Browsing Tag

70s

Western Skies delivered lyrical virtues to live by in their kaleidoscope of 60s and 70s rock nostalgia, Always Another Song.

Western Skies’ latest single, Always Another Song masterfully revives the golden era of rock, blending 60s and 70s energy with a modern flair while proving no sonic cocktail is more potent than arcanely uplifting vocal harmonies and raw rock riffs. The Journey-esque chord progressions instantly pull you into the soul of the release before Western Skies show their genre-fluid stripes through their fusion of classic rock, funk and cosmically orchestral instrumentation.

Lyrically, ‘Always Another Song’ offers a refreshing optimism, countering today’s often pessimistic narratives. Phrases like “it doesn’t always have to be as hard as we make it out to be” and “it doesn’t always have to be absolutely everything or nothing” resonate with balance and positivity.

Make the lyrics your mantra while making the band’s debut LP, Awake In Dream, a playlist staple, and you’ll bolster your resilience in an era that is infinitely harder on the psyche than in the 60s and 70s where Western Skies find their folk and rock roots.

It’s an essential listen for classic rock enthusiasts and those seeking music with soul and depth alike. Join them for the ride; you won’t regret it.

Always Another Song is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Meet the mess of mortality in Chris Cummings and the Way’s tenaciously tongue-in-cheek Americana rock instant classic,  I’m Still Alive

In an era when coming to grips with the meaning of life complicates your relationship with your mortality, Chris Cummings and the Way’s latest Americana-entwined 70s rock-tinged single, I’m Still Alive, has all the lyrical makings of a sanity-saving playlist staple.

Chris Cummings, an Easton native renowned for his collaborations with jazz legends and New York artists, embarked on a tenaciously tongue-in-cheek journey with his latest feat of roots-wrapped ingenuity. The prelude to his eponymous album resonates with the nostalgic glamour reminiscent of Father John Misty and Butch Walker while pontificating on the profound. The brash electric guitar chords, coupled with the shimmer of the organ and the subtle honkytonk nuances in the keys and guitar leads, create a soundscape that is both timeless and deeply evocative.

Even though the single touches on the notion that reasons for living and believing often lie beyond ourselves, Chris Cummings and the Way ensure the track never veers too far into the melancholic. It’s a gripping exposition of what it means to be human when we have no fucking idea what the meaning of life is. This existential contemplation is woven seamlessly into the fabric of the song, making it both a personal reflection and a universal query.

The upcoming album, accompanied by a documentary film, promises to be a convergence of Cummings’ Americana and rock n roll roots, offering relatable tunes for our twisted times. Featuring talents like Roger Girke and Shane Nicholas, it’s poised to be a significant addition to the Americana folk rock landscape.

I’m Still Alive is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Take a soulfully psychedelic trip back to the 70s with DENIM DAN’s latest single, Guess I’ll Be Alright

“Guess I’ll Be Alright” from Denim Dan is a portal back to the smooth and rich tones of 70s rock and the vibrant psychedelic colours of 60s pop. While it marks a daring step in the band’s sound, it maintains the comforting and straightforward vocal style fans have come to adore from the outfit, which banded together in Boulder, Colorado, in 1996.

There’s an unmistakable soulfulness within the smoky layers of the music, with nods to Northern Soul and a subtle jazz influence that Denim Dan integrates seamlessly; the resulting sound is both nostalgic and fresh, an ambitious blend that pays homage to the past while forging its own path.

Following the international recognition with their sixth album, their seventh, Santa Maria’s Dome, from which Guess I’ll Be Alright is prised, resounds as a cultivated new beginning. A track which focuses on two friends trying to get the other over addiction could all too easily become a sombre sonic feat, but via the depth of the storytelling, the texturally upbeat musical backdrop and the signature vocals, which always portray melancholy as an option you need not take, Guess I’ll Be Alright is a realm of captivatingly uplifting intrigue.

Stream DENIM DAN’s latest album, Santa Maria’s Dome on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Susan Ritchie lit a beacon of tranquillity and wisdom in ‘It’s High Time’

Susan Ritchie, whose name has become synonymous with authentic artistry on the Central CA Coast, lit a beacon of tranquillity and wisdom in the standout single, It’s High Time, taken from her debut album, Life is for the Living. So much more than solely a musical score, it’s a journey into the heart of what it means to find peace and meaning amidst the chaos of modernity.

Ritchie gave the adage ‘live and let live’ brand-new potency within It’s High Time by speaking chapter and verse on how it takes nothing to accept trans men and women who are just looking to align their minds with their appearance. Her ability to weave everyday experiences into her songwriting, while giving a nod to the universal experiences we all share, is on full display here. The song is a reminder to pause, reflect, and embrace the moment, a message that resonates now more than ever when it is too easy to be consumed by the insanity which breeds on every corner of the internet.

The influence of her early inspirations, from James Taylor’s finger-picking to the sweet yet sassy blues of Bonnie Raitt, is evident in the song’s composition. Yet, It’s High Time is unmistakably a Susan Ritchie creation. It’s a song that showcases her evolution as an artist, blending soul, blues, rock, and folk into a seamless and captivating experience.

Regardless of how many people find comfort in Susan Ritchie’s soulfully sonorous sound, she speaks directly to you through the intimacy of her lyrics and the magnetically powerful delivery of her gilded-in-introspective-gold lines.

Stream It’s High Time on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Tom Rogers resurrected psych blues in his single, Rise Again

From the first nostalgic note in the debut single, Rise Again, from Tom Rogers, you will bask and revel in the Beatles and the Doors reminiscences and find something brand-new in Rogers’ reggae, blues, folk and psych amalgam.

While the groove-pocketed rhythms take a firm grip of your rhythmic pulses, the kaleidoscopic tones abstract you from the 21st century as the visceral with bluesy soul vocals light a fire under the vintage production.

With Pawala Ariyathilaka on lead guitar, Will Fraser on Drums, Dan Wakeling on bass, and Steve Burholt on keys, Tom Rogers and his backing band delivered a superlative slice of psychedelic blues rock reverence that will allow you to slip back in time and across the Atlantic. They didn’t reinvent the wheel with Rise Again, which carries a flood of second-coming redemption, but the way they gave you a ticket back to the 70s era of blues rock via a route never taken is something to celebrate. If you’ve got the Black Keys and The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club on your radar, you have room for Tom Rogers on your playlists.

Rise Again was officially released on August 4th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

AXiS got elemental for their latest razor-sharp slice of reinvented 70s rock, Firewater

The Serbian/Romanian power trio, AXiS, ensured the 70s rock n roll era made a monolithic return to the airwaves in 2023 with their elementally overdriven reinvention, Firewater.

Taking the iconic sounds from Black Sabbath, Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin and channelling a modern twist into the high gain guitars, the rock-reverent originators slathered Firewater with swagger and burning hot riffs that will turn your speakers into smoke machines.

After forming in 2012, the trio has shared its fair share of success as a touring band and in the studio. After their sophomore album left them pigeonholed as a blues rock band, they’ve proven with Firewater that their raw live sound is a million miles away from those roots. It’s straight-up sleazenik rock n roll that you will want to line up and drink warm beer for.

Firewater was officially released on April 1st. Stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

MEVS sent a surge of funk-riding euphoria through the airwaves with his feel-good disco-pop anthem, Groovin’

Carving his own untrodden path back to the 70s, the Puerto Rican trailblazer, MEVS, unleashed the soul-stirring slice of euphoric funk-riding disco-pop, Groovin’.

While artists will tune in with envy of his capacity to release such a blazing debut, fans of funk, alt-RnB and authentic old-school soul will surrender to the danceable electricity in the progressively dynamic release, which paints across the brighter corners of the tonal spectrum.

Starting with the sultry rolling basslines in the smoky prelude before exploding into a riot of flavour with Nile Rodgers guitar chops and a strong brass section, immersing yourself in this intrinsically rhythmic earworm which uses ‘never give up, never give in’ as an enlivening reprise will always send a flood of dopamine through your synapses.

Groovin’ is the first single from MEVS’ debut album, Sentient Beings in the Streets, which is set to release in 2023. Even if you don’t stay tuned, something tells me his enlivening soul will be coming to a dance floor near you anyway.

Groovin’ is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Taupe shows us inside the harvest with the passionate single, ‘Fruitless’

Gliding high over the smokey clouds like a majestic eagle who is quietly spotting where the better lands are hidden, Taupe is quite marvellous on this fantastic new single to make your ears shudder in delight with, ‘Fruitless‘.

Taupe is a Los Angeles, California-based indie-folk solo singer-songwriter who makes that dreamy type of music to take you back to that place you forgot existed.

Taupe attempts to take contemporary indie folk songs and layer them with 70’s rock inspired guitars.” ~ Taupe

Sending a real jewel into the world when it needed it most, Taupe is the kind of artist who grabs your attention with a soaring delivery that sends you into a much better place. He sends us into a reflective mindset and sings with that ultimate gusto, from a true underdog who is in peak form here.

Fruitless‘ from Los Angeles, California-based indie-folk solo singer-songwriter Taupe, is a wonderful single that will have you closing your eyes and looking deeply within. As the world burns before our scared eyes and with the harvest yielding only seemingly destruction and carnage, this is the type of inspirational soundtrack that we needed. Vocally incredible and featuring smartly-penned lyrics – that will force a re-think about the way you see the planet around you – this is a quality effort from an artist who is a timeless soul and who could be from another era completely.

Hear this new single on Spotify and see more via the IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Spotlight Feature: Winchester 7 & the Runners shared their world-weary wit in their ukulele-led indie rock album, Catacomb Songs.

Get your nostalgia fix and your catharsis hit in one in the latest album from the internationally scattered outfit, Winchester 7 & The Runners. Catacomb Songs was just one of the lockdown-born albums conceived via Zoom in 2021; notably, few albums advocate for the future of remote collaboration better than this 9-track release.

The hazy, smoky and garagey vibes in the ukulele-led indie rock album are just as sweet as any album from the Zombies, the Beatles and the Stones. There may be nothing like delving into your favourite records from decades past, yet Winchester 7 & the Runners have their relevant and resonant ennui as an upper hand.

The thought of an indie ukulele rock album may send the blood pressure of music snobs through the roof, but if anyone can change the reputation of the electric ukulele, it is Winchester 7 & the Runners. They know just how to pull the rich, warm timbre from the electric uke to compliment the equally as mellifluous vocals.

The album starts with the quasi-morbid single, Dead Celebrities and New Beginnings, which questions why new beginnings seem impossible for ordinary folk while the famous can enjoy posthumous transformations. Once Dead Celebrities and New Beginnings has grabbed your attention, the album kicks things down a notch with the 70s rock reminiscent single, The Song That You Sing, which opens up a new level of lyrical intimacy that continues through the duration of the album that is tinged with satirical wit and the rare sense of compassion that can only be extended from world-weary soul to another.

Here is what Winchester 7 had to say about Catacomb Songs:

“We released our previous EP, Argos Holiday, last year on December 17th to limited fanfare due to the pandemic. In the following months, we made the best use of our time, took to our home studios and worked via Zoom to produce a follow-up. Catacomb Songs is certainly pandemic influenced in places, especially Riding High Again, which was written in memoriam of a good friend that succumbed to alcoholism during it. However, there is also a message of hope and inspired joy that is directly related to the normalcy we found playing together, albeit apart, amidst the lockdowns and travel bans.”

Catacomb Songs was officially released on December 17th. It is now available to stream on Spotify and Bandcamp.

Connect with Winchester 7 & the Runners to stay up to date with the 60s-inspired alchemy yet to come via Instagram and Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bourbon House give 70s blues-rock a demure riff-driven kick in ‘I Got Trouble’

70s rock became even more demure under the coercion of Bourbon House’s deeply rhythmic licks and Lacey Crowe’s vixenish vocals in their 2021 album, Into the Red.

I Got Trouble is just one of the standout singles that prove Lacey Crowe is a blues-rock siren. With the vintage-to-the-bone instrumentals behind her soulful vocal timbre, you fall right into the stormy core of I Got Trouble hook, line and sinker.

Jason Clarke’s guitar crooning is enough to take your breath away alone, but with Ryan Sargent’s snappy visceral percussion and Jon Peck’s grooving, almost jazzy, basslines, I Got Trouble becomes a delicious pool of 70s blues-rock nostalgia.

It hardly comes as a surprise that the album garnered hype from Classic Rock Magazine, reached number 1 on Australia’s independent music charts and number 2 in the UK.

I Got Trouble is now available to stream on Spotify with the rest of their third album which was released on October 22nd.

Review by Amelia Vandergast