Curated by DJ Astrocreep
It’s DJ Astrocreep back behind the wheels of steel for the latest Singles Club feature, as Monk has a million and one things to keep up with at the moment! It’s another bumper submission list – 281 this time – meaning there’s even more work to do to narrow it down to the creme de la creme for your aural delectations!
To kick it all off, we have Brighton rockers Graces Collide with forthcoming single ‘Ride’, taken from their debut album, which is due next year. It’s a hook-riddled, groovy hard rock affair to kick us off with a bang!
Seeing as we are a few days away from Halloween, what better track to include than ‘Transylvanian Rock’, from London-based punk outfit, Real Authority? A punk track that verges on melodic hard rock, with a rather cool video to boot!
Edging us towards the heavier are new power metal supergroup, NorthTale, with ‘Everyone’s A Star’ coming from their debut album released earlier this year. It has heavy melodic rock influences, despite their slightly heavier take on that and is well worth a listen!
Continuing the Halloween theme but venturing into the somewhat different, we have The Pop Group with ‘Blood Money (Slow Thief)’, with what can only be described as something very not pop! A Bat Cave/post-punk feel is definitely there, though it’s somewhat more experimental than their usual counterparts.
Staying on the slightly different, we have the horror influenced heavy metal act Tribulation, with ‘Strains Of Horror’ coming from their upcoming live release Live At Sodra Teatren. There are plenty of darker hints mixed in with classic metal riffs at times, making for an intriguing mix!
Brutal tech death merchants Unfathomable Ruination are back with ‘Protoplasmic Imprisonment’ and sounding as head splitting as ever! Lots of technical hooks mixed with some downright heavy riffs – not for the fainthearted!
Josh Homme has a new Desert Sessions release out, with ‘Crucifire’ being one of the video releases for it. It’s another alt-rock/stoner special, with a very Queens Of The Stone Age feel – for some reason *coughs* – in a very likeable track.
Keeping a similar feel, we have Hastings alt-rockers Kid Kapichi and new single ‘Sardines’, a hook filled, fuzzy little number which you can’t help but nod your head and brandish your air guitar to!
Hollywood Undead are back with a song that sounds almost prog metal-like in ‘Already Dead’, a track more infectious than the flu in an old folks home!
Let’s up the pace a bit now, with Canadian thrashers Tymo with ‘Sanity Clause’. There’s a fair bit of technicality, lots of quick riffing and plenty of attitude!
Some blackened doom now, with ‘Of Flies’ from Eraldo Bernocchi’s solo project, Blackwood. Gutteral vocals, slow and menacing riffage, maximum head banging!
Palace Of The King are a band I covered when I reviewed their previous album and now they’re back with hard rocking track ‘Move Through The Fire’. All the groove of a 12-inch vinyl and all the rock of a mountain range – what more could you want?
Some pop-punk now, in the alt-rock crossover style of Weezer, in the form of Counterfeit‘s ‘It Gets Better’ – an anthem with a sing along chorus and a slightly different spoken word vocal approach through the verses, the Northampton lads have made an unbeat corker here!
A slice of vintage sounding garage-rock/power pop now as The Peawees feel the need to ‘Justify’ themselves with a highly melodic, easy to love song that you can’t help but want to shake your ass to!
So, Wire have been around for over 40 years now and their 17th album is set for release early next year! Lead single ‘Cactused’ is another slice of aural heaven with melodies a-plenty from the veteran art-rockers.
Emo/pop-punk legends InMe harken back to their early days with new single ‘I Swear’, with a melody driven rock track that’s geared for getting you moving.
Pagan folk metal is quite inkeeping with Halloween, ‘Huldra’ is quite a track by Norwegian act Gåte, who blend rock and traditional Norwegian music to superb effect here.
Modern rock ballad ‘My Heroes’ is another strong track from A Joker’s Rage, taking the soft/loud approach with their verses and choruses to great effect with this ear worm.
Our penultimate track is from up and coming act Unleash The Archers, with a cover of Teaze’s glam rock track ‘Heartless World’, putting their own imprint on a classic and melodic track.
At the end of another marathon Singles Club, we have quite the crossover in Earth Moves‘ new single, ‘Other Voices, Other Rooms’. Mixing in post-metal, sludgy shoegaze and black metal, they have created something somehow quite appealing from what should just come across as quite the cacophony.
Until next time, when Monk (hopefully) will be returning to the decks of doom, keep on rocking!