The Über Rock Singles Club – Flamin’ Hot February

By DJ Monk

Having managed to somehow skip an edition earlier this month, the Singles Club returns with a bumper selection of goodies to wrap up this unseasonably warm February. As usual, we had literally hundreds of submissions during the past few weeks, which I’ve whittled down to the baker’s dozen that have tickled both my aural and visual cortexes.

We kick off in fine style with the latest, straight outta the pressing plant, track from one of ÜR’s favourite Swedish glunk crües, the Backyard Babies, which is so hot – no make that HOT – that I’m sitting with both a fire extinguisher and a bucket of ice in case it sets my laptop on fire:

’44 Undead’ is taken from the Babies’ upcoming album, ‘Sliver And Gold’, which is being released via Century Media on 1 March.

Next up, we’re staying in Stockholm for the stonking new single from classic metalheads Enforcer. ‘Die For The Devil’ is the lead track for their upcoming new album, ‘Zenith’ – their first in four long years – which is being released via Nuclear Blast on 26 April:

next we traverse the Atlantic to the good ol’ United States of Trumpton, where we find Fever 333 railing against the man and resurrecting the protest song with the latest single from their recently released ‘Strength In Numbers’ album. For the video for ‘One Of Us’, the LA trio actually staged their own demonstration, with fans holding personalized protest signs as they march on City Hall: in fact, the clip was filmed just days after Fever 333 had themselves marched alongside the United Teachers of America in support of their strike:

And now for something completely different… US dark melodic metallians Witherfall have just released an extremely interesting version of Tom Petty’s ‘I Won’t Back Down’, which will also feature on their forthcoming EP, ‘Vintage’, being released on 22 March. The video was partially shot Boogie Tracks Studios, in guitarist Jake Dreyer’s hometown of Panama City, Florida, where the band recorded last year’s ‘A Prelude To Sorrow’: the studio was subsequently destroyed when Hurricane Michael hit the state last October. The band have dedicated both the song and the EP to the resilience of the people who survived the storm:

Witherfall support Sonata Arctica at the Assembly Hall in Islington on Tuesday 19 March.

Another change in mood now, as we present the first fruits of the new, and almost inevitable, collaboration between the pop-punk powerhouses that are Jaret Reddick, of Bowling For Soup fame, and Kelly Ogden from BfS’ frequent support band of choice, The Dollyrots. ‘Here We Go’ is the first track to be released from the upcoming album ‘Sittin In A Tree‘, which is set for release on 22 March:

You can find out more about the Jaret and Kelly project on their Facebook page.

We change direction again with ‘The Upside Down’, the latest single from Italian sludgers The Blacktones, extracted from their 2017 album ‘The Day We Shut Down The Sun’. There’s some cool animation in the accompanying video, which is based around the album’s concept of reversing the journey through the Tarot towards enlightenment to one of running away from madness:

They say if you don’t want to get burned you shouldn’t hold your hand over a naked flame: well, this new single from Hana Piranha will burn its way into your brain, with its combination of classical instruments in a hard rock setting. Taken from the forthcoming album ‘Waiting To Burn’ (I sense a theme here), due to be released on 22 March via Fourglove Records, this goth-tinged combo will appeal to fans of All About Eve, Garbage and The Cranberries:

Next up, a step both back in time and into the present, with the return of the original ‘Snake charmer himself, David Coverdale, who is doing what he does best by inviting women everywhere to shut up and kiss him on the first single to be taken from new album ‘Flesh And Blood’, which lands on 10 May. There’s a distinctly retro feel to the video, as it not only features the ‘Snakeman’s refurbished iconic white Jaguar from those infamous Eighties clips, but he also dusted down the original turquoise silk jacket in wore in the ‘Here I Go Again’ video. The result is… well, vintage Whitesnake, pure and simple:

We come well and truly up to date with one of the hottest bands in the Überverse at the moment, in the form of German duo The Picturebooks and the title track of their new album, ‘The Hands Of Time’, which sees the light of day on 8 March (the album that is, not the single, which is already out, or we wouldn’t be streaming it, would we?) ahead of a run a dates which sees them visit the Über Kingdom at the beginning of May:

Time for a little tenderness now, with the new single of the same name from Duff McKagan and the first track to be taken from his forthcoming, as-yet-untitled, new solo album, which is based the bassist’s experiences on the road during Guns N’ Roses’ epic ‘Not In This Lifetime…’ reunion tour:

Another mood swing now, as Clutch have just dropped a new single, ‘Ghost Wrangler’, taken from UR’s 2018 Album Of The Year, ‘The Book Of Bad Decisions’, to coincide with the start of their latest US tour. Vinyl fans might remember the Ghoul Wrangler business card that was included in each 12″ version of the album. Many of those who called the number on the card left messages for the Ghoul Wrangler, some of these messages were used as teasers on Clutch’s social media outlets in the couple of days leading up to the single’s release. The video was shot in the Old Bedford Village in Pennsylvania: “JP wears pantaloons, Dan’s got horns, and Tim throws up on my face,” says frontman Neil Fallon. “I’m pretty sure we all deserve Academy Awards.”

Comin’ blastin’ outta London town with a new line-up and a single more infectious that a dose of clap in a whorehouse are KilliT, who are proud to tell us that ‘Love Is A Chemical’. Well, we’d love to know the formula, ‘cos we’re in lurv with this slice of radio-friendly hard rock here at ÜRHQ where it has been heavy rotation since first coming our way a couple of weeks back:

Last but not least, the honour of closing out this instalment of the Singles Club falls to another London hard rock crew, this time in the form of Colt48, who are most definitely locked, loaded and taking aim with this, the advance single from their forthcoming new EP, the ironically titled ‘Negatives’. Prepare to be ‘Disconnected’:

So, there you have it: my selection of my favourite tunes to have graced the ÜRHQ deathdecks in recent weeks. The big lad will be back (hopefully) in a fortnight’s time for the next episode of your favourite celebration of the singles format… until then, keep ‘er lit, keep between the hedges and keep on rockin’ \m/