Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2025 i Classic Rock

Bad Moon Rising, Proud Mary, Born On The Bayou, Fortunate Son, Up Around The Bend (my favourite, if push came to shove)… All songs that are intrinsically part of the fabric of classic rock, or let’s be honest, popular music as a whole. And that’s just a mere handful! They all came from Creedence Clearwater Revival and the mind and the pen of that band’s guiding light, John Fogerty. This month we sat down with him to discuss the trials and tribulations of Creedence, his songwriting and his decision to reclaim his Creedence legacy (and songs) by ‘doing a Taylor Swift’ and re-visiting some of his classics. “I probably didn’t deserve to have my songs stolen,” he tells us. Read it from page 30. Sadly, this month has also been…

“He took all of us higher, one way or another. Rest in eternal peace and groove.”George Clinton “In 1968 I saw Sly And The Family Stone debut at the Fillmore East in New York City opening for Jimi Hendrix. They were a freight train of bombastic, joyous souI that would soon climb the charts and change the sound of R&B for so many other artists. Rest In Soul!”Paul Stanley, Kiss “Everybody is a Star, no matter who u r. There will Never be another U, to do what u do. Keep the legacy Alive! Love U.”Bootsy Collins “Sly was without doubt among the most important artists of the 20th century. A major force for love and goodness and togetherness. We could really use him right now.”John Taylor, Duran Duran “Rest…

Terry Draper September 22, 1951 – May 15, 2025 A founding member of the cult Canadian proggers Klaatu, drummer Terry Draper has died of leukaemia. He was 73. Draper was a co-writer of the band’s biggest hit, Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft, which was covered by The Carpenters. In Canada there was a bizarre rumour – which was encouraged by the record label they shared with The Beatles – that Klaatu’s debut album, 3:47EST, released in 1976, was actually the Fab Four recording under a different name. Andrew Matheson Died May 31, 2025 Canadian-born, British-based singer Andrew Matheson is best-remembered for his spell as the frontman with the cult proto-punk band the Hollywood Brats. After moving to London when he was 18, he co-founded the band in 1981. Despite being…

Following the recent unveiling of his statue, Lemmy could be honoured further with a dedicated music venue in his home town of Burslem, Stokeon-Trent. Plans are afoot to build an 800-capacity live music club and name it Kilmister Halls. The space could potentially also include a café and a museum. It would replace the currently vacant Queen’s Theatre, situated on the same street as the Lemmy statue. The Grade-II listed building first closed in 1998, reopened in 2003 then closed again in 2014. Local artist Andy Edwards, who created the statue, reveals that discussions between IFK Legacy and Stoke-on-Trent City Council, who own Queen’s Theatre, were “really positive”. “This city has a big musical heritage and we used to attract the best bands,” he adds. “That’s drifted away, and this…

As the title of Brent Cobb’s new album suggests, it’s not that he’s never rocked, just that it’s been a while. Born and raised in Georgia, the singer-songwriter is an accomplished voice in contemporary American country music, but alongside his long-time band The Fixin’s, Cobb has recently rediscovered the heavy rock of his youth. Ain’t Rocked In A While was worth the wait – some of the muscular, guitar-driven tracks wouldn’t sound out of place on Black Sabbath’s Vol. 4. Was there a series of events that brought about the direction of your new album? I knew I wanted to make this album with my live touring band because up to now I hadn’t done that – and that’s what comes naturally to them. I wanted to give everybody an…

Bon Jovi have played their first full concert in more than three years. It’s no secret that frontman Jon Bon Jovi has been battling severe vocal issues for quite a while, and some critics have even suggested that Bon Jovi should no longer tour. Jon bravely confronted the situation head-on, revealing that he had been affected by a condition called vocal cord atrophy, caused by one of his vocal cords wasting away. Following reconstructive surgery in 2022, he hoped to make a return to the stage. Finally, following some smaller, private shows, it finally happened. On June 14, 1,500 fans watched the group perform a 17-song, 95-minute set at the Marathon Music Works venue in Nashville. Those in attendance seemed satisfied by what they heard, which included golden oldies Livin’…

“We’re building organically and we want to win hearts and minds the old-fashioned way.” Attention fans of swoon-inducing West Coast melodic rock: it’s time to meet your new favourite band. Well, maybe ‘new’ isn’t quite the word, but after five self-released albums, the reputation of Young Gun Silver Fox – that’s English singer/guitarist Andy Platts and US-born London-based multi-musician and producer Shawn Lee – is finally gaining some traction. “There’s no hype about us. We’re about music, not marketing,” explains Shawn Lee, the titular Silver Fox. “We’re building organically and we want to win hearts and minds the old-fashioned way – by word of mouth. Fans that discover us like that are more committed than the casual ones.” More fresh-faced and less hirsute than his partner, Platts (AKA the Young…

Gavin Rossdale has never been able to tune out the critics. For someone whose holy texts as a youth were the weekly UK music papers of the 70s and 80s, with all their gloriously vicious, vituperative opinions, it stung when his own band, Bush, fell prey to those same barbed pens during the band’s dizzying mid-90s rise. Thirty-odd years on, he’s still acutely aware that his music will still be scrutinised. Except these days the judgment comes from closer to home. “My kids play guitar,” he says. “So I’ve got to deliver records that fucking smack people in the face, cos I don’t want them and their friends to go: ‘Remember when they made those strong early records?’” Rossdale is talking to Classic Rock via Zoom from Halifax, Nova Scotia…

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, collectively The Black Keys, couldn’t telegraph their present state of mind any clearer than they do on the opening, and title, track of their forthcoming thirteenth album together. Chiming keyboards usher in a ringing guitar melody, a gambolling rhythm on its heels. The first words out Auberach’s mouth on the record are: ‘Let it go… You’ve got to let it all go’. If that wasn’t specific enough, there’s the title itself: No Rain, No Flowers. After their well-documented annus-horribilis of 2024, which included an aborted US arena tour, a stillborn album, Ohio Players, and then their wholesale firing of their managers (industry heavyweights Irving Azoff and Steve Moir) and publicist, it casts the pair as somewhat more world-weary but nonetheless defiant after the storm. All…

June FEARLESS Eclectic Texan rocker thinks big on album number three. oing right back to the days when industry bigwigs, sharks and money men realised there was serious cash to be made out of rock’n’roll, there’s been a rush to discover musicians who have that celebrated (and lucrative) star quality. If we believe the myths, those people arrive with it fully formed and ready for adoration. But the truth is it takes work to ignite that spark. De’Wayne, from Houston, Texas, has it in abundance, but it’s taken toil and nurturing an encyclopaedic knowledge of popular music – his eclectic output so far has taken in classic and alternative rock, soul, jazz, hip-hop and Americana on his journey to work out a formula for the perfect blend of the rock’n’roll…

Circling From Above ALPHA DOG 2T/UME Band’s eighteenth studio album, packed with pomp and prog. No matter which way you look at it, we’re a long way from Pieces Of Eight and songs like Blue Collar Man (Long Nights) or Renegade. We don’t just mean chronologically, either. This latest incarnation of Styx, now with enough members to rival Iron Maiden or Supertramp in their prime, appear to have forgone the occasional foray into distorted guitars and stacked amps, as prog and pomp notes abound, and the whole record feels like a gentler, more reflective Styx. Less AOR, too, although when they turn their hand to it they can still absolutely nail a single that would eat up FM radio, as with the keening pop and very prog-pop (mandolin solo, anyone?)…

More Songs About Buildings And Food (Deluxe) RHINO Expanded second from collegiate genii. n the wake of their debut album 77, Talking Heads found themselves critically successful and, thanks to its single Psycho Killer, noted for David Byrne’s cold-eyed observation songs. On their second album they ditched the brass section and any remaining cutesiness, and set about inventing much of the 80s. They’d already made an impact on critics with a sound that seemed to take the existential blankness of European art-rock and filter it through a uniquely American lens, like a preppy Albert Camus, a style that, with its brainy lyrics and jerkily funky rhythms, would have a massive influence on any new group out of Britain or the US who didn’t want to sound like the Sex Pistols.…

Indie guitar veteran Jason Narducy and Oscarnominated actor and singer Michael Shannon have been performing one-off gigs together for more than a decade, honouring songs by Lou Reed, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and more. Their latest (and most substantial) venture is the music of R.E.M., which began in 2023 with Murmur. After a run of successful US dates, their six-piece band bring 1985’s Fables Of The Reconstruction to the UK this summer. How has the Fables tour been so far? Michael Shannon: The shows were pretty thrilling. I was kind of sad when it was over. But I’m looking forward to playing the UK, because I’ve never performed music in public there. It’s crossing another threshold for me. Jason Narducy: I recently did six weeks with Bob Mould, who I’ve…

Chantel McGregor Hastings The Carlisle ‘Tis rock, not blues. Chantel McGregor is not a blues guitarist. Forget you ever heard she was. Her current album, The Healing, marks an extraordinary leap forward into grown-up rock: powerful arrangements and clever time changes. It’s her best yet and she’s rightfully proud of it, opening tonight’s set with its two first songs then declaring that she’ll be playing every song from it before she leaves the stage. McGregor sings with a voice much taller than she is and displays a singular gift as a guitarist. The Sunday night audience at this seafront pub is assaulted by occasionally filthy power chords (as in Your Fever) then stroked by transcendental lead work. Throughout the set I try, and fail, to decide who she sounds like.…

‘Living Pop Art, Kraftwerk still sound like the future.’ It’s a decidedly mixed bag at the inaugural “post-punk” gathering. A sunny June afternoon in Milton Keynes, and John Lydon is in typically happy-go-lucky mode. “One of very few festivals where all the bands backstage get on,” the Spongebob Squarepants of punk says, grinning. “And I’m about to fucking ruin it!” Boom boom! Welcome to the inaugural one-day Forever Now festival, billed as a celebration of all things “postpunk”, a fuzzy term that appears to encompass every vaguely alternative rock genre from the past 50 years. But Public Image Ltd hit the nail squarely on the head with their punchy set. From their muscular, chiming Rise to their pummelling demolition of Lydon’s aggrorave Leftfield collaboration Open Up, PiL are still carrying…

When you’re handpicked to be the guitarist on Michael Jackson’s This Is It farewell tour, it’s the kind of flattering headline that tends to follow you around. Fifteen years later Orianthi Panagaris’s career is still flourishing. The talented Greek-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist has also toured with Alice Cooper and made records with Richie Sambora, but chiefly she’s on a hot streak of solo albums. You don’t get to work with artists of the Cooper/Sambora/etc calibre without having an abundance of fretboard razzmatazz, but it’s in carefully crafted songs where Orianthi really comes to life. Her new album Some Kind Of Feeling radiates with a moreish style of hookheavy, blues-infused pop-rock that underscores the name Orianthi as much more than a masterly guitarist. THE FIRST MUSIC I REMEMBER HEARING My parents…

Died June 2, 2025 Tributes have been paid to Colin Jerwood, the frontman of veteran anarcho-punk band Conflict, who has died at the age of 64 following a short illness. “We’re very sorry to hear about the passing of our old friend,” said a statement from GBH. A “shocked, stunned and devastated” Steve Ignorant from Crass added: “Colin and I always considered ourselves brothers. We came through so much hardship and laughter together. I shall miss him terribly.” Conflict were formed in Eltham, South London in 1981. Also sometimes known as Colin Conflict, Jerwood became a prominent figure on the punk scene. Committed vegans, anti-militarists, environmentalists and opponents of corporate nuclear arms and globalisation, Conflict were driven by a DIY attitude and a strong anti-fascism mindset, and set up their…

Vivian Campbell has thanked the stem cell donor who helped him receive the all-clear from the cancer that he was diagnosed with in 2013. Now in complete remission from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Def Leppard’s 62-year-old guitarist is fit and ready to join the band on their summer touring commitments, which include a UK stop at the Radio 2 In The Park open-air bash in Chelmsford, Essex on September 7. Following an early, unsuccessful attempt, Campbell underwent a transplant last December. Four months later, a PET scan revealed the good news. “I’m a hundred per cent clean, completely in remission for the first time in 12 or 13 years,” Campbell told US broadcaster Eddie Trunk. “And I’m obviously overjoyed. You couldn’t ask for more than that.” Right now Campbell doesn’t know the…

“I loved the sense of freedom, love and beautiful energy that emanates from that music.” You’ll recognise Cormac Neeson as the frontman of Northern Irish bluesy hard rockers The Answer. Now his new band, California Irish, sees him donning hippie threads as he turns to the music he grew up on for inspiration. “I remember listening to a cassette in our kitchen that was Joni Mitchell on one side, Cat Stevens on the other,” says Neeson, explaining how he became obsessed with the sounds of 1960s Laurel Canyon from his parents’ music collection. “That music ignited my imagination. Also watching documentaries about Woodstock, movies like Easy Rider; I loved the sense of freedom, love and beautiful energy that emanates from that music.” California Irish’s debut album The Mountains Are My…

The world’s first Ozzy Osbourne exhibition is now open at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Charting his “journey from a working-class kid from Aston to becoming the world’s most recognisable global rock legend”, Working Class Hero runs until September 28. Brent Hinds has launched a shock attack on his former bandmates in Mastodon, dissing them as “horrible humans”. In a vicious outburst on social media the guitarist and singer, who spent 25 years as a member of the Atlanta-based prog-meets-metal behemoth, also referred to Mastodon as “a shit band”. Due to “unforeseen production issues”, the release of the 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition of the Genesis album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway has now been put back a second time, until late autumn. The Lemonheads release Love Chant,…

June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025 ‘And when I go anywhere I see love, I see love, I see love’ In a 1964 episode of American Bandstand, as Dick Clark is interviewing the Beach Boys, all freshfaced and matching Pendleton stripes, he asks: “You have hit after hit. Who determines what will be done next?” Twenty-one-year-old Brian Wilson grins shyly at his bandmates and says: “Well, I guess I do, I don’t know.” Then in the next second he adds: “I write the songs and produce them, so I have a lot to say about it.” That moment offers a glimpse of the two sides of Brian Wilson, the legendary leader of the Beach Boys, who died on June 11, 2025, a week shy of his 83rd birthday. He…

If Volbeat’s ninth album, God Of Angels Trust, is anything to go by, then Michael Poulsen is obsessed with goats. Not only does the album title spell out ‘GOAT’, but one of the animals features on the album and appears in a title of one of its songs. Volbeat’s singer, guitarist and chief songwriter Poulsen, laughs off the suggestion. “No, I don’t have any goats at home,” he insists. “But maybe I should.” References to bearded bovidae aside, the album continues the Metallica-approved Danes’ bolshy fusion of metal, punk and old-fashioned rock’n’roll. Volbeat’s last album, Servant Of The Mind, was released in 2021. That’s the longest gap between the band’s records. How come? We pretty much took a sabbatical year. I had to have a throat operation, which went really…

They’ve won a Grammy, just as they’ve won over a legion of fans having made their pitch as one of the hardest-touring bands in the US. Now Halestorm are about to move up another gear with the release of their new album Everest, but the band members still have moments of giddy fandom that take them crashing back to their teenage years. Brought up on a steady diet of classic rock, frontwoman Lzzy Hale has had countless opportunities to meet her heroes, often forming firm friendships, occasionally dissolving into a storm of fart jokes, and, on at least one occasion, bonding with a metal god over a shared love of high-heeled shoes. LEMMY I never met Lemmy, but we observed Lemmy doing his thing at the Rainbow in LA. We…

Everest ATLANTIC US hard rockers bring on-stage ferocity into the recording studio. Halestorm’s albums sound like a beast stuck in a cage. Since finding success in the early 2010s the Pennsylvania band have earned a reputation for high-octane, anything-can-happen live shows, fuelled by the chemistry between singer/guitarist Lzzy Hale, her drummer brother Arejay and a line-up that’s gone unchanged for 21 years. Their records have struggled to convey the same fire, however, with 2015’s Into The Wild Life especially feeling more sterile than a surgical suite. After previous album Back From The Dead showed some traces of the band’s on-stage verve, sprinting through 37 minutes of metal, Everest sees them finally scale the summit. And all it took was everything being changed. For the first time, Halestorm were produced by…

Lukas Nelson American Romance SONY MUSIC NASHVILLE Lukas Nelson’s solo career has been a long time coming. Skippering Promise Of The Real (Neil Young’s backing band for a good while) took up most of his past 15 years or so, although there’s been extracurricular stuff too, most notably Nelson’s Grammy-winning soundtrack work for A Star Is Born, writing and producing alongside Bradley Cooper. POTR’s indefinite hiatus has now cleared the way for American Romance, pushing Nelson’s plaintive voice and innate grasp of meter and melody to the fore. It also pairs him with another scion of countryroyalty, producerShooter Jennings. The moods are varied, from the weathered acoustic country of Ain’t Done to Born Runnin’ Outta Time’s silvery rock‘n’roll and the old-time string band chug that motors Outsmarted. And while Stephen Wilson…

Reissues PARLOPHONE Late iconoclastic guitar maestro’s first two albums remastered on coloured wax. When Jeff Beck released Truth (9/10) in 1968 he was still smarting over Hi Ho Silver Lining representing his first solo venture after getting sacked from The Yardbirds, despite that single scoring a top 20 hit. While producer Mickie Most’s pop plans floundered after two more singles, their blues-based B-sides heralded the direction Beck blazed with his band that included little-known singer Rod Stewart and bassist Ronnie Wood. After the Jeff Beck Group became an instant hit touring America before Truth’s release, it made No.15 in the US album charts. Riff-heavy blues rock was still finding its feet when the album appeared brandishing templates Led Zeppelin ran with, including Beck’s heavyweight churn through Willie Dixon’s You Shook…

“We are fundamentally a live band. Buy a ticket because if you love the record, hopefully you’ll love the live show even more.” Formed officially in 2021 (but temporarily extinguished during lockdown), Welshmen Cardinal Black call themselves “the oldest new band in the world”. With their freshly released second album Midnight At The Valencia drawing widespread praise, singer Tom Hollister and guitarist Chris Buck preview the band’s 14-date British and Irish tour in the autumn. Most bands have a lifetime to write their debut album but then just months, or even weeks, to come up with a follow-up. In their second lease of life Cardinal Black found themselves in a rather different situation. Chris Buck: The way the first record was made over the space of ten years, it felt…

‘Iron Maiden showing that, 50 years in, they can still surprise us.’ Delivering oldies, favourites, classics and rare cuts – and watched over by a digitised Eddie – it’s a Maiden show like no other. Tonight is the first night of the Run For Your Lives world tour, and Budapest is absolutely brimming with Eddie shirts, a black-clad horde taking over parts of the city centre as queues begin to form at merch stands near the venue hours before show time. Yep, this is a biggie alright. Before we get to the main event, there’s the matter of Halestorm, now bona fide arena headliners in their own right but supporting Iron Maiden for the very first time. It’s an occasion not lost on Lzzy Hale, who wins over the notoriously…

‘The idea of Donington still creating new legends lives on.’ Rock and metal’s next generation finally get the chance to step up. Forty-five years on from the inaugural Monsters Of Rock, the shape of rock and metal has changed immensely. But even with three all-new headliners at Donington Park this year the site’s status as a Mecca for rock fans remains. If the Monty Python Gregorian chant wasn’t enough of a giveaway, Battlesnake are firmly tongue-incheek. Classic heavy metal riffs fly and gold-and-white priestly robes flap as they leap about a packed Dogtooth tent, ending with half the band in their kegs covering Let There Be Rock. Weezer make their Download debut count. Hash Pipe, My Name Is Jonas, Perfect Situation, Surf Wax America, Undone – The Sweater Song… You…

Rocking trio turn up the heat to sweltering levels. The sheer chutzpah that beats at the heart of His Lordship is not only to be admired but also loved. Playing fully suited and booted on what is the hottest evening of the year so far, singer-guitarist James Walbourne (moonlighting from his long-time gig as Pretenders’ axe-man) emits a halo of sweat that sprays in all directions with every shake of his head. At his waist, the stream of perspiration that runs down the body of his Gibson SG actually looks as if it’s stripping the paint away. And with drummer Kristoffer Sonne submitting a sick note, it falls upon Walbourne’s brother, Rob, to man the traps with just two days practice to unleash material from new album Bored Animal, which…

Pioneering psychedelic soul legend Sly Stone has died at the age of 82. The news was confirmed in a statement from his family. “After a prolonged battle with COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] and other underlying health issues, Sly passed away peacefully, surrounded by his three children, his closest friend and his extended family,” the statement reads. “While we mourn his absence, we take solace in knowing that his extraordinary musical legacy will continue to resonate and inspire for generations to come. “Sly was a monumental figure, a groundbreaking innovator, and a true pioneer who redefined the landscape of pop, funk, and rock music. His iconic songs have left an indelible mark on the world, and his influence remains undeniable. In a testament to his enduring creative spirit, Sly recently…

The guitarist with punks The Boys has passed away peacefully after a long illness. He was 73 years old. Born John Splain in Leeds, Yorkshire, Honest John Plain appeared on all five of The Boys’ studio albums, from their self-titled debut in 1977 to 2014’s Punk Rock Menopause, their comeback after 34 years away. He also released a wealth of solo material and had ties to the likes of Ian Hunter on the 1995 album Dirty Laundry, Ronnie Wood (via The Dirty Strangers), The Crybabys, The Lurkers, The Yobs, Casino Steel, London SS, The Mannish Boys, The Last Rock ‘N’ Roll Band and The Landslide Ladies. He also played drums in an early incarnation of Generation X. His songs were covered by Hanoi Rocks and the Manic Street Preachers. Plain…

A 50th-anniversary reissue of Deep Purple’s classic live album Made In Japan arrives on August 15 – 53 years to the day since the first performance in Osaka. Available in multiple formats it has all three August 1972 shows that provided tracks for the original double album album, plus a 2025 Steven Wilson remix. There’s also a 20th-anniversary edition of their album Rapture Of The Deep, released on August 29. Asia will issue their first studio album in 12 years in 2026. The veteran proggers – still with co-founder and keyboard player Geoff Downes, plus guitarist John Mitchell, bassist/vocalist Harry Whitley and drummer Virgil Donati – have re-signed to their former label Frontiers for the follow-up to 2014’s Gravitas. Heart have been reunited with instruments stolen from a gig in Atlantic…

In a new interview with The i Paper, Pete Townshend gave his perspective of The Who’s sacking, reinstatement and second sacking of drummer Zak Starkey, summing up the debacle: “It’s been a mess”. Part of the problem, he feels, is that The Who hadn’t played together in a while. Although it was reported that the firing of Starkey came from Daltrey alone, Townshend comments: “It’s a decision Roger and I tried to make together, but it kind of got out of hand. “I think Roger just got lost,” Townshend continued. “Roger’s finding it difficult. I have to be careful what I say about Roger because he gets angry if I say anything about him at all. He’ll be sacking me next. But that’s not to say that he sacked Zak.”…

Willie Nile released his self-titled debut in 1980. A singersongwriter with a rock’n’roll heart, he became the toast of NYC. After weathering more than a little record company drama and leaving the business for a decade, Nile returned. His new album, The Great Yellow Light, is a 10-track collection that includes anthemic rockers, passionate ballads and even an Irish singalong. It ranks with his debut, his 2006 masterpiece Streets Of New York and 2013’s American Ride as one of his best records. It’s been almost four years since your last studio album. For you, that’s a long time. Tell us about the past few years. I put out nine albums in 12 years – from 2009 to 2021. New York At Night came out at the very beginning of…

“Brian Wilson was the most musically inventive voice in all of pop, with an otherworldly ear for harmony. He was also the visionary leader of America’s greatest band, The Beach Boys. If there’d been no Beach Boys, there would have been no Racing In The Street. Listen to Summer’s Gone from The Beach Boys’ last album That’s Why God Made The Radio and weep. Farewell, Maestro. Nothing but love and a lasting debt from all of us on E Street.”Bruce Springsteen “Heard the sad news today and thought about all the years I’ve been listening tohim and admiring his genius. Rest in peace dear Brian.”Bob Dylan “The notes he heard in his head and passed to us were simple and brilliant at the same time. How we will continue without…

Thursday 5 June, 1975. Following an overwhelming vote in favour at the referendum, prime minister Harold Wilson takes Britain into the European Economic Community, aka the Common Market. Goodbye fish and chips, hello frogs’ legs, warns one especially ‘patriotic’ tabloid. But by the end of the month there is an undeniable feeling of joie de vivre in the air as the country plunges into one of those “Do you remember…” heatwaves that inspires TV newsreels of heat-stroked housewives frying eggs on pavements. Bottled water hasn’t been invented yet, so everyone chain-sucks ice lollies. The UK singles chart is not so sun-dappled: Tammy Wynette’s Stand By Your Man spends four weeks at No.1, and is followed into the top spot by Whispering Grass by two of the stars of BBC TV…

Wytch Hazel get on famously with Satan. A kinship forged in the club nights and all-dayers of the heavy metal underground scene, it’s just one way in which the Biblically inclined rockers subvert expectations – cheerfully pushing back against notions that faith and the devil’s music can’t be friends. Of course, we’re talking about Satan the 80s metal stalwarts from Newcastle upon Tyne, not Beelzebub himself. “They’re great, I love those guys!” Wytch Hazel’s singer/guitarist and mastermind Colin Hendra enthuses. “I remember we were at Muskelrock and Satan played, and then we played, and then Antichrist played straight after us. I thought that was quite funny.” Hendra, 33, is calmly open about his Christian faith in a thoughtful, grounded way not always seen in religious public figures. It’s a refreshing…

Namazu Ice 800 GOLDEN ROBOT Mini-album from rabblerousing Tennessee thumpers. Although their social media tells us that Namazu have been “damaging eardrums since 2014”, the Memphis quartet haven’t found the resources to make much in the way of studio-recorded product apart from 2017’s debut album Works Cited. This fivetrack EP addresses that gap in the market with some agreeably gnarly post-hardcore noise. There’s something enticingly unpolished about the likes of Okinawa Wives and In Like Flynn, as guitar and drums almost fall over themselves, like Townshend and Moon running for the bus, and a snarling vocal redolent of Paul Di’Anno informs us, over a sludge-caked riff, that ‘Teenage girls will make you pay’ (as the real Errol Flynn of the latter title doubtless learned to his cost). ‘Tastes like steel,…

I Beat Loneliness EARMUSIC UK grunge lifers delve into mental health matters for album number 10. Between new releases from Skunk Anansie, Garbage, Pulp and Suede, the (already tedious) live return of Oasis, and baggy jeans and plaid shirts making a pleasingly comfy comeback, the 90s are back with aplomb in 2025, much to the delight and slight age-related horror of those of us whose misspent youth traversed that decade. So Bush should slot straight back in with I Beat Loneliness, their tenth album, and sixth since they re-formed in 2010. And yet, largely because they were always more successful in the US than their UK homeland, they remain on the outside of it all, their sound still tailored to the American radio stations that made them millionaires. Wisely, they’ve…

Reissues RHINO British 70s R&B at its raw, thrusting finest. Dr. Feelgood were not the sort of geezers you’d want to meet down a back alley after dark (or before, for that matter). Hard-drinkin’, hard-workin’ blue-collar sorts fuelled by the dementedly choppy guitar and songwriting of cultural icon/hardman Wilko Johnson and fronted by the tatty mohair suits and skinny ties of psychotic Canvey Island dandy Lee Brilleaux, forever blasting down a harmonica. And let’s not forget John B Sparks (bass) and The Big Figure (drums). Formed in 1971 in Canvey Island out of the detritus of previous R&B bands, Dr. Feelgood released an astonishing eight albums in five years, beginning with 1975’s Down By The Jetty (9/10) – pure adrenaline thrill, not a note wasted, not a snarled vocal out…

Age shall not wither The Coop. The Mohegan Arena is not full, nor anywhere near it. But Alice Cooper – for ever a testament to the youth-extending benefits of a daily round of golf – shall not be deterred. For he is a professional, and for 90 minutes he shall lead his band through a set that’s as hit-strewn as a championship boxing match. Beyond all the familiar set-pieces – the guillotine, the disgraceful manhandling of Cold Ethyl, the lurching Frankenstein’s monster – and a series of props beginning with the letter ‘c’ (cane, crutch, cutlass), there are little moments of personal choreography, as if no opportunity to entertain can be left unattended: Ryan Roxie tossing picks into the air and catching them; Nita Strauss contorting her guitar into increasingly…

Wit, pathos and brutality. Sparks rock. They’ve rocked in the past, certainly around 1974’s Kimono My House album, and their early-80s band were fearsome in a period of commercial trickiness. But, backed by (mostly) three guitarists and a drummer who hits hard as Dinky Diamond, Ron and Russell Mael have never sounded so musically brutal as they do today. Whether it’s stomping through the former synthpop smash The Number One Song In Heaven, resurrecting Reinforcements and Goofing Off or unveiling Drowned In A Sea Of Tears, it’s a hugely thrilling injection of joy and power. This being Sparks, there’s much more. It’s difficult to imagine any other act being capable of following a song from 1972 (Whippings & Apologies, where Russell whispers the year to avoid Maels and audience trauma)…

‘As the big hits arrive, Idol greets them like the hightime anecdotes they are’ A curious live combo sees the hard touring post-punk folk rockers playing second fiddle to Sir William of Broad. Rebel yells all round! Welcome, true believers, to the Church Of The Roaring Idol and the Unholy Mind. On the backdrop screens, visuals of blood-red scaffolding form a post-apocalyptic cathedral centred around adeific outline of punk’s snarling biker messiah as the man himself – a remarkably unweathered Billy Idol – spins onstage in sci-fi leathers to the defiantly grimy groove rock of Still Dancing. He seems somewhat risen again; Idol’s new album-cum-rock’n’roll memoir Dream Into It – the first half reminiscing over his peak years, the second a reflection on later life – is his first in…