“The Last Rockstars” by The Last Rockstars
The Last Rockstars is a Japanese rock supergroup made up of four already-accomplished international musicians: Yoshiki, Hyde, Sugizo and Miyavi. The band announced itself in November 2022, with the release of its self-titled single, “The Last Rockstars,” the following month.
Catchy, anthemic, melodic and energetic, the ”biggity bang bang bang” of eponymous “The Last Rockstars” boldly announces their arrival.
This anticipated J-rock track boasts a rideable rhythm and modern touch. Smooth and well-mixed, but fun and different — is this the ‘end of rock’ or a new direction? With more to come, the Last Rockstars will let us know!
“Nothing Left to Lose” by Moon Fever
Seattle-based rock outfit Moon Fever has a high-energy bad-boy sound with evident grand stadium inspiration from past generations of rockers. Triston Bracht (vocals), Mitch Micoley (guitar), Dave Orton (bass) and Troy Wageman (drums) seamlessly combine their classic rock influence with screaming metal guitar and edgy modern vocals.
If classic rock was the devil’s music, “Nothing Left to Lose” belongs to the she-devil: the music video, which is filmed in a strip club, shows a chain-clad exotic dancer who makes the “bad” look really “good” — and Moon Fever is all in, having nothing left to lose!
“Not Dead Yet” by The Uninvited
Founded in 1988 in Los Angeles when brothers John and Steve Taylor — in bluegrass bands since the age of 14 — teamed up with longtime friend Bill Cory on bass and Bruce Logan on drums. After a 15-year-old hiatus, but with new band members in tow (drummer John Messier and bassist Tony Giuliano joined the Taylor brothers), the guys are back with a new album and new track, “Not Dead Yet.” “Not Dead Yet” contains some of the band’s unique mix of power-pop guitars, amplified banjos and mandolins, soaring harmonies and sardonic lyrics. It’s an anthem for survivors of — well, everything we as people have survived together over the last few years since the band reunited in 2019. How’s that for rock n’ roll?
“Love to Love You Baby” by Tayla Parx
“Spinning Gold” is a biographical film that depicts the life and career of record producer Neil Bogart and the founding of legendary record label, Casablanca Records. Three-time Grammy Award-nominated singer, songwriter and actress Tayla Parx plays Casablanca-signed voice of an angel Donna Summer, featuring Parx’s original cover of the disco-defining 1975 hit “Love to Love You Baby.”
Despite her coy confessions that the portrayal of “somebody the world has loved” was “daunting,” Parx fulfilled the role down to the sexy sultry moaning. Donna Summer originally released “Love to Love You Baby” in 1975 on her second studio album of the same title.
The controversial history of this scandalous track is worth noting. The BBC banned “Love To Love You Baby” in the UK; while in the US, the likes of Reverend Jesse Jackson decried the song, claiming that it led to an increase in teen pregnancy. According to Summer herself, she was forced to stop performing “Love to Love You” live when riots broke out in Italy, and 5,000 sexually-provoked men began to charge her stage.
What would a song like this do to a strip club in the 21st century, one has to wonder! Now available on StripJoints — I’m afraid we’ll find out!
Maneskin’s third album RUSH!, which features 17 tracks, is the most original from the cover-crushing emerging Italian rock band so far. Lead singer Damiano David almost growls the pain out in the catchy pop alternative hit, “Baby Said,” in which he pleas for more from an emotionally unavailable lover who would prefer not to talk so much. “Baby said, When you’re talking I go dead/Shut your mouth, give me your head,” he cries, ever-cooly. The song is vulnerable and appealing to edgy young audiences, either pained with similar feeling or who just want to dance!
