Browsing Tag

90s Rock

Johnnie G and The Royalty Baptised Their Serpentine Rock Revival in Only One

Posted on 17 September 2025

Providence’s renegade rock outfit, Johnnie G and The Royalty, earned their prodigal sons of rock ‘n’ roll crowns with their cover of Melissa Etheridge’s classic, Only One. They tore through the 90s anthem with the kind of raw, whiskey-soaked revelation that drips with sweat, swagger, and serpentine rhythm. This is a full-bodied resurrection that bares its teeth while letting just enough tenderness slip through to cut a little deeper.

Frontman Johnnie G’s deliciously gruff vocal delivery takes the caustic velvet of Axl Rose’s soaring register and twists it into something darker, hungrier, and impossible to ignore. The track’s vintage-toned guitar artillery and visceral drum work hit with the force of a club set somewhere between a dive bar and a cathedral. The cinematic video, shot in a single day, seals the deal and leaves no doubt that this band is here to revive the renegade rock spirit for a new generation.

Only One is now available on all major streaming platforms; for the full experience, watch the official music video on YouTube. 


Review by Amelia Vandergast

Fuzz to Ferocity: Mykel Fate’s Garage Meditation in ‘Again and Again

Posted on 8 July 2025

In Mykel Fate’s latest release, Again and Again, you are instantly confronted with a guitarist who refuses to play by the script. Mykel grinds pure innovation into every rock-soaked groove, carving out space where fuzz and fretboard prowling replace any hollow grandiosity. The lo-fi textures feel as if they’ve been rescued from the heyday of 90s alt-rock demos and pressed straight into present day, ready to appease the eardrums of anyone craving authentic, unfussy rock.

Instead of leaning on excessive production, Mykel Fate lets the strings do the talking. There’s a rare physicality to the riffs, each note hitting the senses with a satisfying thump before the entire track dissolves into a frenetically fierce solo—honestly, it’s guitar porn for the heads who know. The narrative of cyclical monotony drifts with minimalist intent, folding you into the haze until the instrumental meditation sweeps you away. The track never asks anything from the listener; it simply gives, again and again, with every passage.

Born and raised in Jersey, Mykel Fate is determined to bring rock’s raw heart back, wrestling with hardship and connection through every riff. With nods to AC/DC, The Beatles, and the unvarnished power of 90s rock, he’s pushing guitar music into uncharted territory, one note at a time.

Again and Again is now available on all major streaming platforms, including YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Smokecharmer Turned Protest into Grungy Groove Rock Power with ‘Breadline’

Posted on 14 June 2025

Breadline, the latest single by Smokecharmer, plugs into grungy Alice in Chains-esque sludgy tones and feeds early Black Sabbath-style weight into the intensity of the angst-charged release. There’s no room for partisanship here, just the outpouring of an artist sick of the suffocation of the inequality that leaves the majority scratching for a living while the rich pick our scabs as we asphyxiate.

Midway through the single, the amplification of angst drags you deeper into the static before the guitar solo threads its way through the stylised discord, offering an outlet for the fury instilled. Smokecharmer doesn’t rile their audience and leave them festering in scorn. The energy is sculpted, channelled, and given a sonic space worth returning to time and time again.

Founded by Stephen Taylor, whose past work with Sixteen Horsepower, Wovenhand, and Superjoint laid down his legacy in underground rock, Smokecharmer brings a new dimension to protest music. Alongside Michael Parent, Raul Garza and Andre Laurent, the band taps into grungy groove rock that holds just as much soul as it does sludge.

Breadline is now available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rob Finlay Painted Hope onto the Ashes of Despair in the Melodic Rock Ballad ‘Afterglow’

Posted on 20 May 2025

Afterglow, taken from Rob Finlay’s Sunset | Darkness | Sunrise EP, gives the accordant melodic rock chords as much urgency as the compassioned vocals that convey how much meaning the lyrics hold for the introspectively powerful singer-songwriter.

With the message that salvation is always on the horizon if you look for it, Afterglow is an intrinsically affecting vignette, which uses striking imagery and 90s & 00s indie rock undertones to nestle you into the comfort of nostalgia, making you infinitely more susceptible to the moral of the sonic fable. If the Goo Goo Dolls, Deep Blue Something and Semisonic always hit the cathartic spot, Finlay will caress it with just as much tenderness.

Raised in Borehamwood, shaped by rock festivals, and fuelled by a restless artistic fire inherited from a family steeped in cinema, Finlay isn’t confined to genre or trend. With a musical history that spans continents and adversity—including the permanent loss of hearing in one ear—he channels unrelenting emotional clarity into his craft. The Sunset | Darkness | Sunrise EP maps out the descent into heartbreak, the void that follows, and the peace clawed back from the shadows. With a team of heavyweight collaborators behind the EP and Adrian Hall behind the console, Afterglow finds the ideal frame for Finlay’s voice that aches with everything it refuses to romanticise.

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

Review by Amelia Vandergast

FGA Hits the Open Road at Full Throttle with ‘Hitchhiker’

Posted on 27 February 2025

FGA didn’t reinvent the wheel with his latest single; he gripped it tight and veered classic rock motifs into uncharted territory. ‘Hitchhiker’ is the sound of the open road—untamed, unpredictable, and impossible to resist. From the moment the hypersonically infectious energy kicks in, the kaleidoscope of honeyed riffs and magnetically rallying vocals lock into a momentum that effervesces with soul. Every note carries the free spirit of its protagonist, nothing is tethered, and everything feels effortlessly unshackled.

With the raw nostalgia of tape-recorded rock and the exhilaration of an all-gas-no-brakes production, the track cruises through psychedelia-tinged rhythms that nod to ‘60s surf rock pioneers while charging forward with the force of modern alternative rock. Dan Konopka’s (OK GO) irreplicable percussion adds an infectious dynamic to the track, ensuring indie kids and those who kneel at the altar of unadulterated rock will find plenty of reasons to affix Hitchhiker to their playlists. 

Freddie Gibbs—the Texas-born force behind FGA—has spent years distilling a lifetime of musical education into his craft. Raised on a record collection spanning Led Zeppelin to Pearl Jam, his songwriting carries the weight of experience, shaped by nights spent playing Austin’s underground scene and road-tripping into the unknown. Now working from his home studio, his music lands somewhere between grunge’s bruised introspection and stoner rock’s freewheeling escapism.

‘Hitchhiker’ is a track built for windows-down abandon, a reminder that the road ahead is always calling. It’s now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

INTERCONTINEN7AL made history with the post-rock panache in their globally recorded single, Night Shift

Posted on 9 January 2025

Night Shift, the standout single from INTERCONTINEN7AL’s history-making EP World Over, isn’t just an ambitious cross-continental collaboration; it’s an emotive tour de force, commanding you to succumb to the progressive rock sublimity.

The single opens with a cinematic neo-classical prelude, complete with intricate finger-picked guitars and orchestral swells, setting a reflective and ornate tone. As the track evolves, the mood shifts seamlessly into psych-pop territory, with Beatles-reminiscent guitar riffs that carry listeners deeper into its emotional core.

When the soft melodic rock vocals enter, backed by soulfully ethereal harmonies, another seamless metamorphosis is complete, one which will allow fans of Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder to recognise the heartstring-pulling resonance as it resounds over the essence of 70s folk rock.

INTERCONTINEN7AL, based in Castle Rock, Colorado, emerged from the COVID-19 lockdowns, redefining global collaboration with their innovative use of virtual tools like BandLab. World Over is their fourth album, showcasing an eclectic range of styles, from progressive rock to bossa nova. By recording instrumentation in locales as remote as Antarctica, they created a genre-spanning collection that’s as inspiring as it is groundbreaking.

With Night Shift, the band transcends novelty and crafted a testament to the universality of emotion, delivering a track that lifts listeners far above the confines of geography or genre.

Stream the World Over EP on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Elegant Chasers is set to deliver a kaleidoscope of hope with their politically-charged Britpop-Grunge mash-up sophomore LP, To Live in Colour

Posted on 22 November 2024
The Elegant Chasers

The title track of To Live in Colour, the sophomore LP from The Elegant Chasers, is a vestige of sanctuary for those still searching for hope and resilience amid chaos.

As we sink ever deeper into a textbook definition of dystopia, the visceral fusion of grunge and Britpop, which rages with hook-rife rancour, is a livewire lifeline from an artist who has always sought solace in sound. With the hypersonically grungy hooks injecting adrenalised vindication into the mix, the one-man powerhouse beckons listeners into a tumult of nostalgia. Not to morosely reminisce on what is missed but to dare to fight against the backdrop of a disillusioned world after being reminded of the volition and connection we historically sourced from sonic redemption and calls to action.

Influenced by his own struggles, the track wrestles with darkness but refuses to succumb. The juxtaposition of anguish and upbeat, infectious melodies mirror the internal battle Maz faced growing up—bullying, trauma, and later, the hangover of rock ‘n’ roll’s recklessness.

With backing vocals from his daughters Penny and Phoebe and drums from the ever-present Lloyd “Keith Moon” Pritchard, the track taps into familial warmth and raw, gritty sound. Maz’s gift is to prove that while the world may be descending into madness, we can still choose to live in colour. The firestorm of sound that is To Live in Colour demands your attention and ensures you’ll never feel isolated in your apathy again.

The To Live in Colour LP will be available to stream on all major platforms, including Bandcamp, from December 6th. Connect with The Elegant Chasers on Instagram to stay up to date with news of the release.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kickstart your rhythmic pulses with Scott Cook’s alt-rock kaleidoscope of poetic innovation, The Author

Posted on 7 October 2024

With ‘The Author’, Montreal’s Scott Cook served an electrifying synthesis of gritty guitar riffs reminiscent of the Manic Street Preachers and the ethereal synth overlays akin to Suicide’s ‘Dream Baby Dream’. In the cacophony of the saturated with banality modern music scene, the single is a rare slice of accordance.

Cook’s voice, an instrument in its own right, weaves through the tight instrumental arrangement, anchoring and elevating the melodies with his poetic lyricality which is just as sharp as his guitar hooks in the track which filters the colour of psych pop-rock harmonics into the alchemic cocktail which invites you to lose yourself in its euphonic bliss.

The arrangement’s dynamism is palpable, with ebbs and flows that create eager anticipation for the next burst of momentum and the catharsis it bestows.

Scott Cook proves with ‘The Author’ that his musical evolution is not just ongoing but accelerating. Drawing on an eclectic palette that spans genres and eras, he reflects on contemporary life with a candour that Morrissey would struggle to match. If he released this hit in the 90s, he’d be at the top of the charts.

The Author was officially released on September 23rd, stream the single on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Wrong Party is ‘California Bound’ in their glimmer of indie garage rock nostalgia

Posted on 14 September 2024

The Southern Kentucky/Northern Tennessee fourpiece, The Wrong Party, delivered an irresistible invitation to revisit epochs of rock via an unchartered route with their third single, California Bound.

With nods to everyone from The Strokes, Pavement, Placebo and Iggy and the Stooges in the honeyed with vintage hues production which also teases the distortion of 90s Seattle grunge and grooves through bluesy psychedelic guitar licks, California Bound is pornography to sonic nostalgists.

The way the influences and eclectic stylings enmesh in the garage-rock-esque release is an undeniable attestation to the band’s unique vision and mission to make up for the shortfall in real and raw rock in the past few decades. If you would rather get a lobotomy than listen to Highly Suspect or Royal Blood, The Wrong Party, fronted by Matt McNew, is made for your playlists.

California Bound hit the airwaves on September 1st; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Step into a sanctuary of alt-90s nostalgia with Straw’s debut single, Apartment 3513

Posted on 22 August 2024

With all the seductive appeal of Soundgarden, the debut single, Apartment 3513, from the Panama-hailing solo artist, Straw, allows alt-90s fans to crawl through the corridor of nostalgia before unlocking the door to an affectingly warm earworm which animates through scuzzed vintage tones and deliciously hook-rife vocals.

In spite of the convivial sonic and vocal magnetism in the debut single, Apartment 3513 charts a journey on a road to nowhere, fuelled by anxiety and depression, where the only pit stops made were to score. After 14 years of mental health issues and an attempt to numb them through substance abuse, Straw has turned his life around like a velvet revolver to give sanctuary to anyone who needs to veer from the path of self-destruction.

After studying at Berklee and the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Straw returned home to Panama where he collaborated with the Nashville-hailing songwriter, Grant van Dijk to bring his debut to life. Through the perfect equilibrium of candid soul and rock n roll swagger, Straw ensured that he wouldn’t find himself short of plaudits – especially if the singles in the pipeline match the intoxicating energy in Apartment 3513.

Apartment 3513 opened itself to the airwaves on August 9th; step in via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast