Browsing Tag

70s Rock

The Star Prairie Project remind us what old school rock romanticism looks like with ‘Queen Isabella’

Posted on 31 December 2021

The international outfit comprising of artists from the US and Portugal, The Star Prairie Project, have released their nostalgically sweet 2021 album, Shine a Little Light, and that’s exactly what they did on the airwaves with this sentimental array of Beatles-inspired soundscapes.

The mellifluously easy chords in the standout radio-ready single, Queen Isabella, paired with the shamelessly impassioned vocals and lyrics that remind you what old school romanticism sounds like put The Star Prairie Project in the same league as Chris Isaak. Isaak may have set the bar high with Wicked Games, but The Star Prairie Project easily transcended it with the soul in their kaleidoscopically colourful melodies.

After starting with a Neo-western intro and working up to one of the most visceral rock homages to love we have heard this year, Queen Isabella is a triumph of an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish.

Queen Isabella is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

James Sebastian saved our Shipwrecked Soul(s) in his latest 70s rock n roll hit

Posted on 20 December 2021
James Sebastian

After getting hooked on his unforgettably sweet single, Lemon Sunshine, the UK-based solo artist, James Sebastian, has shown us a harsher 70s rock n roll edge in his latest single, Shipwrecked Soul.

While the vintage garagey tones feed the frenzy in the instrumentals, James Sebastian’s raconteur vocal timbre ensures that apathy isn’t an option when you hit play on this unapologetically feel-good hit. The up and coming singer-songwriter found the perfect way to influence his listeners to take their melancholy in their rock n roll stride. In a time when authority and answers are hard to find, it is beyond refreshing to hear an artist with the ability to vindicate our jetsam-like misery so viscerally. That’s before we even move on to his talent at pulling authenticity of vintage rock. So many artists  have left us questioning if that was even possible. Notably, James Sebastian is a diamond in the rough.

Check out James Sebastian on Spotify and Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sandro Cuzzetto – Sign of the Times: Inimitably eccentric progressive psych-rock

Posted on 11 December 2021
Sandro Cuzzetto

Ahead of the release of his 2022 EP, Canadian songwriter and experimentalist, Sandro Cuzzetto, released the boundary-breaking title single, Sign of the Times. I’m rarely left stuck for words, but this consistently evolving melting pot of contrasting texture and tone that lets traditional time signatures fall by the wayside left me speechless.

With the dirty disco grooves, polyphonic scores, indie psych melodies, uplifting Enya vibes, effect-laden vocals and general obscurity, Sign of the Times walks a thin line between insanity and ingenuity but we’re here for it. This bop-worthy track succeeds where so many fail when it comes to offering inimitably vibrant soul.

Check out Sandro Cuzzetto for yourselves via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

the Rec show us the English way in their hypnotic psych-tinged rock track, ‘nettles and dock leaves’.

Posted on 4 December 2021

If you thought you’d heard it all when it comes to post-punk revivals, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the latest EP, ep3: The English Way, from the Rec. Syd Barrett aside, rock-inclined textures are rarely as hypnotically arcane as the transcendental tones in the EP, especially in the lead single, nettles and dock leaves.

In 1981, the Shropshire-based founders of the Rec pioneered their original band, the Assassins, who got a taste of fame and found John Peel’s favour before calling it quits. 30 years later, the duo is split between London and LA, but their transatlantic distance didn’t dilute the chemistry between their melodies. With their freshly formed sound, sonic snapshots of the past tie into the present while colliding with Britishly bleak musical landscapes. It’s so much more than a personal nostalgia-fest. It’s an indulgent time capsule to an era that will be forever revered in musical history.

nettles and dock leaves is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get your blues rock n roll fix with Article 19’s stellar scuzzy hit, Stone Crazy.

Posted on 23 October 2021

Article 19 has been on the rock scene since 2007; with their strongest lineup yet, the Coventry-based outfit is serving up their most raucously robust singles to date.

Their standout single, Stone Crazy, is the perfect introduction to the 70s rock n roll inspired outfit. For the same reasons you fell for the Rolling Stones, Stone Crazy won’t fail to pull you in with the angular bluesy riffs that get plenty of room to breathe in the vintage production that boasts plenty of earworm potential that comes through the clever vocal hooks.

Stone Crazy is the final single to be released from their upcoming album, Without Interference. The official video for Stone Crazy is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Life gave James Sebastian lemons, and he made Lemon Sunshine.

Posted on 9 October 2021

60s psych-pop and 70s rock collide in the latest single to be released by the Exeter-based newcomer James Sebastian. ‘Lemon Sunshine’ is a stridently impassioned single that is viscerally flooded with raw vocal emotion but the dreamy vintage tones of the consistently ascending instrumentals take all of the sting out of the vocal defiance.

If you can imagine the point where the Beatles and the Stone Roses meet in the middle, you’ll get an idea of the kind of refreshing nostalgia James Sebastian is serving here. Lyrically, Sebastian delivered the ultimate post-breakup track that captures that bitter-sweet moment when you’re reminded of your own power and make no bones about taking it back.

Lemon Sunshine is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Dazed Son gets pious in his 70s rock n roll ode, Hail Lord.

Posted on 28 September 2021

You may have seen many rock artists brand themselves as the prodigal sons of rock n roll well, prepare for The Dazed Son’s nostalgic ode to the 70s in his debut album, Crazy, featuring the piously sweet standout single, Hail Lord.

The solo artist brought his sonic vision of becoming a one-man digital rock n roll band to life through the grace of the lockdown in 2020. His crunching over-driven guitars, choral vocals, blazing solos and easier-than-breathing chord progressions allowed plenty of 70s rock fans to find refuge in his unique spin on a retro sound. If anyone has what it takes to dominate the digital realm of rock n roll , it is the Dazed Son.

The Dazed Son’s debut album is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

James Sebastian tells us like it is in ‘Love is only Love’

Posted on 25 August 2021
James Sebastian

70s rock revivalist, James Sebastian, is set to release his psych-tinged single, Love is only Love’, which sees his vocals consistently switching from choral 60s psych harmonies to raucous rock n roll affectionate proclamations which makes the single the perfect balance of fiery and sweet.

With his main inspirations listing Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Harry Styles, the 20-year-old Drama and English student’s diverse sound is sure to resound with pop, rock, indie and psych fans alike. He’s one to watch.

Check out James Sebastian on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The raconteurs of enigmatic garage rock Damn Jackals have released their proto-punk earworm, Lovely Nuthin’.

Posted on 22 July 2021

Outside of New York, garage rock and proto-punk seems to lack the same raucously charming bite; that wasn’t a concern of Brooklyn, NY-based 5-piece Damn Jackals; they eclipsed the frenetically vintage vibe with their latest single, Lovely Nuthin’.

The enigmatic raconteurs of rock n roll take influence from 60s Garage Rock, 70s Glam and CBGB-style-Punk to leave your soul as fuzzy as the lead vocals and guitars. When the chorus hits, the same hook-filled magnetism of modern indie-garage rock outfits such as the Strokes draws you even deeper into the single that every outlier will want on their playlists.

Check out Damn Jackals on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Fauna recollects on disillusionment in pre-COVID times in their alt-indie-rock anthem Didn’t Wanna.

Posted on 21 May 2021
Fauna

With so many big names springing out of the Manchester music scene, breaking alt-indie-rock artist Fauna have some stiff competition but their latest single, Didn’t Wanna, establishes them as an artist worth a spot on your radar and in your gig diary.

Didn’t Wanna was written during lockdown while the fourpiece recollected on those nights out that aren’t worth the Uber fare because the minute you find yourself in a crowded room, there is no place you would rather be but home. Despite the relatable disillusionment, Fauna succeeded in creating a fervent earworm out of Didn’t Wanna. Every introvert will want it on their feel-good playlists.

With sonic angular riffs sweeping through the soundscape that was constructed through influence from Kings of Leon, Peace and Foals along with instrumental stylings of 70s rock and 60s psych-pop, Fauna’s sound in their fourth single hit the airwaves as an endlessly distinctive one.

Instead of crawling out of a mould cast by Manchester icons, Fauna’s constraint-less sound breathes an air of ingenuity into Manchester’s music scene, often stifled by Joy Division, The Fall and the Smiths assimilators. If you needed any additional reason to love the pioneers, they also brewed their own Didn’t Wanna IPA to coincide with the release.

Didn’t Wanna hit the airwaves on May 21st; you can hear it for yourselves via SoundCloud and Spotify.

Connect with Fauna via Instagram and Facebook

Review by Amelia Vandergast