Category: Artists We Like

Album of the Day: Tremendous – Relentless

Tremendous – Relentless (4 out of 5)

One of the best Glam Rock debut records to come out in quite some time, at least since the Struts’ Everybody Wants when Luke Spiller first hit our ear-waves, and this one is destined to be a keeper. The album pulls no punches in introducing you to the band opening-up with a three-song salvo of their previously released singles, Wondermints all of them with “Don’t Leave Our “Love (Open For Closing),” “Like Dreamers Do,” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Satellite” all having you at hello.

Sort of combining the more bombastic sound of The Strokes with the coolest elements of ’70s Suzi Quattro Glam, every song is well crafted, hooks-aplenty, and with a surprise around every turn song after song. The real beauty of this Glamtastic record is that it combines the gritty Pop-Glam sounds of contemporary bands in the mode of The Killers while all the while keeping their cosmic boots firmly entrenched on the Mott the Hoople, T Rex, and David Bowie Party train.

This is not your grandfather’s Bay City Rollers Glam. We have already got this one on our the shortlist for Rock and Roll album of the year.

 

 

 

Album of the Day: Ocean Alley – Lonely Diamond

Ocean Alley – Lonely Diamond (5 out of 5)

If ever there was a band that literally sounds like the geography of where they are from Australian band Ocean Alley would fit that bill perfectly. Combining psychedelic overtones, surf guitar, and ’70s Pop you can almost feel the wind and sense the surf crashing on the beach as each song swells and drifts into the next.

The touchpoints here may be obvious with the bending notes of David Gilmour and the languid riffs of Pink Floyd front and center, but this one goes deeper than that. The swirling “Tombstone” has a bit of Supertramp in its DNA, “Up In There” soars and meanders with a more contemporary feel, and “Stained Glass” is a blissful epic that would have fit quite nicely on the Breakfast In America Album.  There is even a touch of Little River Band in “All Worn Out,” a ballad that is to our ears the best of the lot.

For extra credit go back and spend some time with their 2018 album, Chiaroscuro, a record that had four singles make it onto the triple j Hot 100, the Aussie equivalent of Billboard.

Album of the Day: Jet Jaguar – Endless Nights

Who knew that one of the newest and most exciting New Metal bands to come around in a heck of a long time would be from Cancun, Mexico. On this, the band’s much-anticipated debut album, the band is more than meeting the lofty expectations set for them after becoming the first-ever Hispanic-American group to win the Wacken Open Air Metal Battle in Germany.

Drawing influences from the ’80s themed Metal bands with a pinch of Glam and Melodic Rock threw in to satisfy the faint of heart, the DNA of MTV bands the likes of Dokken, Kiss, Winger, Motley Crue, early Skid Row along with Judas Priest in their heavier moments, is the order of the day. The singer Max Mendoza with the looks of a Hispanic Michael Hutchence throws his voice out there in the Axl or Myles Kennedy range and takes total command of the stage in their live performances. “Blinding Lights,” the first single out of the gate is a scorcher, and even the two songs on the record sung in Spanish are ear-catching and cool with “Tormenta” as one of the highlights of the record that will be a clear favorite when the band hits the road for their South American tour in 2021.

 

Album of the Day: Stephen Dale Petit – 2020 Visions

Stephen Dale Petit (4.5 out of 5)

It seems that California based guitar player Stephen Dale Petit has waited for his entire career to produce this record that is a mini-masterpiece and a master class in what modern Blues Rock should be, and where it is headed. And this, complete with album artwork from Klaus Voorman, the artist who created The Beatles’ Revolver cover, is, by all accounts, his own personal best and has the potential for Grammy consideration in the Blues category. Joe Bonamassa may get all the press these days, But this guitar slinger that has already made a name for himself on the other side of the pond can easily stand fret for fret with his idol.

With about as diverse a palet of songs as you will find, every Blues nugget presented here stands alone. One second the sonic wonder of Stevie Ray hits you between the ears on “Tinderbox,” and in the next breath all hell breaks loose with the snarling Clash influenced title track on “2020 Visions.” The nuanced slow burn of “The Ending of the End” brings to mind both Kings, Freddie and B.B., and “Steppin’ Out” would hold up quite spectacularly at the crossroads battling it out with the devil for the soul of the song.

Anthems are not left out of the mix, and “Soul of a Man,” a song that features Shemekia Copeland, shares a lot of DNA with “Beds are Burning” and will be a call and response staple on the festival circuit this year. If there is a festival circuit this year, that is. There are no throwaway tunes on this one. “Zombie Train” may be the weakest of the lot, not surprising given the song title, but beyond that, this album is a real page-turner. Stay with all nine minutes of “The Fall of America” churning, burning apocalypse-blues plays as legit at it can get.