'World On Fire' by Slash, Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators

Did rock ‘n’ roll die? Slash’s coming with his third album World On Fire to prove that it’s alive and doing pretty well. As on previous album, he’s accompanied by Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators (featuring Todd Kerns on bass and Brent Fitz as a drummer).

Slash himself claimed that this album shouldn’t be seen as his solo project but as the effect of collaboration between all members of the band, what was my first thought, while listening to World On Fire. There is noticeable improvement of their understanding of each other, what results in how they sound like, what is surely outcome of playing together during past tours.

'Somewhere Under Wonderland' by Counting Crows

On ‘Mr. Jones’ Adam Duritz sings ‘We all want to be big stars’ and that very song allowed Counting Crows to become ones. They were even nominated for The Academy Award after their song ‘Accidently in Love’ was featured in ‘Shrek 2’ movie. And now the band presents their seventh album Somewhere Under Wonderland, the first one containing fresh material since 2008’s Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings.

As first single, Counting Crows chose ‘Palisade Park’, which can’t be called radio – friendly song, as it lasts for over 8 minutes. It starts with trumpet playing and when the band joins we are introduced into the story of grown – ups, tired of their everyday life, trying to go back in time, as they travel to place from the past.

El Pintor by Interpol

After four years of hiatus, Interpol strikes back with new album, which for sure is much better than previous ‘Interpol’. It must have been refreshing to them, when band members focused on personal projects. Vocalist Paul Banks and drummer Sam Fogarino worked on solo projects, while guitarist Daniel Kessler opened restaurant in the New York City.

Unlike previous records ‘El Pintor ‘ was recorded by trio, because bassist Carlos Dengler left the band in 2010. His duties in studio were taken by Paul Banks and he filled the hole with proper playing. On this record there are more tremolos, which were significantly present on previous records, luckily making album sound more like band’s first two successful albums ‘Turn on the Bright Lights’ and ‘Antics’.

Royal Blood self-titled album

I’ve never thought that my biggest regret of passing summer would be waiting for Jack White concert in order to have better point of view. And it’s not because gig was bad or not worthy enough but in the meantime I could have seen Royal Blood performing. Now when I’m listening to their self-titled album I just wonder how it would feel being a part of crowd, which torn apart wooden floor of the tent, where Brighton’s duo concert took place.

To comfort myself I can still turn on the album which is pretty damn good. It’s surprising what Mike Karr and Ben Thatcher accomplished with set of bass guitar and drums. After hearing other duo bands like The White Stripes and The Black Keys, Royal Blood still has some fresh sound to offer and the most characteristic feature of their music is how much noise they can produce with only two of them.

The Gaslight Anthem 'Get Hurt'

Few past months weren’t rich in new releases which I would wait for and that’s why I started looking for something new, what resulted in getting in touch with The Gaslight Anthem. Honestly speaking Get Hurt was their first album I’ve ever heard. And what can I say? It filled the empty space and made me listen group’s past records.

Before release vocalist Brian Fallon said that with groups fifth album we’ll receive something completely different from TGA previous works. As you listen their records with proper order of release, you can notice the evolution of their sound and that’s exactly how I feel about Get Hurt. It’s not different but something that originated from the past, more radio friendly but still having uniqueness, which makes me remember about the record.