RGM presents The Hard Place #2
Welcome back to The Hard Place, where the hair is big, the guitars are pointy and the teeth have almost certainly undergone a recent whitening procedure. In this, our second all-killer-no-filler roundup, we aim to pleasure you guiltily with the news of the latest melodic hard rock from all four corners of the globe; and we know that - for you - only the best will do. So, sit back, relax and remember, in The Hard Place, no-one can see you playing air guitar.
We begin our journey in New York. Well, almost. Ok, ok, it’s actually Norway, but hear me out... Norwegian vocalist Jorn Lande (simply ‘Jorn’ to his mates) is a veteran of the banshee rock wail and has been wielding his pipes in the most magnificent way ever since we first heard him alongside Ronnie Le Tekro in the awesome cult ‘90s band Vagabond. Jorn's prolific solo career has spanned two decades and his latest single is taken from his current covers album Heavy Rock Radio II: Executing The Classics. ‘New York Minute’ is a bombastic rendering of the Don Henley masterpiece, Spinal Tappian in grandeur (and there is surely none more black than its accompanying video). It will be too indulgent for some, not least Henley devotees, but it undoubtedly comes from a place of genuine love and respect for the song and, as over-the-top as it is, we believe it’s well worth six and a half minutes of your time. Heavy Rock Radio II is out now.
From NYC we hop on a flight - hey, can we do that yet? - over to the Latvian capital Riga where we find Bloody Heels, another fresh signing from Frontiers who are finally throwing as much weight behind new bands as their heritage acts and studio projects. Now, these guys have hair. By which I mean Proper Rock Hair. Even better than that, they are good. ‘Criminal Masterminds’ is the debut single from their upcoming LP Ignite The Sky, due for a July 2020 release. Since their emergence in 2013 the band have grown the hell out of their glammy beginnings into the properly ballsy rock prospect they currently are. Lead vocalist Vicky White (not his real name) dares to describe their sound as “dark AOR” but we think they sit at the tougher end of MHR (think Kik Tracee; think Spread Eagle or, better still, think Skid Row in their prime). Whatever box you put them in, ‘Criminal Masterminds’ is a monster, executed with finesse and flair, boding very well for the album as a whole. So, you heard it here first; Bloody Heels: flair, dare and, above all, hair.
We return to the UK to catch up with some old friends - hey, can we do that yet? - in the form of Romeo’s Daughter, whose 1988 debut has become something of a cult AOR classic, enjoying a Rock Candy reissue in 2008. The band, led by vocalist Leigh Matty and guitarist Craig Joiner, subsequently reformed in 2009 and have since issued two very respectable, breezily AORish LPs: 2012’s Rapture 2015’s Spin. Romeo’s Daughter have always had their feet planted on rock’s hot soil but never have they been afraid to dip the toes of those feet into the cool waters of pop, which, if you ask me, is what makes them so very special. Organik, their fantastic new EP is an acoustic affair, featuring five songs from their back catalogue and one brand new track. Acoustic reworkings are shark-infested waters that few bands navigate with success but Romeo’s Daughter glide through the depths with uncommon class, helped in no small part by Joiner’s versatility. Organik is therefore a delight from start to finish; the very best bits coming in the form of ‘Enemy’, ‘Alive’ and the classic ‘Cry Myself To Sleep’ which has lost none of its 1988 magic. If you’re making a list of bands to see live post-lockdown then Romeo’s Daughter need to be right at the top. In the meantime, Organik is available direct from the band’s website.
Check out one of the EP tracks in their original electric format:
And finally, the last leg of the second Hard Place World Tour is… Tokyo! Well, actually, err, no, that might be another slight lie from me there. Tokyo Motor Fist is the name of an oh-so-very American band comprising Ted Poley (Danger Danger) and Steve Brown (Trixter) alongside the veteran rhythm section of Chuck Burgi and Greg Smith. This dream team chose their name hastily after lawyers apparently advised against the use of both Def Jovi and Bon Leppard. That last sentence was, by the way, also entirely untrue. Anyway, if you were holding all four of TMF’s members in a deck of hair metal Top Trumps (oh, please tell me these actually exist) you wouldn’t care what they were called because you would have won the round. Regular visitors to RGM may remember our review of the quartet’s hugely enjoyable 2017 debut (here) and the band’s latest single ‘Youngblood’, from the forthcoming album Lions, promises more of the same no-nonsense, feelgood, party rock, laden with flashy guitars, big singalong vocals and earworm choruses. With some live shows under their belts and Lions due for a summer release, Tokyo Motor Fist is now looking less and less like a career vehicle and more and more like a bona fide band, albeit with a slightly rubbish name.
So, as the pyros fizzle out, the houselights glare and the roadies begin to tidy the stage, we trudge through the wasteland of cracked plastic pintglasses towards home. Our time in the Hard Place has come to a close. We all know, though, that the beating heart of rock is one that never stops and we will soon gather here again to worship our leather-clad gods and collectively fist-pump the salty, metal air. Until then, go well, rockheads. See you next time.
The Hard Place is a Rich Barnard production for Red Guitar Music.
You have reached The Hard Place. A place where the hair is just a shade more voluminous. A place where the trousers are, on average, two belt holes tighter. A place wherein it is perfectly normal for guitars to begin spontaneously spewing fireworks. Or lightning. Or both. We bring you the choicest, freshest cuts of retro-metal on offer. And, in a scene where wrongness so often prevails, The Hard Place offers a distillation of all that is currently right with the world of melodic hard rock. Quite a lot of it is, as you might expect, from Sweden.