“Too Much Ain’t Enough” is the new release from Travoltas and it is a towering mix of mountainous riffs, punk rock energy, eighties hair rock guitars and melodies and harmonies that Brian Wilson might kill for! This bunch are from the Netherlands and have been around since 1990. Since 19-fucking-90, how the fuck have I not heard of them until now? I will be spending the weekend listening to their vast back catalogue! The new track was produced and mixed by frontman Perry Leenhouts at Point Break Sound in San Diego and recorded both there and at Mick’s (Michel Meeuwissen guitarist) Basement in the Netherlands. This is such a fun song and one I will probably playing again and again throughout 2025. And you gotta love that action movie style picture on the cover, right?
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I have not heard of this band before but fuck this new single is wonderfully out there. There are some influences from the likes of Soft Play. Aside from those influences, this bunch are out on their own. I think we should all get on their spaceship and zoom to Planet Dead Rat! Lyrically it is pertinent and amusing. I particularly love “Have you tried looking outside?..everything is really Fucked“. This is electro punk garage hiphop and that is just for starters. They also incorporate some wonderful voice samples. Well they may not be samples, but either way they work. Ed from the band said this of the track “The song is mainly about inviting someone to let loose, pull away from the drudgery of modern life and relax for a bit. Away from all the lame shit. Escapism through and through by any means necessary!” You are an absolute dipshit if you listen to this and don’t rush onto Dead Rat Society’s spaceship. If you don’t then you are a brainless fuckwit or most probably you are Trump’s first lady, Elonia Muskrat!
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This is an unusual one to feature for me, but I have to say that I love “IT Girl”. It is the new single from Jade, former member of Little Mix. This is her third solo single since leaving the group with which she had five UK chart toppers. “IT Girl” tells the story of how extremely misogynistic the music industry still is. It has some very dark emotions: anger, frustration and perhaps hope too. The track starts of relatively subdued for a very short while then kicks into a glorious electronic dance psych out. Jade gives a great performance in the video too. Lyrically it is wonderfully venomous. I particularly like “Kitty got fangs and kitty got claws. Clause in the contract, contract gone. Gone is the girl that you could con“. This is a co-write from Jade and I suspect that this is a deeply autobiographical song from her. Maybe I am becoming more accepting of pop in my old age. I love Harry Styles. I am growing to appreciate Robbie Williams. Now, I absolutely adore the new song from a former member of Little Mix. Become less of a music snob (I am trying), accept the inevitable, songs like “IT Girl” paint the future brightly! If this does not top the charts everywhere then the world is even more broken than I thought!
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I was sent the first FangSlinger’s single, “The Lost Souls Saloon”, for review back in October. Sadly I never got around to it. Which is a pity because it was a truly colossal track! I believe that the first single began a tale which may run for some time. The blurb for single number one was “In the heart of Death Valley, an ancient evil roams. FangSlinger, once a man seeking fortune during the California Gold Rush, now leads a band of outlaws terrorising the West. The band’s lore is rich and immersive, drawing fans into a world where reality and myth blur.” This story deserves a graphic novel! Apparently each member of FangSlinger has their own dark story. They each have a reason for joining the quest. This makes their performances more than just music. It becomes a theatrical experience. FangSlinger, the lead vocalist, Hangman Frost on guitar and backing vox are joined by on backing vocals, keys and percussion by BloodRose.
I am pleased to announce that I have heard their second single “Blood Curse.” It was released a few days ago and is phenomenal. It carries the story along really well. It rocks like a beast from hell, hard enough to wake the undead! Apparently it is about a deal struck by FangSlinger with an ancient evil which led to their condemnation to eternal life and a debt of 100,000 souls to the Devil. It has metal, melody, grunge and riffs and hooks to die for. It reminded me at times of Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Alice Cooper and Evanescence to name just a few. It has some great spaghetti western horror vibes going on. If the vampire TV series ‘True Blood’ ever returns, FangSlinger should provide the soundtrack. They should at least write the theme tune. The video for “Blood Curse” directed by O. D. Collins is rather good too. I am truly hooked on this band and the ever unfolding tale. I am proper excited for the next single!
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Probably Harrisburg, PA’s finest band, Jellybricks are rapidly becoming one of my favourite bands. This is the third of their singles that I have reviewed so far and every one has been high class. the other two were “That Way” and “Age Of Stupid“. The new one, “Devil’s A Day Away”, was released on January 3rd. It is delightful pop punk with some almost Beach Boyesque harmonies. I know it is still January, but I can see this one featuring on my summer playlist. But it is not just great harmonies, musically it rocks like a motherfucker. Lyrically it might seem a little dark, but I also sense a lot of hope too. On the chorus I was reminded of Semisonic in their prime. The emotion is switched up to 11 too. Everyone needs some Jellybricks in their life. Why not build your music house out of Jellybricks?
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Milan rock band Used To Be Apes have just hit the streets with a new single, “New Waves”. It is a classy emotive three and a half minutes of perfect pop rock. The track is fuelled by melancholy but hopeful lyrics. I can sense elements of REM, Prefab Sprout and New Order. But this band are not copyists, they are very original. I can see this song making my songs of the year list in December. In the olden days when pop charts mattered this would have been a huge hit.
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Italian metal legends Lacuna Coil have just released “Gravity.” It is the fifth single from their forthcoming album ‘Sleepless Empire.’ The album will be available via Century Media Records. I believe that the song explores the rise and fall of life, the importance of resilience and fate. I felt that it conveys hope and that things will get better if you stay strong. The band said this of the new song: ““Balance is so difficult to keep as we navigate through desperate times, feeling lost and gasping as we ask for help. How do we deal with tough times? Do we ask for a hand? Or do we isolate ourselves from everything else to recollect in our own misanthropic golden cage? I hope you will love Gravity as much as we do and that it will help you to reflect on the time we have left and how to use it wisely.” The video that accompanies the release is monumentally epic, I love it! Live your life well good people and soundtrack it with Lacuna Coil!
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Benjamin Muñoz Varas is a self-taught producer, singer and songwriter. He uses the name Varas. With roots in Chile, Varas grew up in a small town called Götene in Sweden. When he was twelve his father introduced him to Led Zeppelin. At this time he took up the guitar. Having listened to his new single I am glad he got into music. The current single might not contain any guitar but it is a spine-tingling piano driven dark-tinged ballad. This song is the sort of thing I could drown happily in, it is a thing of pure beauty. It has a delicate fragility and the emotion is palpable. The track comes from his upcoming ‘Eaten by Worms’ EP which is due out next month.
Varas said this of the song “It’s about that feeling of embarrassment, but also liberation, when someone close to you points out that you look worn out and tired. I don’t even see that weariness when I look in the mirror, but having it highlighted by another person can be both mortifying and strangely cathartic. There’s a sense of the facade being as thin as rice paper, and a desire to be scrutinised, to be seen in our truest, most unguarded form.” This is a song you sit down in a relaxing environment and listen to. Do that now, you will not regret it!
“Stanley” is the current single from queer Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Camille Schmidt. It kicks off with some perky metronomic percussion before bringing in some super insistent riffs. Then the piece de resistance of the song is Camille’s voice. She captures the dark humour of lives observed in the lyrics. Jarvis Cocker used to do this so well. Camille had this to say about the track: “I started thinking about my plane ride the night before. This woman in front of me had been texting a friend about her boyfriend, Stanley (who I later discovered was a few rows behind us). I was thinking about the loneliness you feel when you’re alone, but also the deeper loneliness when you’re with someone, and that person doesn’t fill the hole inside you the way you’d hoped. It was a time when I was searching for comfort in anything – overheard conversations, interactions with strangers, little jokes I would make to myself.”
The lyrics make it very clear that the titular Stanley is not very nice, certainly a bit of a loser. These lines really describe that Stanley bloke! “Stanley sits and Stanley drinks. When he takes off his shoes he stinks. He’s going nowhere, going nowhere“. Having heard this rather ace song and watched the weird, warped and wonderful video I will be seeking out more of Camille Schmidt’s music. You should do the same!
Irish rockers Celtic Legacy are clearly fans of the Crow, the supernatural superhero. The character was first seen in a 1989 comic book series and has appeared in films in 1994 and 2024. The first saw the sad death of actor Brandon Lee. The band are such huge fans that they have a new song out called “The Crow”. It tells the tale of the titular hero. He gets murdered with his girlfriend. A crow brings him back to life to seek vengeance. The song is dark, heavy and wonderfully constructed melodic metal. The riffs are perfectly persistent. I love the vocal from John Bonham and the guitar solo screams like the best of 80s classic rock. This is a band on top of their game. The chorus eases into you quite easily and locks itself in.
The video is slightly extended by some great Crow related narrated animation based on the original graphic novel. When the first riffs kick in the band appears against the animation background as kind of partially drawn lifelike characters. The video certainly adds to this already great song. The video was filmed, edited and directed by Dave Morrissey, one of the bands guitarists. Weirdly my wife saw the video and is now convinced that I have a doppelganger in bass player Dave Boylan! This is the first new music from the band since 2015. They are already planning two more singles for 2025. I don’t know if they will also be Crow related. But based on this song I will definitely check them out.
