Browsing Tag

80s Rock

Peter Hulburt Fired 80s Rock Reverence Through Retro-Futurist Doom in ‘Project 5’

Posted on 13 June 2026

Peter Hulburt initiated a session of sludgy stoner doom rock with his interstellar instrumental, Project 5. The distortion-heavy intro instantly sets a foreboding atmosphere, the production opening into a cavernous expanse of thrumming discordance until the glow of the amps starts to burn red hot.

From there, Hulburt flexes his fret-wielding muscles before launching an all-out attack of raw, rhythmic riffs and grooves, firmly planting the guitar lead work in the reverence for 80s rock, while the production gives the release a hypersonic sense of retro-futurism. Project 5 feels forged for rock fans who want adrenaline along with adoration over what is possible with six strings and sparks of electricity under the touch of an artist who knows exactly how to conjure an aura of raw rock rebellion; devout rock fans will undoubtedly allow Project 5 as something holy.

Raised in State College, Pennsylvania, Hulburt has spent eight years falling further into guitar, shaped by the kind of lifelong listening that turns influence into voltage. Jimi Hendrix, Mötley Crüe, Dire Straits and Pink Floyd all leave fingerprints across his appetite for expressive lead work, while his respect for hip-hop gives his timing an added bite.

Project 5 is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hivesong Lit the Fuse Between Carnal Chaos and Glam Revivalism in ‘Electric Fever’

Posted on 13 June 2025
Hivesong

Hivesong will leave hard rock fans hot under the collar and everywhere else when Electric Fever drops on June 13th. With a discernible deep reverence to overdriven guitar hooks and salacious vocals that will resonate with anyone who can’t resist IAMX and Highly Suspect, Electric Fever delivers everything it says on the titular tin by paying homage to the glam rock era, tinging it with modernistic dark innovation and augmenting every element until Electric Fever ensures your speakers will be shaking in the aftershock following the outro. If there’s an orgasmic rock playlist on Spotify, Hivesong have earned a spot.

There’s no passive listening here, only full-body surrender to the sonic carnality conjured by the Chattanooga duo who were never designed for background noise. Channelling the swagger of Ziggy, the Sabbath-grade seismic pull, and the studio bite of Royal Blood, Hivesong have clawed rock from its coffin and reminded the faithful how transcendence can feel when it’s shrouded in distortion and lust.

Their shows are rituals. Their guitars, relics. Their sound, a sermon from the altar of righteous noise. And on record, they carry that same sermon with cathedral-shaking force. No part of Electric Fever tries to reinvent the wheel; instead, it straps it to a jet engine and lights the fuse. It’s theatrical without parody, guttural without regression, indulgent without losing control.

Electric Fever is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rooftop Screamers Burn the Illusion of Permanence with Glammed-Up Psych Rock Redemption in ‘Blink of an Eye’

Posted on 15 May 2025

Like a whirling dervish of harbingering psychedelia, Blink of an Eye by Rooftop Screamers featuring Royston Langdon uses nostalgically sinister synth lines to juxtapose the soul of the soaring vocals, which of the impermanence of circumstance.

The way we allow bitterness to intercept our ability to appreciate the moment is one of the greatest tragedies of perception. When everything feels like a given, we fool ourselves that there’s nothing to lose – but there’s no chance of letting that insidious sense of entitlement creep in with Blink of an Eye on your playlists. It leaves you compelled to crank the swaggering 80s glam rock crescendos louder, join along with the infectious chorus vox and take any opportunity to pull what you love closer into an orbit of gratitude.

The chameleonic skill of Rooftop Screamers in their high-profile collaborations is one thing; the talent that allows them to strike all the right epiphanous chords with their lyricism is another. While everyone knows change and death are the only certainties, their ability to etch that fatalism into a cathartic outpouring is what lodges beneath the skin long after the final note.

With Langdon’s unmistakable vocal command steeped in sincerity and urgency, and Mark Plati (David Bowie, The Cure) sculpting the sharp cinematic sonics, Blink of an Eye simmers as much as it stings. Power pop hooks, new wave pulses, and glam rock swagger are folded into the mix without ever becoming contrived.

Blink of an Eye is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mikey Wayne’s Lovin’ and Leavin’: A Bonfire Ballad for Every Heart That’s Learned the Hard Way

Posted on 21 April 2025

With a Hollywood panoramic production projecting the intimate echoes of a soul that knows the sting of a temporal romance all too well, Mikey Wayne invited listeners to do more than just dwell on the pain with Lovin’ and Leavin’ he painted a vignette with the emotions derived from the ebb and flow of love which pushes and pulls the heartstrings until they snap.

Lovin’ and Leavin’ isn’t merely a heartbreak anthem—it’s the internal monologue of anyone who’s chosen passion over peace and paid the price. The Alabama-based singer-songwriter, shaped as much by his Southern California beginnings as his Deep South roots, channels that contrast into a ballad steeped in bittersweetness and bound by conviction. His rendered-in-sentimentality vocal lines honey the nostalgic agony as it melodically pirouettes through the track, which lands in the perfect spot in the bitter-sweet equilibrium, especially when the rock solo breaks through the affecting atmosphere, illustrating the intensity of passion with the conviction of a thousand words.

It’s a classic feat of stellar songwriting, with all the hallmarks of the ’70s Americana greats—yet the scars are Wayne’s own. Raised fronting rock bands through high school and college, and now launching from Nashville after a decade of refining his voice, Mikey Wayne has proven that his stories don’t borrow—they bleed. Lovin’ and Leavin’ is a reckoning for anyone who’s felt the full force of head vs. heart, lived to regret it, and would do it all again.

Lovin’ and Leavin’ is now available to stream on all major platforms, including YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast.

Crawdad Crash Rolls Back the Years with ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Girls’

Posted on 6 March 2025

Crawdad Crash kicked rhythm’s doors in with Rock ‘n’ Roll Girls, setting a raucous tone as the opening strike of the Where Are All the Rock ‘n’ Roll Girls EP. Riding in on a wave of the golden age of rock, Steve “Crawdaddy” Crawford drags us back to the bright lights and big hair of the 80s, where excess ruled and polish took a backseat to pure energy. The lo-fi production strips away the gloss, leaving behind a track that feels like it was ripped straight from the golden era rather than painstakingly reconstructed.

With all the glam of New York Dolls, the proto-punk charge of the Ramones, and the hard rock adrenaline of Twisted Sister, the track barrels forward without a care for modern trends. Joan Jett may be a dying breed in 2025, but Crawdad Crash is reviving the scene by keeping the fire burning with a sound that refuses to be tamed.

By pulling from hard rock, punk, blues, glam, and power pop, Rock ‘n’ Roll Girls isn’t an imitation of the past—it’s a continuation.

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

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Martin Packwood narrated a ‘Suburban Story’ with his cinematic instrumental rock panorama of ambience, awe and raw emotion

Posted on 20 January 2025

Martin Packwood’s Standout 2024 single, Suburban Soundscape, paints with sound rather than strokes, proving words aren’t always necessary to articulate raw emotion.

The Birmingham-born composer and instrumentalist, who rediscovered his creative spark after years away from the scene, channelled decades of experience into a dynamic instrumental track that balances nostalgia and innovation with unflinching precision.

The track opens with a pulse of 80s-inspired atmospheric reverb, gently coaxing listeners into its cinematic ambience. Then, angular guitar notes slice through the backdrop of shimmering synths, setting the stage for orchestral strings to swell and stir. Packwood’s love for rock is unmistakable as the guitar tones build with a classic fervour, only to be softened by meditative electronic motifs that tether the record to a state of hypnotic tranquillity.

The arrangement defies the boundaries of rhythm, offering a panoramic experience that shifts between introspection and awe, creating a sonic environment where stillness and movement coexist.

Packwood, who cut his teeth as a teenager playing across Birmingham’s live circuit, clearly honed his craft across genres ranging from heavy rock to jazz. After shelving his guitars to focus on family and career, the COVID lockdown gave him the space to build his own home studio and reconnect with his creative roots. That rekindled passion radiates throughout Suburban Soundscape.

Suburban Story is now available to stream on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Feel the fevered pulse of The Sonic Redemption in their hedonistic riot of a hit, I Got a Fever (and I think I like it)

Posted on 6 November 2024

The Sonic Redemption stormed back onto the rock scene with their latest single, ‘I Got a Fever (and I think I like It)’. The track is a riot of rock-reverent chaos, with the band taking a few tempo cues from Motorhead and channelling hook-driven euphoria reminiscent of Rancid’s …And Out Come the Wolves LP.

The anthem burns a blazing trail of aural adrenaline, leaving your speakers hyped as the whiskey-soaked vocals snarl over the dynamic tight as a straitjacket instrumentals.

Fronted by the iconic Dominique De Vos, previously of Southern Voodoo and Motorcity Angels, and joined by Jelle De Vos on guitar and Bram Decrock on drums, The Sonic Redemption continues to deliver unbridled power and unpolished rock ‘n’ roll.

Dominique De Vos describes the new single as embodying the band’s core identity: “unrestrained, fast, and uncompromising.” It’s a song about the exhilarating freedom and energy that floods through you when you’re completely caught up in the music—a fever that’s genuinely infectious.

The Sonic Redemption doesn’t just revisit the glamour and depravity of the Sunset Strip in the 80s; they reimagine it, spreading it with authenticity and intensity across the globe. The track is an unfiltered tribute to the soul of rock ‘n’ roll, showcasing a band that not only pays homage to this timeless genre but also defines it for a new era. Prepare yourself before you roll with the juggernautical punches of this hit.

I Got a Fever (and I think I like it) dropped on October 26th; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Hopeless Romantics of Hard Rock, Electric Cherry, Cut Deep with Their Latest Single, Anyway You Want

Posted on 4 November 2024

Electric Cherry never fails to live up to their moniker, but with the sticky-sweet super-charged currents tearing through the renegade of a rock anthem, Anyway You Want, the Roman rock n roll powerhouse amped up their sound to the nth degree.

As a teaser of what is to come from their upcoming album, CHERRY HEART, the rhythmically salacious slice of high-octane scintillation hits it out of the hard rock park while simultaneously throwing back to the classic rock pioneers and synthesising cinematic white knuckle momentum into the riff-decorated earworm.

As far as ticking all the right hard rock boxes goes, Electric Cherry received full marks with Anyway You Want which narrates the death knell of a relationship as it becomes platonic, leaving bitter-sweet glimmers of hope for the future. The melodic hooks in the chorus vocals become razors to the soul when sharpened by the hopeless romanticism in the lyricism. There’s no getting out of this single unaffected once you hit play.

The official music video for Anyway You Want is now available to stream on YouTube.

Follow Electric Cherry on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with news of their upcoming LP, CHERRY HEART.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

G.B Rider rendered resonance into rock reverence with ‘Even Superheroes Cry’

Posted on 28 October 2024

In the raw, soul-stirring single ‘Even Superheroes Cry’, G.B. Rider—Guy Barnes’ musical alter ego—sharpens rock balladry with cuttingly evocative edges.

The standout track from his Child of Yesterday LP wields Elton John-reminiscent piano progressions in a production soaked in 80s nostalgia as the emotional tenor ascends to the raw grit found in Soul Asylum’s vocal desperation, coupled with a fierce nod to the early, unrestrained Manic Street Preachers.

So much more than just a melody that clings to your memory; Child of Yesterday is an anthem that roars for the right to be vulnerable, to be candid in the throes of emotional tumult.

Under the mentorship of the audio pioneer John Oram, Barnes has sculpted a career defined by decades of relentless creativity and emotional authenticity. His music—a synthesis of chorus-driven rock and the intimate narrative styles of legends like George Michael and Neil Diamond—is infused with the augmented energy of Jon Bon Jovi and the lyrical sincerity of Neil Sedaka. Each track G.B Rider crafts is a fortress of feeling and Even Superheroes Cry is far from the exception.

Returning from a hiatus propelled by the tragic loss of his friend and mentee Chris Hardman, Barnes channelled his sorrow into the defiant, hopeful chords of Child of Yesterday. This album is a phoenix’s cry from the ashes of despair, a testament to enduring past pain, a sonic anthology everyone will be able to find a piece of themselves within.

Stream Even Superheroes Cry as part of the Child of Yesterday LP in full via Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

MöTT unleashed a frenetic hard rock firestorm with ‘Best Is Yet to Come’

Posted on 22 October 2024

Colorado’s prodigal in every capacity son, MöTT (AKA Martin Epp), unleashed a frenetic hard rock firestorm with their latest single, Best Is Yet to Come. The singer-songwriter, producer and endlessly deft multi-instrumentalist teamed up with a band of rock legends in their own right, Phil X, Billy Sheehan, Jeff Scott Soho and Matt Star, to shake cynicism from the souls of everyone who kneels at the altar of rock.

With touches of Slash in the guitar work superseding the ferociously tumultuous installations of drunk n roll mayhem, it’s impossible to remain steadfast when confronted by the cultivated chaos which attests to MöTT’s ability to carve melodic hooks and catapult his cult following into the eyes of his sonic storm. If you want to hear the definition of hard rock guitar porn, hit play on the ferociously feel-good, timeless rock anthem.

Best Is Yet to Come stormed the airwaves on August 1st; feel the force of the hard rock juggernaut by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast