The halls are buzzing here at Rock is the new Roll Hall with a bevy of new music to savor as we zoom into the year.
The Cynz – Heartbreak Time
Coming to you from Brunswick New Jersey The Cynz will have you feeling Joan Jett vibes courtesy of lead singer Cyndi Dawson. “Heartbreak Time” is a retro-style rocker with plenty of earworms.
Sorrows – Out Of My Head
If you have ever sat around wondering what a band would sound like that was a mind-meld of the Stones, Beatles, and The Who and wasn’t Cheap Trick, hip your ears to Sorrows and the single from their latest record “Out Of My Head.”
Brass Camel – Borrowed Time
This gem from Brass Camel is Sly Stone funky, a bit proggy, with a lot of classic rock influences thrown in for good measue.
Blues Pills – What Has This Life Done To You
A bit of a departure from the more psychedelic side of Blues Pills, “What Has This Life Done To You” would make a terrific Bonnie Raitt cover.
Black Eyed Sons – Cowboys In Pinstriped Suits
A tribute to the glam-glitter bands of yore, most notably Mott The Hoople, “Cowboys In Pinstriped Suits features Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Chip Z’Nuff, and Ryan Roxie.
A bit of a slow week on the new release front as artists get ready for the pre-summer avalanche, but we do the work so you don’t have to.
Easy Eye Sound is at it again with Little Barrie and his fuzz-toned single from his upcoming release Electric War.
UK Indie-Punk trio Hotwax unleash their much-anticipated new record Hot Shock on March 7.
And, The Speaker Wars, featuring founding Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers member and drummer Stan Lynch has a long player due out on May 30.
But lets not rest on our musical laurels here. There a five really cool releases queued up to tickle your earbuds.
The Devil Makes Three – Spirits
With their first proper record since 2018’s Chains are Broken, The Devil Makes Three trio still apply their trade on the rails of muscular roots rock.
This time out, Spirits features more stripped-down performances with an ear towards an expression of weariness emanating from trying to keep sane in a troubled world with “Hard Times” pretty much telling it like it is.
“It’s hard, hard, hard times
They’ll charge you dollars
While they’re paying you in dimes
When they said it was going to trickle down
You know that they were lying
Mostly made while Cooper McBean was mourning the loss of his mother, brother, and best friend lamenting “How Come we got to take a bigger hit, just to get half as high.” This one is a collaborative listen from a band that wallows in the trenches with the rest of us.
Cimarron 615 – Cimarron 615
It would be auditorially impossible for a band that contains three former members of Poco and one Flying Burrito Brother to be anything but stellar. And, this latest effort, the sophomore record from the supergroup Cimarron 615, is just that, stellar and sublime in every way.
With a nostalgic mellow country-rock vibe that veers dangerously close to yacht rock in some places, as evidenced by “Fallin’,” the entire proceedings are a hot tub time machine that will take you back to simpler times.
“Butte La Rose” could have been a Don Henley single back in the day and “Night At The Radio” resonates like a late-era Eagles B side.
This one deserves more credit than it is likely to get.
Diamond Dogs and Chris Spedding – Macon Georgia Giant
For a group of renaissance rockers that typically do business in the dark alleys of 70’s British rock and roll to pay homage to Little Richard says a lot about The Diamond Dogs and even more about the king of rock and roll.
With a panoply of hits, deep cuts, and band favorites every note on this record is a scorcher. The opener, “The King Of Rock And Roll” starts things off with a bang, and things never let up all the way to the closer “Bama Lama Bama Loo.”
If this record has you scurrying to reintroduce yourself to Little Richard’s back catalog, job well done.
Split Dogs – Here To Destroy
Recklessly careening into your speakers like Ricky Bobby on a bender, Split Dogs are Lita Ford on speed run through a Motorhead filter.
Punk music like it is supposed to sound like “Monster Truck” is an absolute banger and “Precious Stones” would make The Sex Pistols blush.
This one grabs you by the gonads and doesn’t let up until you end up legs akimbo at the bottom of the black diamond slope.
Perfect Plan – Heart Of A Lion
Just wait long enough and what is old will be new again, and what was once considered lame is now being served at the cool kid’s table. And here, with melodic rock mavens Perfect Plan and their latest record Heart Of A Lion your inner ’80s Survivor jones will be satisfied and then some.
“We Are Heros” climbs out of your cable box MTV style, “Turn On Your Radio” sounds like the epic over the top, in a good way, a monster hit that the band Europe wishes they would have released back in the day, and “Little Miss Danger” would have been a Loverboy smash single right up there with “The Kid Is Hot Tonight.”
Some of the best real rock and roll is coming from Spain, and Rocket Queen is a perfect case in point. Judy Blume leads her band of merry rockets on a cloud of Guns and Roses scented perfume.
The latest single from the Darkness EP Walking Through The Fire. Keep Your ears peeled for the new record Dreams On Toast scheduled to scorch the earth on March 28.
Proving once again that Charley Crockett is incapable of writing a bad song, “Game I Can’t Win” is the latest from his upcoming record Lonesome Drifter scheduled to see the light of ear on March 14.
With an ever changing line-up, and one of the mainstays in the Frontiers Record stable, the Dead Daisies, this time with John Corabi handling the vocal duties, deliver on a proper Aerosmith-worthy rock ballad.
While the world spins around us, there is peace and solace to be found in music. Thankfully, we are living in an age where music is better and more accessible than ever.
Case in point, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown deliver Jerry Lee Lewis with “Bloodshot Baby.”
The high octane Rattlebacks scorch the earth with their Pearl Jam by way of GN’R dusted “How Calm The Silence.”
And, Joanne Shaw Taylor channels her inner Bonnie Raitt with “Hell Of A Good Time.”
And the riches keep getting better. Here are five highly excellent albums to drill into your earholes.
Sam Fender – People Watching
Starting with the openening title track that travels down the highway like the best of Don Henley’s drivable tunes, Sam Fender and his latest, People Watching” is the kind of friendly, all-inclusive record the likes of Bryan Adams and John Fogerty used to make.
Riding on the coattails of his highly excellent 2021 release Seventeen Going Under, this latest release evokes a certain “Springsteenism” in the songwriting as Fender grapples with growing fame and increased expectations.
Patterson Hood – Exploding Trees and Airplane Screams
The blueprint has not changed much for Patterson Hood whether he is driving by with his main gig as head honcho of the Drive-By Truckers, or here on the batch as a solo act.
The Delines-centric other side of the tracks characters are all alive and well here with the sparse instrumentation, often just Hood and his piano adding to the foreboding atmosphere on this one.
With guest sit-ins courtesy of Kevin Morby, Steve Berlin, Lydia Loveless, and Waxahatchee, this one deserves a secluded listen in a safe space.
The Stylistics – Falling In Love With My Girl
Remarkedly, Falling In Love With My Girl with the original members of The Stylistics is more listenable than it really should be. With collaborations-aplenty on this set of original songs, singer Airrion Love seems to be in fine vocal form.
With Elton John original band members Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone setting the foundation there are plenty of notable performances delivered courtesy of Shania Twain, Billy Gibbons, Ray Parker Jr., Tower of Power, and Justin Hawkins from the Darkness. Feel free to slide right on by “Don’t Leave Me Here,” a song that features the vocal prowess, or lack thereof of Gene Simmons.
Give this on a listen, the production is spot-on, and who doesn’t need a bit of Tower of Power in their life?
Mandrake Handshake – Earth-Sized Worlds
If Laura Nyro and Grace Slick had a love child together the resulting spawn might sound a bit like Mandrake Handshake.
Self-described on their various platforms as a multi-dimesional collective showcase of ‘flowerkraut’: a hedonistic brain-frying feast of Krautrock, art-pop and psychedelia, sliced with enigmatic grooves and fearless improvisations, this one is a hippy-dippy feast for the ears.
A grower after several well-induced listens for sure.
The Liminanas – Faded
Lionel and Marie Liminana, the curators of their band The Liminanas have birthed a band that is tailor-made for a Tarantino soundtrack or a vampire movie.
This one features a bunch of guests including Bobby Gillespie, Jon Spencer, and French actor Bertrand Belin all adding to the sultry-cool atmosphere.
Spend some time with “Space Baby.” Where else are you going to hear Bridgette Bardot’s classic single “Contact” wedged into a song?
Come for the Francophile swagger of Bertrand Belin on “J’adore le monde,” but stay for the epic Francoise Hardy cover, “Ou Va La Chance.”
The year is zooming along with great new releases all over the place.
“Lady On Fire” is the over the top third single from glam-prog rocker Bobbie Dazzle from her latest record Fandabidozi.
Robert Jon and the Wreck are “Sittin’ Pretty with their high-octane single from their upcoming long player.
And, Elton John and Brandi Carlile are set to release a proper great album in April.
But don’t stop there. Here are five really cool albums put forward for your listening pleasure.
Crazy Lixx – Thrill Of The Bite
With a slightly revamped band following the departure of drummer Joel Cirera leaving only one original band member since their debut in 2007, Crazy Lixx is out with their latest long player of unflinching, never wavering Sunset Strip sleaze rock. And it’s glorious.
The opener “Highway Hurricane” is AC/DC on steroids complete witj just the right nuance of cowbell, “Midnight Rebel” could have been a great call and response early era Bon Jovi song, and who can argument with the sentiment expressed on “Who Said Rock And Roll Is Dead”
If you are looking for a less than nuanced guilty pleasure listen that will take you back to the good time freewheeling days, the swinging Swedes in Crazy Lixx will scratch that itch.
Honey Crisp – Yesteryears
Hailing from Helsinki Poland, Honey Crisp draws from the melodic side of the singer-songwriter esthetic that was popular back in the day.
Wandering from a less vocally talented Brian Wilson to a lower register Leo Sayer and a Greg Kihn clone, the record carries a bit of nostalgia about it while still maintaining a certain freshness.
Thankfully, just when the waters are starting to venture into yacht-rock territory the course is triangulated into a smooth ride of 60’s crooner proportions that would make Peter Noone blush.
The Altons – Heartache In Room 14
The Altons, and their latest record Heartache In Room 14, just might be the salve that is needed to cure all of the negativity swirling around the world right now.
With a blend of a Soul and Jazz infusion, it is somewhat incongruous to believe that this record was birthed in 2025 and not in the back of a dimly lit Soho Jazz bar with a drugged-up Niba Simone commanding the smoke-filled room.
The musicianship here is on point. The production is not pristine but is perfectly tuned to the retro vibes that the record is going for.
This one is a refreshing listen meant to be heard in one sitting.
The Delines – Mr. LuckMs. Doom
The Delines, courtesy of Willy Vlautin, crown prince of the dour, disenfranchised, and the down-and-outers, are back with another set of vignettes that give you a glimpse of what it looks like on the other side of the street. If you don’t already live there that is.
With Amy Boone providing the world-worn vocals, the listener is presented with a woman who is on the lam after robbing a drug operation in “Maureen’s Missing,” a failed criminal and a housekeeper in the title track, and “Nancy & The Pensacola Pimp,” where a woman takes revenge on her pimp.
Listen to this live-affirming set of Raymond Chandler-noir short stories set to music in a leather chair with a good whisky and a cigar.
Spiders – Sharp Objects
There is a freshness about the Swedish rock band Spiders that is contrary to its classic rock roots. Drawing inuences from 80’s Sunset Strip, British New Wave, and Garage rock scenes, their latest record rides the rails with the smoothness of a bullet train.
“What’s Your Game (Miss Insane) could have been an Adam Ant B Side, Opener “Rock ‘n’ Roll Band” has a bit of Faces by way of Boston about it, and “Fun In The Sun,” courtesy of front-woman Anne-Sofie Hoyle’s vocal prowess is The Go Go’s on steroids.
Spanning era’s genres, and styles, this is a band that 13 years in may just be hitting their stride.
Does the world need another 70’s influenced rock and roll band from Sweden? After a few curated listens of the music of Spiders the verdict is in. Guilty as charged.
Rock Is The New Roll 