things absolutely within the band’s wheelhouse. The video (below) does a fantastic job in illustrating…
747 has some of the most intense flows we’ve heard from any rap music this year. There’s barely any time to breathe during 747’s runtime, keeping heads bopping as the booming bass beats keep shaking speakers. There’s a timeless sound to this track, a savvyness that ensures that fans of any distinct era can appreciate what Kid Bode and Kash GoKrazy are doing here. With a video that keeps up…
Mind Games, the latest track from Ben E. Davis will immediately catch fans’ attention. The charismatic vocals are matched well with a bouncy beat, as Davis blends a contemporary sound with a retro style. The range that Ben achieves on the track is substantial; he’s able to both build up a narrative while providing the piano, horns, and drums further melodic complexity. With nods to performers like Bruno Mars and…
Future Me is the latest effort from Connecticut’s daFinchi, representing considerable evolution. The track is able to effortlessly shift through different musial styles, with nods to more ethereal rap music, pop, and even hints of country before the song ceases to play. With supreme confidence that exudes through this single, daFinchi is able to catch the attention of listeners. There’s an honesty here that is hard to locate in most…
On Outlaws, Honey Trap are able to create some hard-hitting rock that blends together the late grunge of acts like Alice in Chains with acts like Heart and Audioslave. Confident guitars, splashy drums and supersonic vocals unite to make something that will tattoo itself deep into the minds of anyone fortunate enough to be listening in. Outlaws has just enough in the way of country-rock in its DNA that even…
Thankful For You is a hopeful pop-tinged track that will have listeners singing along after their first experience with the single. Nods to U2, Maroon 5, and Coldplay can be picked up here, while the bright vocals that bubble up after the chorus add mightily to the overall composition. Thankful For You is a track that we can see bubbling up on radio rotation throughout the fall. Check out the…
Athens, Georgia has been known as a hub for great music over several decades. Heart of Pine continues that tradition with their high-powered fusion of a handful of rootsy genres and keen, often quite fun, songwriting that never loses its freshness. Their second full-length collection Southern Soul Revival hits the streets as the band is nearing their 10th anniversary and should solidify their standing as one of the best musical acts working…
