As much as we love the idea of a snakeskin parachute, we can't imagine it would pack down well enough to be a feasible alternative to ripstop nylon. Nonetheless, that hasn't stopped Luke Morley from winning our latest Tracks Of The Week competition with a song of the same name. So congratulations to him.
Following in Morley's snakeskin footsteps were The Cold Stares, whose Evil Eye beat out stiff competition from Cardinal Black's Breathe. But we've already moved on, and you'll find another eight examples of rockin' righteousness below. We hope you like them.
Airbourne - Gutsy
Six quiet years (music-wise anyway) after their last record, 2019’s Boneshaker, the OG 21st century classic rock shitkickers return with a big ol’ AC/DC-sized swing of a track, and it’s pretty fucking tasty. Part rock track, part life philosophy of sorts (‘It’s how you live, it’s how you die…’ Joel declares mid-song) Gutsy is a raw, rollicking barrel load of falling-down-a-mountain-while-on-fire-with-a-beer-and-guitar-in-hand mania and A-chord boogieing, good and pacey, just crazy enough and still tight as a drum. Airbourne doing what they do best, in other words.
Creeper - Headstones
Back with a swish of their capes, fresh black manicures, a shoutalong chorus and galloping Iron Maiden-grade riffs the size of castles, the theatrical hard rock vampires set the scene for the follow-up to 2023’s Sanguivore. We loved the Jim Steinman-courting pomp of that record, so the fact that the new one is called Sauguivore II: Mistress Of Death – and that Headstones is an absolute delight – feels extremely promising. “This is the band at its most over-the-top and unashamedly dramatic,” blood-curdler-in-chief Willian Von Ghould says. “But as our hero Jim Steinman once said, “Sometimes going all the way is just the start'.”
Wytch Hazel - Elements
“Elements is a nod to both 70’s FM radio rock and bands who experimented with interesting and progressive ideas such as BÖC and Kansas,” vocalist/guitarist/WH mastermind Colin Hendra says of this brooding but forward-kicking rocker from the Lancastrians’ upcoming album V: Lamentations, its rich, beautifully crafted layers of guitar, voice and beats pulling you in and not letting go – woven around lyrics about the enormity of the elements, and our powerlessness against them.
Joanne Shaw Taylor - Love Lives Here
This gorgeous number might be our favourite from the Black Country-turned-Michigan-turned-Tennessee singer/guitar-slinger’s game-raising new album Black & Gold, so we’re very happy to see it getting the single treatment here. Think golden summer evenings and Tedeschi Trucks Band vibes, with JST’s huskily lovelorn vocals (imbued with a flattering dash of grit) and a liquid flourish of Carol King in the keys. Beautiful solo, too – one of those stretched-out but always engaging affairs that earns every note.
Jacob Reese Thornton - She’s A Mannequin
Happy-go-lucky but whip-smart and full seamless little shifts in tone, the young guitarist/singer/songwriter’s newbie grows from sunny acoustic strums into a spiral of alt-rock, punk-pop and power pop colours, all of it hinged on an earworm melody that evokes memories of early Struts tunes and 00s American alt/pop punk curveballs like Something Corporate. One to keep your eyes on.
Whiskey Myers - Tailspin
Texan firebrands Whiskey Myers have another winner from their upcoming album, Whomp Whack Thunder (coming out in September). An urgent, incisive yet swaggering mid-tempo banger, Tailspin is the latest of what’s clearly been a fruitful relationship with Nashville super-producer Jay Joyce – a country guy with a rock’n’roll heart. “This album’s about where we’ve been, what we’ve lived and the scars we earned along the way,” lead guitarist John Jeffers says, “and I think Whomp Whack Thunder might just be our most fearless album yet.”
We Lost The Sea - Everything Here is Black and Blinding
Australian post-rockers We Lost The Sea made their first-ever proper video for Everything Here Is Black And Blinding, and very good it is, too. Even more impressive is the song itself, which does that quiet-quiet-quiet-louder-louder-CRUSHINGLY-LOUD thing so beloved of the post-rock fraternity, but there's real tension and drama in the build-up, and the LOUD part sounds like Niagara Falls being hurled into the Grand Canyon while Jupiter crashes into Saturn. In a good way, obviously. New album A Single Flower is out next month.
Hurricanes - Bird Is Gone
This week's edition of Look! It's A Band Who Appear To Have Time-Travelled From The 1970s To Be Here features Hurricanes, who've dropped in from São Paulo, Brazil with some live-in-the-studio footage of their song The Bird’s Gone. There's a full set of seventies finery on show, with wide-brimmed hats and paisley shirts and long hair and facial fuzz galore, but it all comes together convincingly, and frontman Rodrigo Cezimbra knows his way around a song. If you like what you hear, another two follow.
