Damn Freaks released their self-titled debut album through Mighty Music on 11th August. The band features Tygers of Pan Tang frontman Jacopo ‘Jack’ Meille on lead vocals and that was the initial thing that grabbed my attention in the press release. Add to that the reference to “good ol’ party time rock n roll” inspired by 80’s bands like White Lion and Motley Crue and this was definitely an album worth checking out. I certainly wasn’t to be disappointed. I played the track “Break The Chains” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 30th June and “Dream Highway” on the Show on 28th July.
American band Kickin Valentina released their second full length album “Imaginary Creatures” on 11th August, through the Danish label Mighty Music. The band formed in 2013 and released their debut EP the same year. I can’t remember when or how I got a copy of that EP, but I’ve been a fan of the band ever since and was really looking forward to the release of “Imaginary Creatures”. An album recommendation was pretty much a foregone conclusion! I’ve played the tracks “Imaginary Creatures” and “Devil’s Hand” on the Friday NI Rocks Shows on 30th June and 28th July respectively and will be opening the Show this week with “Eyes”.
Read more: NI ROCKS Recommends "Imaginary Creatures" by KICKIN VALENTINA
Frontiers Music has a long history of bringing together artists to collaborate on projects and a very successful track record of doing so. The latest success is the band Kryptonite who released their debut, self-titled album on 4th August. The key participants this time are singer Jakob Samuels from The Poodles and prolific producer and musician Alesandro Del Vecchio. I featured the track “Chasing Fire” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 16th June and “This Is The Moment” on 7th July.
British rock band Wraith celebrated the 30th anniversary of their formation with the release of the album “Revelation” through Ice Rain Records / Cargo Records on 4th August. (Much to my despair 30 years actually takes us back to 1987 and not the 70’s – how’d that happen!!!) Wraith worked with some big names during the late 80’s including Pete Way and Lemmy and released 3 albums up to 1997. “Revelation” is the product of the latest evolution of the band and came to us via our friends at Rock ‘n’ Growl promotions. I featured the track “Lifeline” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 4th August.