Browsing Tag

Blues Rock

Cam Schnell sings the Movin’ On Blues in his latest decade-spanning hit

Posted on 1 June 2021

‘Movin On Blues’ is the latest scuzzed-up blues-rock single released by the archaically-inspired artist Cam Schnell who pulls inspiration from different genres and decades to create contemporary hits that make our modern existence one a little less disconnected.

With Movin’ On Blues, you get the ultimate redemption story told through whiskey-soaked vocals that groove along with the rockabilly walking rhythms and hints of 70s psych-rock. The single offers the anthemic furore that you’d expect from any self-respecting rock n roll artist in 2021. If you find space on your playlists for the Black Keys and the Jim Jones Revue with their revivalist sounds, you’ll also want to make room for Cam Schnell’s retro magnetism.

Movin’ On Blues is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Borrowed Souls hit the ‘Killswitch’

Posted on 7 May 2021
Borrowed Souls

Borrowed Souls started out life, in 2016, as a covers band taking in the likes of Portishead, The Black Keys, and Alabama Shakes. As sometimes happens when a musical chemistry is formed between members, they realised they’d got something between them, and started writing their own original material. Finding their own, signature sound – a lo-fi mixture of jazzy, soulful blues-rock – the trio put together their debut EP, ‘Baxter’s Kitchen’, following up now with their debut full-length album, ‘Epiphany and Revelation’, ‘from which Killswitch’ – their debut ‘proper’ single release – is taken.

‘Killswitch’, then, is exactly that – bluesy, soulful, rocky, chilled yet powerful; opening up with some delicate guitar arpeggios, ‘Killswitch’ sounds exactly like something from the Sons Of Anarchy or Strike Back soundtracks, that gruff, vaguely Americana-tinged rock in the vein of The Forest Rangers, Billy Valentine, Mark Stone, or the Shapeshifters, but with a modern twist: Laid-back, groovy, swaggering alt-blues-rock – think ‘Short Change Hero’ by The Heavy, The Black Keys, or The Revivalists, and you’re not far wrong.

You can check out ‘Killswitch’, and the rest of the ‘Epiphany And Revelation’ album, here, and follow Borrowed Souls on Facebook and Twitter.

Review by Alex Holmes

Find catharsis in our hyperNormalised world with Cosmic Order’s searing protest track ‘Burn It All Down’

Posted on 6 April 2021
Cosmic Order

If turning on the news leaves you with the wish to see the corrupt economic system crash as the pathological liars we call politicians are held accountable, Cosmic Order’s old school rock track, ‘Burn It All Down’, is definitely for you.

After seeing the duality between the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan compared to the raw beauty of the Sicilian countryside, the one-man-machine, Angelo Silvio DiPippo found himself holding a unique perspective, which he has shared through his latest album, ‘Duality’.

Burn it All Down is the perfect example of the awakening tracks that you will find on his latest LP. Along with the tight rock n roll grooves, you’ll hear lyrics serving an essential reminder that, for the most part, we’re sleepwalking through a hyper normalised hellscape.

Burn It All Down can be streamed and purchased via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mark Millar sings the psych-tinged blues in the standout single from their sophomore album ‘Killer’

Posted on 7 March 2021

After honing-in on their craft in popular UK touring bands, Mark Millar finally made their debut in 2019 with the solo album ‘On the Journey’. Inspiration has been flowing ever since, leading to the release of their sophomore album, ‘Take Me to the River’, featuring the stunning spin on psych-tinged blues rock ‘Killer’.

Lofty blues guitars perfectly complement the 70s style rock vocals which bring a Jim Morrison kick to the soundscape which allows Mark Millar to humbly show his lifetime of experience perfecting blues bends.

You can practically hear vultures circling above the deserty full-bodied semi-orchestral instrumental arrangement which allows classical strings to pull off the intricate soulful progressions which will serenade you as much as the vocals.

You can check out Mark Millar’s album Take Me to the River via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Catt Christine, lead singer from The Freedom Ledges, shares debut solo single ‘Let’s Begin’

Posted on 7 March 2021
Catt Christine

If a CV fronting LA blues/rock mainstays The Freedom Ledges, your own Catt and the Haunted Blues, and Mojo Sonic, isn’t enough, on ‘Let’s Begin’ Catt Christine teams up with LA Funk/Soul artist and multiple award winner Cliff Beach and producer Alex Romero for this powerful slice of soul-inspired blues rock. Christine’s Grace Slick/Alannah Myles/Alison Mosshart rich vocal tears from the speakers, alternately gruff and raucous and soft and sensual, sitting atop the distorted guitar, grooving bassline, and brushed Texas shuffle drums.

Having to resort to remote recording due to the pandemic restrictions is never easy, but to get a genre like this to sound this organic, fluid, and spontaneous takes some doing; making it sound as if all the musicians are jamming in one room requires some serious production skill, yet with ‘Let’s Begin’ you can imagine the groove, Persian rugs, candles and throws, and some serious grins from the players. That’s the vibe the track conjures up, all down-home swagger and serious soul-groove. If this is just the ‘beginning’ for Christine then it bodes extremely well for what comes next.

You can hear ‘Let’s Begin’ across all major streaming platforms from February 12th, with a pre-save via Distrokid. In the meantime, check out Catt Christine on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

D. Marin Perez – Los Angeles: 60s psych pop-tinged blues

Posted on 27 February 2021
D. Marin Perez

Through exposure to the Beatles and Mormon hymns in their formative years, Cuban-American singer-songwriter, D. Marin Perez’s signature sound is laden with soul so strident it practically shimmers.

“Los Angeles” is the first single to be released from their 2021 album ‘Change Is’. Their infusion of 60s psych pop, accordant Americana, blues and soul unravels as a burst of visceral sun-bleached optimistic-in-spite-of-awareness-suffering euphoria.

With vocals as tender as Elliott Smith’s and instrumentals which find their roots in old school blues, Los Angeles is a track which blossoms as a compassionate snapshot of the trials and tribulations of modern living without allowing you to be depressed by them. You may just find yourself with a renewed sense of gratitude and purpose to invoke positive change once Los Angeles has faded to a close.

You can hear by heading over to Bandcamp or the artist’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mike Freund has unleashed his latest feat of humbly affable Americana ‘Crooked Teeth’

Posted on 23 January 2021

‘Crooked Teeth’ is the latest all-consuming offering of aural solace from New Jersey-born artist, Mike Freund: the progressively cinematic soundscape is transfixing from the first sepia-tinged mellifluous verse to the last.

The single runs you through stunningly delicate finger-picked acoustic guitar solos, organ notes hitting like celestial sunrays, and that gorgeously rare feeling of wanting to sing the lyrics before you have them fully memorised when the chorus hits.

The masterful soundscape exhibits the affable authenticity of Mike Freund with his blues licks which come with a meditative kick and his sonorous imagery-projecting vocals which will leave you seriously inclined to keep hitting play.

With their influences ranging from The Allman Brothers to Guns and Roses, Mike Freund is set to enamour fans of both and anything between.

You can check out Crooked Teeth via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Delve into the darker side of blues rock with The Bad Egg’s latest single ‘Set Me on Fire’

Posted on 29 December 2020

Switzerland-hailing solo blues-rock artist, The Bad Egg, has stayed true to their moniker and delivered an ominously enticing exhibition of their experimentalism, versatility and pure ingenuity with their latest release, ‘Set Me on Fire’.

By taking classic rock tones and swamping them with bendy, bluesy mesmerism, this Rock ballad unfolds like no other. Set Me on Fire may be on the darker side of blues-rock, but instead of using dark imagery to feed nihilism, The Bad Egg uses it to deliver an imaginatively romantic and vulnerable track which stays with you long after it has faded out.

I would label Set Me on Fire as an Alt-Rock earworm, but the track will implant something far more insidious and infectious in your ear. Head over to Spotify and become host the serpentine aural treat for yourselves.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bill E Daly gives us a soulful introduction to his music with ‘Hey Baby Hey’

Posted on 26 December 2020

Americana-tinged modern folk is the order of the day from Dublin’s Bill E Daly with this, from his new EP ‘Parachute & Oxygen’. ‘Hey Baby Hey’ is a gentle acoustic-guitar-and-vocal love song with a catchy little chord progression and Daly’s deep baritone voice. Tinged with country and modern rock overtones, this is mature, well-polished, and accomplished, little guitar flourishes on the ends of lines interplaying with Daly’s chilled vocal delivery.

Daly’s previous album, 2017’s ‘There Is A Time’, charted at number 2 in Google Play’s ‘Folk’ category, and there’s every chance that ‘Parachute & Oxygen’ will do similarly well. ‘Hey Baby Hey’ is the ideal introduction to Bill E Daly’s music.

Hear ‘Hey Baby Hey’ on Spotify; check out Daly’s website here.

Review by Alex Holmes

Do The Jimmy Jimmy, and The Ballad Of Tin Shaker

Posted on 8 December 2020

Beatles-y, Kinks-y, Small Faces-y, harmonious, sixties-mixed-with-nineties, classic indie-influenced pop-rock, ‘The Ballad Of Tin Shaker’ is a glorious, catchy pop song in the absolute best sense of the words.

Hailing from the small town of Claymont in the state of Delaware in the US, Jimmy Jimmy, and his new seven-track album ‘Do The Jimmy Jimmy’, is proper, lasting singer-songwriter americana-influenced pop with a delicious, laid-back hook that worms its way into your head and stays there. Relentlessly. And refuses to leave again.

Try it. Go on. And tell me that you’re not still wanting to be a ‘tin shaker’ by this time tomorrow.

Check out Jimmy Jimmy here, and watch the video for ‘The Ballad Of Tin Shaker’ on YouTube now.

Review by Alex Holmes