Last week, Blackpool rockers A’priori launched an appeal to their followers on social media.
"We have something to ask from you beautiful, beautiful people," they wrote. "We're currently in first place for Classic Rock's track of the week with our new single Voodoo Love, please help us out to win this."
The plea worked. A’priori fans voted in their literal droves, and it was enough to keep the equally enthusiastic fanbase of Joanne Shaw Taylor from giving her top spot, with Larkin Poe in third place. So congratulations to A’priori for showing that fan engagement really works. Because it really does.
This week's choices are below, and the ballot box is down there at the bottom of the page, awaiting your ❌.
Orange Goblin - Ascend The Negative
Need a mighty, motivational riff-monster to kickstart your week? Enter Orange Goblin, here to provide just that with this latest taste of their excellent new album Science, Not Fiction. “It's a song about breaking old habits, breaking cycles and embracing change, forging new routines, new outlooks and new ambitions,” the band say. “As human beings we all have a relatively short existence on this tiny blue dot in the universe so we all need to make every day count.”
The Southern River Band - Chasin’ After Love
Taking the sweet, glammy 70s stomp of Thin Lizzy and Status Quo and shaking it up with an Aussie drawl, Chasin’ After Love finds these rabble-rousers from Western Australia on oomphy yet tender, yearning form – on the back of a warmly received run of European and UK shows. Another good reason to check out their new album, D.I.Y, when it comes out on 16 August. Old school, goodtime rock’n’roll, done right.
Bones UK - Fix
A strutting, jagged swirl of sharp-edged rock’n’roll and 90s electronica, Fix finds Rosie Bones and Carmen Vandenberg diving into the dynamics of a relationship ‘where both partners believe they can heal each other's wounds, only to end up causing more harm’. Taken from anticipated second album, SOFT – which was written over the last five years in London, Los Angeles, Chicago, Texas and beyond – it builds on the eclectic yet clear, fierce identity of their debut, where Trent Reznor-style industrialism met vintage blues-based hooks.
Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts - Blood On The Stage
A contemplative, acoustically rooted one with a bit of a Stairway To Heaven edge, Blood On The Stage finds former Biters mastermind Tuk Smith mixing his blue-collar storyteller inspirations (Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, etc) with the cocktail of classic rock, 90s power pop and tales of working-class America that’s fuelled his forthcoming album with the Restless Hearts, Rogue To Redemption.
Otis - Last Fool In The Line
It’s easy to see why Billy Gibbons liked these Kentucky rockers, if the loose, bluesy, old-soul swagger of Last Fool In The Line is anything to go by – deliciously swampy, late 60s/early 70s rock n’ soul fare, just the right side of ramshackle. “Musically this song is a love letter to the things we loved about the late 60’s era. It's kind of like the Southern soul of Stax and Atlantic Records meets the English rock of Humble Pie and The Faces.”
Spread Eagle - Subway To The Stars
Accompanied by a video filmed below the mean streets of New York's Coney Island, Spread Eagle's Subway To The Stars finds the band sounding as fresh and zesty as a freshly squeezed lime, despite their 35 years in showbiz. The song kinda sounds like Rob Halford gone all Alice In Chains, and the video amps up the excitement levels. “Our most popular video is Switchblade Serenade,” says vocalist Ray West. “In that clip, two cops harassed and chased us through the streets of NYC. For the ‘Subway to the Stars’ video, Frankie Fulleda had the hilarious idea of turning the tables 180 degrees. He put the band in control, portraying them as an undercover vice squad."
Weather Systems - Do Angels Sing Like Rain?
If there's any band we've missed over the last few years it's Anathema, who announced an indefinite hiatus during Covid times. Co-founder Daniel Cavanagh has been quietly releasing uncannily precise cover versions of songs by the likes of Blue Öyster Cult, Muse and Dire Straits over the last year or so on Soundcloud, but now his Weather Systems project is back with some original material. Do Angels Sing Like Rain? doesn't veer too far from the latter-day Anathema template, but there's nothing wrong with that, and its epic, racing sweep gladdens our tiny hearts. An album, Ocean Without A Shore, is out in September.
Crossbone Skully - Everyone's On Dope
Another song to add to the list of those that wouldn't exist without AC/DC, Crossbone Skully's Everyone's On Dope sounds like the kind of song that might exist if biology allowed Bon Scott and Brian Johnson to have a baby together. It's got a mighty riff, a thudding rhythm, and some "Dope!" chants that remind us of prime DC. Executive producer "Mutt" Lange allegedly came out of retirement to work on the band's upcoming debut album, and if this is anything to go by it'll be more fun than a kitten-juggling contest.
