Chybucca Sounds

Release Date: Out now.

Record Label: Independent.

Hailing from the coastal city of Baltimore, Big Liquor Pond have been making a splash in their native Maryland since their 2007 debut, The Year of the Clam, bought them a slew of local followers. Blue Smoke Orange Sky retains its predecessor’s themes of time and space; rarely straying from wide-eyed wonderment and cross-legged abandonment, the band’s hippyish mantra culminates in dreampop jangles, sitar slides and faraway vocals.

Release Date: Out now.

Record Label: Chevstar.

Sorry for Nothing is a hit-and-miss name: Merging punk-rock rebellion with the self-pitting angst of tight-clothed emos. The Northumberland trio do neither.

Skipping emo and punk, Sorry for Nothing go back further; channelling the likes of: Black Sabbath and Motorhead, not to mention the fretboard fury of classic-rock alumni such as: Dio, Judas Priest and Witchfinder General. Psycho Monster Resurrection (as the name suggests) is united in its lyrical themes: B-movie imagery and occultism. Sticking rigidly to the rulebook and with a dedicated online following, Sorry for Nothing is proof that there will always be a place for traditional, ballsy rock ‘n’ roll.

Listen Here

Release Date: Out now.

Record Label: Election Records.

Anyway, here’s what we know: They’re four friends from the Czech Republic, who have released two full-length albums, as well as a series of limited edition, seven-inch singles, since 1996.

The first of a number of inquisitive questions that one must ask is: How does a band with such pedigree and longevity go unnoticed? Shrouded in faraway mystique, this self-titled effort is refreshing and honest: mixing the angst and anxiety of traditional, fast-paced hooks, with working-class honesty.

As is the blunt nature of ‘punk’, the album is littered with expletives (sung in English rather than Czech) and with a running time of just under 30 minutes, this could be a little ‘too punk’ for some. Still, the burning questions remain: When will they make it to Western Europe? Where can I buy their previous albums? Why have they remained in the wilderness? Simply listen and repeat.

Release Date: Out now.

Record Label: Self-Release.

You heard it here first: Smokehouse J will become a star. Born into the blues and raised on a diet of classic rock, this self-taught guitarist has a penchant for groove and melody that defies his years.

Like John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, and more recently, Slash’s Snakepit, the sole purpose of the Emergency Stash is to compliment the talents of a special individual with minimal fuss: objective complete. Beginning with the Hendrix-esque squeal of ‘Stoned Heart’, J’s immediate influences are clear: driven blues boosters, and fist-pumping guitar-heroes, from a golden age: Duane Allman, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Paul Kossoff and Ronnie Wood; the list goes on. Remember the name.

Release Date: Out now.

Record Label: Self-Release.

Rock and roll will never die. Yes, there will be passing fads that will relegate the genre to the back of the queue – at least in the eyes of the mainstream – but for the rest of it, it won’t.

Indiana’s Greasebucket know this all too well: a hard-working, backstreet band, whose persistence against adversity is the sort of thing that Neil Young has, and would again, write about. Recorded in just one day, Greasebucket is comprised of pent-up anger and regret; soundtracked by a Les Paul snarl and storytelling charm, that Young would approve of.