The Über Rock Singles Club – Joyous June (Part One)

Chosen by DJ Monk

OK, folks, form and orderly queue, the Singles Club is now open for business once again – but, remember, we’ll be checking ID on the way in as we want to ensure that only bonafide rock ‘n’ rollers gain admission to enjoy the aural, and visual, delights that we have for inside for you this time around…

(Warning: Some of these videos contain flashing images/lights)

First up, in this weekend of pomp and pageantry to mark The Queen’s official birthday, it’s only right that we start out with some royalty of our own. And they don’t come with much more of an impressive pedigree than the members of new supergroup Deadland Ritual, who feature the godfather of heavy metal bass himself, Geezer Butler, alongside guitarist Steve Stevens, drummer Matt Sorum and vocalist Franky Perez. Ahead of their debut UK performance this coming weekend – at the O2 Islington Academy on Thursday, Download on Friday and the Garage in Glasgow on Saturday – they have released new single ‘Broken And Bruised’, which is also the first song they wrote together:

Next up, we’re right back down to the grass roots with ‘In Eclipse’, the new single from Hertfordshire alt-metal crüe Defences, recently seen on tour with The Raven Age. Their last single, ‘Shatter’ was their first new material in more than two years, and also their first with their new line-up, and ‘In Eclipse’ seems set to consolidate the new, more metalcore sound that they have adopted in their revamped format:

Another change of mood now with Manchester post-metallers Pleiades and their haunting video for their new single, ‘Ultra’, taken from their equally impactful EP ‘All At Your Mercy’, which was released at the end of last month. We’ll let vocalist Andy Calderbank tell the story behind both the song and the clip: “With each tragedy covered in the media seemingly more horrifying than the last, we’re becoming increasingly desensitised to the loss of human life. ‘ULTRA’ is my commentary on the value of human life and specifically how 72 people lost their lives at Grenfell Tower. Almost two years later, there’s still no conclusion. No accountability has been taken by any of those responsible. The family and friends of those who died are still suffering unimaginable bereavement due to negligence and irresponsibility. There are families that still haven’t been rehomed. These are our cries of frustration for them, and we have a duty to not let awareness of this immense loss to the community fade away. It cannot be forgotten, and this is our reminder.”

Another change of course and a slice of juicy yet atmospheric and thought-provoking pop-punk courtesy of Milton Keynes combo Get Your Head Straight, who come directly at us with the tale of ‘Medusa’, the second single to be lifted from their new EP, ‘Contrast’, which came out just this past Friday:

Next up, we enter the hallowed halls of rock ‘n’ roll royalty once again, as we are ushered into the presence of the one and only HRH Dee Snider, who tells us that ‘Tomorrow’s No Concern’, the latest track to be lifted from his most recent album, the Jamey Jasta-produced ‘For The Love Of Metal’. This song originally surfaced in lyric format almost exactly a year ago, but this version features it performed live in Sao Paulo:

We’re staying in the live environment next, with Swiss hardcore crüe Coilguns offering us a neat two-for-one package in the form of the double whammy of ‘Millennials’ and ‘Blackboxing’, recorded in Paris last November. Either song is guaranteed to take your head off at 40 paces, so what effect is a double hit gonna have? Coilguns are currently on tour with a clutch of dates at the Camden Underworld on Monday 24 June, The Crauford Arms in Milton Keynes on Wednesday 26 and Temple Of Boom in Leeds on Thursday 27 June:

Next, we hop over the border to Germany, where post-hardcore trio 8Kids are preparing to release their second album, ‘Bluten’, in August. By way of a taster, they have released a second single from same, in the form of ‘Kraft’, which translates as ‘power’.

We return to dear old Blighty to experience the ‘Trials And Tribulations’ of Sunderland post-punk quartet Roxy Girls and their prelude from their forthcoming mini-album ‘A Poverty Of Attention’, due to be released via Moshi Moshi Records on 6 September. Roxy Girls play The Social in London this coming Tuesday (11 June), and then The Cumberland Arms in Newcastle Upon Tyne on Wednesday 19 June and Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds on Thursday 27 June.

Ahead of their appearance on the Zippo Encore Stage at Download on Saturday (15 June), French soul/funk ‘n’ roll duo The Inspector Cluzo present us with their new single, ‘Ideologies’, from their album ‘We, The People Of The Soul’. The single itself isn’t actually released until 7 July:

To celebrate the announcement that they are to undertake a co-headline tour with Collateral in September, hard rockers Piston have released ‘Rainmaker’, the second single from their forthcoming debut album. And the song certainly lives up to its title, as it started to lash it down outside as soon as I pressed play on the track, which itself is a tasty slice of NWOCR:

Next up, another total change in pace and direction with a touch of outlaw country/Americana from the ever impressive Lukas Nelson & The Promise Of The Real, whom you may know from their recent collaborations with Neil Young. The Travelling Wilburys-inspired ‘Bad Case’ is taken from the band’s new album, the wonderfully titled ‘Turn Off The News (Build A Garden)’, which is released this coming Friday (14June) via Fantasy Records. LN&TPOTR will play the Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Saturday 27 June and Glastonbury on Sunday 28 June before re-uniting with Neil Young for the British Summer Time festival in London’s Hyde Park on Friday 12 July. Incidentally, the video was shot at country legend Willie Nelson’s Luck Ranch in Texas:

Southern Californian alt/art rockers Plague Vendor take us inside their musical ‘Prism’ with the latest single to be lifted from their new album, ‘By Night’, which has just been released this past Friday through Epitaph Records. The band have been developing a reputation for their exciting live shows, something which no doubt will be proven when they hit the Über Kingdom at end of this month for four dates supporting Starcrawler. Until then, there is this:

Next, London metallers NeonFly have just unveiled their first new music in four years, in the shape of the fiercesome yet thoughtful single ‘This World Is Burning’, which has been released to coincide with the launch of a crowdfunding campaign for their third album, ‘The Future, Tonight’. Neonfly singer and co-songwriter Willy Norton says of the single: “(It) is a musical distillation of the anger we as a band feel at the world around us… too many metal bands exist in a bubble of fantasy… we’re living in a world gone mad and we feel responsible as musicians to present our response to that madness. In this song, we wanted to combine our feelings of rage and frustration with our sadness at how things are evolving. I’m confident we’ve achieved that and are presenting a compelling taster of where we’re headed musically and lyrically.”

For our penultimate selection, we head up the motorway to Durham, where we find young hard rock crüe Twister, with their excellent new release, ‘Young & Affected’. The band describe the song as perhaps their heaviest to date, as well as representing a new approach to songwriting by the north-east quartet, with “only the catchiest hooks, the ballsiest riffs and the most powerful beats” making the cut. Certainly, it’s catchier than a dose of the clap in a whorehouse and ticks all the boxes here at URHQ:

Finally for this week, we present the most insane single we have heard so far this year, certainly in terms of its title alone… ‘Diggy Diggy Hole’ is Italian folk/power metallers Wind Rose’s Rammstein-infused tribute to the mining abilities of the dwarf nation. It’s over the top, it’s catchier than ebola and if it doesn’t put a smile on your face this freezing cold “summer” Sunday afternoon, then nothing will:

So, there you go. The jukebox has been loaded, and the tunes are on the house. But the bar has now closed until next time… unless you’re for a lock-in of course! DJ Astrocreep will be spinning the decks of death in two weeks’ time, so in the meantime, keep ‘er lit!