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Best Rock Music Blog

It is almost impossible to imagine Western society without the influence of rock n roll; the artists that became renowned as (rock)gods, the aesthetic, the culture that so many live and breathe, and of course, the music that became the soundtrack to our lives. Many of the greatest artists of all time are of some rock inclination; whether that be Buddy Holly, Nirvana, or The Rolling Stones – the charts simply wouldn’t be the same without the unpredictable and volatile genre.

Rock started to emerge in the 1940s through the masterful rhythm of Chuck Berry and his contemporaries. Twenty years later, The Rolling Stones became the true face of rock n roll as they advocated for sex-positive youthful rebellion; this controversy became synonymous with rock which took the genre to brand-new cultural heights. By the 70s, artists started to push rock music into heavier, darker territories. At the same time, hard rock and metal were behind conceived; Pink Floyd gave rock trippier, more progressive tendencies with their seminal album, Dark Side of the Moon. Another major move in alternative music happened in the 70s as punk artists, such as The Clash and The Sex Pistols extrapolated rock elements and fused them into their punk sound.

The 80s was the era for sleaze rock, indie rock and college rock bands, while the 90s delivered the grunge movement with Nirvana, Hole, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam chomping at the aggressive discordant bit. Mainstream rock artists from across the globe became part and parcel of the music industry at the start of the 90s, but with the death of Kurt Cobain, the popularity of alternative music took a nosedive – despite the best efforts of Limp Bizkit, Staind, Puddle of Mudd and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

In any definitive guide of the best rock bands of all time, the rock artists that made their debut in the 21st-century are few and far between. But regardless of how much you want to pull the plug on the life support of rock, it isn’t quite dead – yet. For irrefutable proof, you only need to consider Black Midi, Yungblud, Greta Van Fleet, Highly Suspect, The Snuts, and Dirty Honey, who are all bringing in the new wave of classic rock – in their own way.

Contemporary rock may not sound like it used to, but that is one way in which rock has remained consistent over the past eight decades – it never has sounded like it used to. Each new generation of artists has found room for expressive and experimental manoeuvre.

Byron Ciotter used lo-fi melodic rock as a confession booth through his latest single, Impossibilities

Posted on 3 April 2025
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=xIoxuYgJ1Ws&si=Hk5o4XXhIdFne8oz

There’s something arrestingly primal in the way Byron Ciotter strips his soul bare in Impossibilities. While most artists polish pain until it sparkles, Ciotter lets it crack and creak through every chord in this lo-fi melodic rock elegy that aches with the weight of unprocessed loss, love, and the universal pull of unanswered questions.

Drawing from two decades of eclecticism that started in Southern Maryland’s metal scene in 2005, Ciotter’s path to Impossibilities was paved through the wreckage of trauma, the solace of connection, and the quiet contemplation of death, divorce, and fleeting affection. It’s a long way from distorted riffs and high-octane catharsis—now the weight is carried by pared-back progressions that resound like intimate confessions. There’s no filter between the listener and the flood of reflection. Every note feels lived in, every lyric sounds like it was torn from the back page of a notebook too private to publish.

While Ciotter may never claim a crown for innovation, he’s reached the epitome of emotive expression. His unembellished approach to songwriting serves as a raw conduit of connection, one forged in the fires of personal experience and cooled in the lo-fi tones of acoustic melancholy.

Impossibilities is now available to stream on all major platforms, including YouTube. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

No Die by Master Splinter: A Grimm Fairground for the Morbidly Curious

Posted on 2 April 2025

With No Die, Master Splinter unveiled their first single of 2025, cracked open a pit of sonic carnage and dared us all to crawl in. Portland’s prodigal sons’ grotesquely theatrical take on hard rock hit a new stride with this track. They’ve always melted faces with monolithic riffs and psychedelic fretwork, but now they’ve stitched those foundations to a grimmer, more vehement guise—without forgoing the tongue-in-cheek Machiavellian mischief that’s always simmered beneath the madness.

Master Splinter didn’t throw out the rulebook. They rewrote it with charred ink. From the first chug of the bass to the last chaotic breakdown, No Die is a warped mirror to our obsession with death, with catastrophe, with the void. It lurches and prowls with snarling vocals, scuzzy rhythms, and frenetic percussion. The track’s lyrical backbone—sung with visceral theatricality—confronts the magnetic pull of the morbid, the inexplicably compelling urge to peer into the abyss.

Mick Arrell’s songwriting, along with Jason Schauer’s bass work and Aaron Bree’s percussive force, keeps the absurdity of modern existence firmly in the firing line. The drama and politics are stripped away; what’s left is raw energy, dark humour, and warped unity delivered through a warped fairground ride of hard rock.

No Die is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast.

Angie Keys Unlocks Emotional Armour in Her Alt-Pop Anthem ‘Brave’

Posted on 1 April 2025

With an intro landing deftly between a bitter-sweet Taylor Swift ballad and the soaring guitar strings of a Springsteen-inspired country-pop anthem, Angie Keys’ single, ‘Brave’, instantly immerses you in melodically impassioned territory. Taken from her debut album, Finally Here, the track never allows its emotive momentum to falter, striking an affecting balance between intensity and tranquillity.

Keys’ instrumental swells resonate with palpable feeling, affirming her talent for embedding visceral emotion into each note. Yet, amidst this sonic strength, a gentle serenity emerges through Keys’ vocals, gracefully drifting through the production like whispers of comfort. This effortless vocal touch adds a serene reverie, making the single a musical salve for those wearied by fortitude.

Lyrically, ‘Brave’ explores the resilience required to thrive despite relentless trials—an honest narrative borne from genuine life experience. Keys, a Birmingham-based singer-songwriter with roots tracing back to childhood family performances, has grown into a nuanced storyteller. Her teenage fascination with 90s multitrack recording blossomed into mastery, fuelled further by life’s heartbreaks, repairs, loves, and losses. These lived experiences culminate impressively on her long-awaited debut, underpinned by contributions from global talents including Emiliano Boulot on drums, Daniel Beachy’s pedal steel, Marco Gatti’s piano keys, Hugo Lanauestudi’s lap steel, and Joseph Keys’ accomplished guitar and production work.

Brave is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

White Picket Fences Are a Lie: Pillowprince Rewire Queer Disillusionment in ‘R the Straights OK’

Posted on 29 March 2025

With ‘R the Straights OK’, the Oakland indie gaze trio Pillowprince crack open heteronormativity with a switchblade grin and the simmering scorn of lived queer reality. What starts in alt-indie quiescence, all ethereal lilt and slowburn restraint, fractures with a scuzzy interlude that proves distortion isn’t just a sonic texture—it’s the emotional static that fuzzes over every moment spent being bent into someone else’s blueprint.

Crafted from the leather-creased, glitter-smeared spaces Pillowprince call home, the track flickers between fragility and defiant force. Olivia Lee’s vocals, feather-light but sharpened with conviction, echo through the mix like the ghost of a version of yourself you tried to edit out. As the instrumentation teases the hook with near-ritualistic patience, you’re pulled into a queer coming-of-age narrative where conformity is the real villain. The melodic breaks are more than sonic punctuation—they’re the spaces where all the unspoken things pool.

Lyrically, it’s a spicy satirical stab at the expectation to fall in line—white picket fences, 2.5 kids, dead-eyed suburbia—before it swerves back into the shadows of a different kind of fulfilment. This is queer unity under pressure. A noise-drenched consolation for anyone crushed under the weight of pretending that “normal” ever meant safe. With Sea Snyder on drums and Liza Stegall on bass locking in a rhythm section that holds its shape even as everything else implodes, the band embodies queer rebellion.

‘R the Straights OK’ is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link. 


Review by Amelia Vandergast.

Jack Kendrick and The Broken Wonders Cut to the Core with the Folk-Punk Candour in ‘Spoke to My Doctor’

Posted on 28 March 2025
Jack Kendrick and The Broken Wonders

With an evocative sting sharp enough to cut through the coldest souls, Spoke to My Doctor pulls all the right emotively bruising punches. Jack Kendrick and The Broken Wonders are void of pretence as they put melodies to the maladies of the modern age, distilling the agony of a system designed to manage, not mend. The alt-90s aura bleeds through every chord, carrying the weight of raw emotion as the instrumentals fuel the energy and the lyrics lay bare the disillusionment.

Emotionally, the track pivots on a knife-edge, striking with unfiltered honesty. If you’ve ever stared down the tunnel, squinting for a light that refuses to show, or placed your faith in a medical system too ill-equipped to salve the wounds it barely acknowledges, Spoke to My Doctor will hit like a gut punch. The emotion isn’t just in the words—it’s in the way every note aches, in the expressive vocals that never veer into performance for performance’s sake.

After years of relentless gigging, sharing stages with folk-punk legends like Gaz Brookfield and Ferocious Dog, Jack Kendrick has built a reputation for no-frills, high-impact storytelling. This single only cements that further, proving their ability to turn personal turmoil into a cathartic anthem.

For anyone who’s ever felt unheard, Spoke to My Doctor makes sure the message is loud and clear.

Spoke to My Doctor is now available on all major streaming platforms.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Freezing Points and Sonic Frames: An Interview with Ginger Winn

Posted on 27 March 2025

Ginger Winn composes to crystallise the moments that cut deepest. With Freezing warming the airwaves and Freeze Frame poised to follow, the Nashville-born artist sat down with A&R Factory to reflect on how loss, love, and legacy have shaped her evolving sound. In this interview, Ginger opens up about the personal grief that seeped into the fabric of her latest work, the creative freedom she found with co-producer A.J. Yorio, and how years spent ghostwriting laid the groundwork for her most honest record to date. From the catharsis of returning to a heavier sound to the role of art as emotional excavation, this conversation is for anyone who understands what it means to hold on while letting go.

Ginger Winn, welcome to A&R Factory! With Freezing on the airwaves and Freeze Frame on the way, it’s the perfect time to dig into the darker side of your music, the shift in your sound, and everything else that makes your songwriting tick. What’s the story behind Freezing, and what kind of headspace were you in when you wrote it?

-Freezing is a reminder to cherish the people you love while you have them. We all have memories we wish we could freeze in time. When I flew out to Ohio to record with AJ Yorio (co-producer of Freeze Frame), he had written a piece of music, but no lyrics were coming to him. So he sent it to me. Around the same time, Matt (my co-writer and half of Keep Good Company, my label) had just sent me the lyrics to a new song. I immediately thought, “1+1=2”—these two pieces fit together. And that’s how Freezing was born. I had just lost my dad very unexpectedly, and this song became incredibly therapeutic for me during the worst of it.

Your new album Freeze Frame flips your debut on its head. What made you want to go in a darker, heavier direction this time?

-As I mentioned, my dad passed away in November of last year. Unfortunately, he chose to leave us. It was something I always knew might happen, but nothing can prepare you for how it feels when it actually does. That loss inevitably shaped the underlying tone of Freeze Frame. The most ironic part is that this would have been my dad’s favorite album of mine—he loved indie, alt, and rock music.

Was the shift something you always saw coming, or did it just happen naturally?

-When I first started making albums, I was about 12. My mom and I would write an album every year for almost ten years. Up until around 2020, I had a bit of an old-school rock sound. Then I decided to try pop music. Freeze Frame is really just a return to the sound that first rooted me.

A.J. Yorio helped shape the sound of this record—what was it about working with him that really clicked for you?

-Me and AJ in the studio was like watching two kids throw paint on a canvas to see what happens. It felt like we had complete freedom to try anything, and I think that really comes through in the music. I walked in with ten fully produced demos, and Matt and I gave AJ the freedom to experiment with anything he heard—rearranging, changing chords, whatever.

You’ve got some big shows coming up, from New Colossus to The Fest for Beatles Fans. Do you have a favorite kind of gig, or is it all just about getting out there and playing?

-I always enjoy playing at the Colony in Woodstock, mainly because of the sound quality, but also because the aesthetic is spectacular. Catch me and AJ there on May 1st. It’ll be a special treat because he’s coming all the way from Cincinnati!

You’ve always described yourself as an artist in the truest sense, almost like music is your version of painting or sculpting. How does that shape the way you create?

-I’ve been doing music since before I can remember—literally. My dad gave me a ukulele when I was a baby, and since then I’ve always had one to play. When something deeply affects me, I write about it. It’s funny because until I was about 17, I was afraid I couldn’t write lyrics. Melodies always came easily to me, but my mom handled the lyrics in the beginning. I should have realized that my only issue was that I had nothing to write about—I hadn’t lived enough yet. I say that jokingly, but it’s kind of true.

You spent a while making music for other people before deciding to focus on your own stuff. What was that switch like?

-When I moved to Cape Town, I needed to make money, and music was one of the few things I was really good at. High school dropouts aren’t exactly qualified for much! Living in Cape Town felt like living in a different reality—six to seven hours ahead of my family in the U.S., experiencing summer while it was winter back home. I changed a lot there. I stopped dreaming of stardom and fame and focused on making great music, whether for myself or others.

For the most part, I was writing and producing for others because, like I said, I needed the money and they were paying. I learned how to write and produce for different artists—I even filmed and directed a music video for someone. Those two years in Cape Town felt like four years of college because I was producing, writing, and singing for eight hours a day. I went a full year without taking a single day off. It was the definition of grinding, and honestly, I only did it because I had to.

When Matt and Tina came into my life and decided they wanted to make an album with the music we had written together, I was like, “Alright, sounds good.” I didn’t take it seriously until about a month before they flew me to New York to record with David Baron. Then it all suddenly became very real.

You’re playing the Go All In For Mental Health benefit concert this month—does performing at events like that feel different compared to a regular gig?

-All gigs kind of feel the same to me. It’s not that I don’t like performing, but it’s not my favorite part of the business. I’m a bit of a homebody sometimes. My main focus when performing is creating a great experience for the audience—keeping listeners on their toes and sharing the message to cherish the moments and people in their lives because you never know when they’ll be gone.

When someone listens to Freeze Frame all the way through, what do you want them to take from it?

-I want them to take away my personal mantra: cherish what you have now. The people, the moments, the situations—because we never know what the future holds. The greatest gift you can give yourself is to love the people in your life right now. Be open, reach out, push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Life is beautiful, but only if you choose to see it that way.

Discover Ginger Winn’s discography on Spotify.

Interview by Amelia Vandergast

The Sonic Prism Cracked: Damian Wolf Splits the Alt-Rock Spectrum on ‘Flying Colors’

Posted on 26 March 2025

Damian Wolf didn’t just carry the alt-rock flame into his debut LP—he set it ablaze with every saturated string. On the title single Flying Colors, the Maryland-born 20-year-old commands his solo project with the kind of DIY nerve that rarely finds this much cultivation. Entirely self-recorded, mixed, and mastered in his bedroom studio, the track stands as a defiant declaration: no one else engineers Wolf’s chaos—he shapes it into art with his own hands.

He carved his teeth on early ’90s grunge and hard rock, filtered that influence through the discord of noise rock and post-hardcore, then added his own commercial alt sensibility to the mix without sanding down the edges, resulting in a track that channels shoegaze and grunge into high-octane alt-rock visceral volition. When the overdriven guitars refrain from the production, the choral layers of reverb-soaked guitars are left to synergise with Wolf’s arcanely sweet vocals, which bleed into the mix that’s mercilessly blasted by punk’s percussive pulse.

It may often feel like there aren’t many more alt-rock intersections to explore, but Wolf didn’t just find one—he scorched a new route through a multitude of them with Flying Colors. The title track is the flashpoint, where texture becomes tension, and melody finds its way through the maelstrom. If you want to head back to the alt-90s, take this route. Just don’t expect nostalgia. Expect impact.

Flying Colors is now available to stream on all major platforms including Spotify and Apple Music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast.

Caught in the Current: The Manor Born Push Against the Tide in ‘Catch Up’

Posted on 24 March 2025

With their debut single, ‘Catch Up’, Tucson’s The Manor Born cement their stake in the indie rock soil with a release that thrums with urgency, yet never forgets to carry the melody. The verses pulse with pent-up tension, simmering beneath euphonic layers of saturation until the chorus tears through with cathartic clarity—each note a release valve for the emotional pressure that precedes it.

There’s a lo-fi warmth in the production that refuses to disguise itself as something it isn’t. It holds back from slickness and opts instead for truth—proving pretence, polish, and posturing have no place when the aim is to reach people, not impress them. Every line lands with weight, held together by panoramic progressions that refuse to sit still, and guitar tones as iridescent as the potential behind this project.

For anyone whose playlists are lined with Sam Fender or bands that know how to channel introspection without losing drive, ‘Catch Up’ won’t just resonate—it’ll leave a dent. The Manor Born understand how to translate emotional turbulence into something solid, tangible, and wildly listenable. The lyrics don’t beg for understanding—they offer it, through the universal disorientation that settles in when we try to find sense and self in a world always in flux.

There’s no promise of ease in their sound, but there is affirmation. And with this calibre of expression, The Manor Born have set a tone worth following.

Stream Catch Up on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dust-Laced Reflections: Mission Spotlight Turn Memory into a Mirage in ‘Ten Years Ago’

Posted on 23 March 2025

With the pedal steel timbres sighing beneath the crunched chords and clean-cut vocals riding a wave of wistful Americana, ‘Ten Years Ago’ by Mission Spotlight is an excavation of the past. Frontman Kurt Foster chronicles the years, sifting through them, decade by decade, uncovering snapshots steeped in both grief and glory, framed by the inescapable truth that everything changes and nothing is ever as it was.

The narrative unravels like the inked pages of a diary you forgot you wrote until a lyric reminds you of something you swore you’d buried. It’s not a simple wallow in nostalgia, but a bitter-sweet vignette of personal transgressions and irreversible shifts, suspended in sweeping pedal steel, jagged rock undercurrents, and a beat so precise it lulls the rhythmic pulse into a slow hypnosis.

Recorded across two coasts and continents—starting at The Ship Studio in LA with Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle and Earlimart’s Aaron Espinoza, then later completed at Jackpot! Recording Studios in Portland with longtime producer Larry Crane—‘Ten Years Ago’ is stitched with dust and daylight. Paul Brainard’s steel work (Richmond Fontaine, The Sadies) drifts through the mix like a sunbeam through half-closed blinds, wrapping itself around the lyrical vulnerability.

Foster’s vocals are less a performance and more a gentle reckoning, made all the more human beside Lytle’s harmonies. For fans of college radio-ready rock with Americana sensibilities, Mission Spotlight offer more than reflection—they offer sanctuary. The kind built not from sentimentality, but from survival.

Tean Years Ago is now available to stream on Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Syion Unleashed a Dark Electro Rock Aphrodisiac with ‘the brat in me comes alive’

Posted on 20 March 2025

Syion has always operated in a euphonic league of his own, but the brat in me comes alive is a seductively dark electro rock invitation into the world of one of the most original artists in the UK. With whispered vocals as sensuous as the indie-tinged trip-hop-adjacent instrumentals, he delivers catharsis by the smorgasbord, inviting his ever-growing fanbase to envelop themselves in hypnotically arcane, spectrally scintillating reverie. There’s the sense that Syion is a true artist, one who can manipulate emotions at will and alchemically express himself beyond sound and syllables. If you thought Deftones were sexy, prepare for the ultimate aphrodisiac when you hit play.

As an English singer-songwriter, performer, musician, and producer, Syion seamlessly fuses dark alternative pop, folk pop, dance, and downtempo electronica with bold, boundary-pushing creativity. His album, Introspections of a distorted mind, plunges into social commentary and personal exploration while painting across a diverse sonic spectrum.

the brat in me comes alive is available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast