Fox Reviews Rock

This is our brand new weekly feature (Normally) on a Monday! The New Rock Roundup will rank the latest releases spanning across the world of rock music. With entries from rock, metal, metalcore, punk, pop punk, alternative and indie!

There will be a brief explanation about why I (Fox) enjoy the song in question from each category before I rank them at the end in terms of my own preference. I would love to hear your own person ranking as well as why you agree with or disagree with my comments.

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New Rock Roundup

Rock

Kaiser Franz Josef – Dim The Lights.

I thought this band was dead! I loved their 2nd album “Make Rock Great Again” from 2017, sure their 2020 follow up “III” wasn’t for me but they are so underrated. I first saw them at Download Festival and was immediately hooked. This will be a song for anyone who loves rock music with good solid musicianship. It doesn’t do anything over the top but everything is done well!

Metal

SKARS – Killer Queen.

No this is not a Queen cover. But how cool would that have been! I like the growling undertone of the vocals here, they are not screams but this tickly sound at the base of his tone. It’s got that true attitude enhanced metal that gets me every time. The guitar solos they used to feed between the verses and choruses are done brilliantly too.

Metalcore

Black Veil Brides – Certainty.

It’s been ages since the band put anything out that was this heavy! It still has the melodic structure you would expect from a BVB song. But has the long missed visceral screams that I don’t remember since like their 1st album. It’s not over the top and it wont impact those who don’t like screams I wouldn’t have thought. Could this be a sign that the band are returning to their roots?

Punk

Viagra Boys – Therapy II.

This is more laid back punk but it does the job, and lets face it you’re not forgetting the bands name any time soon! Think punk crossed with indie and psych. It’s playful, which for a song about therapy is rather hilarious.

Pop Punk

Walk On Mars – Be A Man!

I adore the vocal flow here, especially in the verses. The move into the chorus sort of comes out of nowhere. Speaking of the chorus its catchy, playful and pretty clever lyrically. Instruments on the track don’t try to do too much, but here they don’t really need to. It’s the stereotypical pop-punk song, I mean that as no slight either.

Alternative

Florence Black – The Pouring Rain.

I thought that the song wasn’t playing the first time I put this song on, as the first 4 seconds there is nothing. You’re then greeted by this lovely little guitar riff, soft vocals and then thumping but slow drums. It is an interesting route away from what I expect from the band. The song builds and builds till the chorus which is much more melodic and expansive. Florence Black are a favourite of mine.

Indie

The Wombats – The Power Of Love.

Turns out this song did need to go Indie! Ok the original is better, but this is a fun little break from the norm, and I love the spin they put on it. The biggest change here is the change in tempo and vocal patterns from the original. It feels like a Wombats song and that’s always good for a cover.

Fox’s Ranking

1st Place: Kaiser Franz Josef

2nd Place: Florence Black

3rd Place: The Wombats

4th Place: Black Veil Brides

5th Place: Walk On Mars

6th Place: Viagra Boys

7th Place: Skars

Let us know if you agree with the ranking and the comments about each song!

All rights to the songs in this post are retained by the recording artist. This site claims no rights over them.