Heart is something that is partly lost in mainstream contemporary music. Songs that mean something or try to prove some sort of deep, philosophical point are rarer as we become accustomed to bland, repetitive beats and lyrics that may have well been written by a pre-schooler. Luckily, the heart still beats for many underground, indie artists. Epidemic…Over, a relatively unknown Australian outfit from Tannum Sands on the central Queensland coast, is a band that fits this mould, and their latest EP, Long Way Home, shows what a beating heart can accomplish in this increasingly depraved music world.

Long Way Home features well-crafted and polished heavy rock laced with feverish energy. From the guitar-heavy opening track, “The Stone”, to the atmospheric fifth and final track, “Exceptions”, we are treated to rock at its rawest and its most basic. I was most impressed by “Runaway”, the EP’s lead single, in that it shows that the band understands mood and the right moments to shift tempo. The chord progressions and riffs and build ups on Long Way Home, however, are nothing new. There is no groundbreaking material in this EP. But the songs are honest, and it is clear that Epidemic…Over are leaving nothing to the imagination. The cards on the table. This EP almost screams “this is who we are, like it or leave it.” If you like rock, and you are willing to give a new band a chance, you will like this. Trust me.

Luke Creely

This side project for two members of Melbourne’s mighty Engine Three Seven released an excellent debut single a few months back, entitled Restless, and a very neat, catchy little tune it was. Ripe for Triple J airplay and ready to appeal to a potentially very broad audience.

They have followed up with a second single Burn the Ground, which offers something a little edgier and more up tempo this time round, although just as engaging. It’s a nice big fat groove based on an almost jazzy chord progression, with impassioned vocals over the top, great drumming and guitar work and subtle but strong harmonies in the chorus. And the production sounds sweet.

Again it has hit potential written all over it. Soon I’m going to grow a little weary of single songs and start to yearn an album, or at the very least an EP, from this very promising new unit.

Rod Whitfield

When you see the opening track on Melbourne 4 piece group President Roots’ new album is called ‘Dad’s Stoned’ you instantly think, ‘have I stumbled upon a parody album’. But that certainly isn’t the case. No far from it to be honest. Instead Feelin’ Fooled is one of the best mix of alternative country and rock that you are ever likely to hear.

The fore mentioned track actually turns out to be a great acoustic track that has a real Tim Rogers feel to it, while the album’s title track is smooth laid back and you can easily imagine it being the perfect track to listen to while you are chilling in a pub.

‘Soul Mining’ sees President Roots go real country (not that that is a bad thing when you are talking about these guys) while ‘Ain’t No Cure For Love’ is one of those catchy songs that is so infectious it will just get stuck in your head.

‘Mostly All Of The Time’ and ‘Cool Change’ have some sweet melodies that begin to promise that President Roots are something special, and then comes that something SPECIAL!!! ‘Spider Fingers And Hearts’ in a sensational track that has the potential to become a classic, one of those GREAT Australian tracks while ‘The New Black’ isn’t far behind.

‘What Goes On’ is another good track while ‘Gods Waiting Room’ is perhaps the track that means you have heard of Presidents Roots before (even though you may not recall when) because this was actually one of the most played songs on community radio not that long ago.

Feelin’ Fooled rounds out with the nice ‘Drifting’ and a live version of ‘Recycling Girl’… great tracks in their own right.

This album deserves to be a sleeper hit this year, it’s the kind of one that you listen to and then want to tell your friends about. President Roots have delivered one of the best albums of the year.

Dave Griffiths

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 14 years since Cold Chisel dropped the brilliant Last Wave Of Summer. Now with the most recent Cold Chisel reunion comes No Plans an album that is sure to be lapped up by starved Cold Chisel fans but upon the first listen seems like a bit of a let down.

The thing that hits you first about No Plans is there seems to be no real highlights, having said that there are also no really dreadful tracks either.

The album does see Cold Chisel break up their sound as well. The title track sees them experiment with a jazz/blues hybrid with some Jimmy Barnes grunt to boot it home. That same sound resurfaces throughout the album with tracks like ‘Dead And Laid To Rest’ and ‘HQ454 Monroe’.

‘All For You’ and ‘This Day’ sees Cold Chisel reproduce their sweet older sound but for the most part No Plans is an album that lets them experiment. The stripped back mournful acoustic feel of ‘Missing A Girl’ works a treat and even the country sound of ‘Our Old Flame’ doesn’t sound out of place.

For the most part though it feels like Cold Chisel jumps into gear and just delivers track after track of smooth rock, ‘I Gotta Get Back On The Road’, ‘Summer Moon’ and ‘The Horizon’ being perfect examples.

The only songs that are close to stand-outs are ‘Everybody’, which Don Walker reclaims from Abi Tucker and ‘I Got Things To Do’ which features the vocals of Steve Prestwich who sadly lost his battle with cancer last year.

No Plans is a good album, just don’t expect any tracks that will jump out at you and be classic hits.

Dave Griffiths

Tommy Bolin was one of those blink-and-you-miss-him musicians. Unfortunatley he was taken from this world at aged just 25 years, yet in that time got to show what a talented guitarist he was with bands like Zephyr, The James Gang and the legendary Deep Purple.

Not many people realise that Tommy Bolin was also a talented solo artist who put together two brilliant albums, Teaser and Private Eyes before his death. Now as a tribute to Bolin’s short but talent-filled career a new album has surfaced. Titled Great Gypsy Soul the album features newly recorded music from outtakes and alternative versions of some of his better songs.

But this isn’t just some tacky tribute album, oh no, each track features Bolin whether on vocals or guitar but the producers have brought in some of the finest musical talent of today just to finish it off.

For example Peter Frampton steps up to finish off ‘The Grind’ while Slash’s best friend Myles Kennedy does a wonderful job on ‘Dreamer’.

There are no weak tracks on Great Gypsy Soul whether Bolin was going for some good old fashioned rock on ‘Wild Dogs’, or some funk with ‘Savannah Woman’ (a track that has soul that most artists would only dream about these days) or even dishing out some blues like on ‘People, People’ he was always the top of his game… and ahead of his time.

Listening to an instrumental track like ‘Homeward Strut’ or ‘Crazed Fandnago’ takes the listener on a journey and when you give CD2 a go and listen to the epic 4 movements of ‘Marching Bag’ or the mind-blowing ‘Flying Fingers’ you begin to realise what a sensational talent Bolin really was.

Great Gypsy Soul is an album that every guitarist has to have a listen to. You will be left shell-shocked.

Dave Griffiths

Since their appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 Norwegian hard rock outfit Wig Wam have been gathering fans at an alarming rate. Personally, I can’t see what the love is all about and I certainly wouldn’t call their new album Wall Street a good listen.

So cheesy are Wig Wam (and I don’t just mean the name) that tracks like the title track, ‘Wall Street’ almost sound like a parody. And even greater crime by Wig Wam is the fact that Wall Street also contains stuff like ‘OMG! (Wish I Had A Gun)’ which sounds good from an instrumental point-of-view but has lyrics so awful that you just want to groan.

Wig Wam try something a little different with a heavy electronic sound to ‘Victory Is Sweet’ but the cheesiness returns for ‘The Bigger The Better’, and to their credit ‘Bleeding Daylight’ actually sounds okay, as long as you like that 80s sound that is glam rock.

Wall Street quickly takes a turn for the worse again though with ‘Tides Will Turn’ which is nothing more than a poor attempt at a ballad and alarmingly enough even contains bung notes by lead singer, Age Sten Nilsen.

‘Wrong Can Feel So Right’ and ‘One Million Enemies’ are both made up of awful lyrics while ‘Try My Body On’ sounds like Wig Wam wish they were Bon Jovi, but just don’t have the songwriting skills to live up to their idols.

The bad lyrics return on ‘Natural High’ while ‘Things Money Can’t Buy’ is actually an okay listen… but then again it’s an instrumental so didn’t have to have any lyrics penned for it.

Wall Street is a joke to rock music and Wig Wam have certainly overstayed their welcome.

Dave Griffiths

In every band’s career comes that album that changes everything. It is the album that stops them from being described as ‘a band with potential’ and has them being referred to as ‘a band that has finally made it’. For Californian four-piece Jack’s Mannequin that album is their latest release People And Things. This is one brilliant album.

The brilliance starts early with ‘My Racing Thoughts’ an album that sees Jack’s Mannequin mix a little hint of electronica into their rock sound. That along with some thought provoking lyrics shows straight away that you are onto something good with People And Things.

‘Release Me’ is a smooth radio-friendly track as is ‘Television’, both tracks also show just how much Jack’s Mannequin has matured with their sound since their last release with The Glass Passenger way back in 2008.

‘Amy, I’ showcases just how good Jack’s Mannequin have become and threatens to become a classic while ‘Hey Hey Hey (We’re All Gonna Die)’ is just simply a beautiful piano driven song.

‘People, Running’ is another thought provoking track while you’ll fall in love with ‘Amelia Jean’ after just one listen. ‘Platform Fire’ sees Jack’s Mannequin sound a hell of a lot like Five For Fighting while ‘Hostage’ is the standout of People And Things. This sensational track is one of the best songs to be released this year.

Such is the band’s confidence on this album they even pull off the incredibly slow ‘Restless Dream’ while ‘Casting Lines’ maybe duller than the rest of the album, but on an album this good who is going to complain.

People And Things is a brilliant album that has elevated Jack’s Mannequin in my eyes. This album has everything it needs to become a classic; it is certainly one of the best releases of this year.

Dave Griffiths

To celebrate their twentieth year in the industry everybody was expecting Millencolin to release the stock standard ‘Best Of…” album (and boy-oh-boy wouldn’t it have been a brilliant listen) but instead they have shocked everyone and instead having put together a follow-up to their 1999 B-Side compilation… this time around its called The Melancholy Connection.

B-Sides are a rarity these days so this is a pretty good collection to have altogether, and I’m sure most music fans would already realise Millencolin don’t release crap so you were always going to be on a winner if you picked this up.

There are even some surprises thrown in for listeners as the first two tracks on The Melancholy Connection being two previously unreleased tracks. Both ‘Carry You’ and ‘Out From Nowhere’ are Millencolin at their best and if this is what the material on their new album (when it is released in the near future) is going to sound like then nobody is going to be disappointed.

The remaining twelve tracks just show how good Millencolin are. Whether it be the amazing guitar work on ‘Absolute Zero’ are catchy tracks like ‘Mind The Mice’, ‘E20-Norr’, ‘Queen’s Gambit’ or the fun-loving ‘Junkie For Success’ you soon start to realise that these B-Sides are so good that not only were they hard done by not getting onto an album… they were also just damn unlucky not to be singles. They really are that good.

Still for me the best sounding Millencolin is when they go for the more aggressive sound, so it’s nice to be able to give ‘Bull By The Horns’ and ‘Dinner Dog’ another listen, and I have to admit that ‘Phony Tony’ has been on repeat for a little while now as well.

It’s not the Best Of that we were all hoping for but still The Melancholy Connection is a good enough replacement.

Dave Griffiths

Often you hear people say ‘you have to choose between old school or modern rock… you can’t have the best of both worlds.’ Well, Melbourne band Red Rockets Of Borneo may well be the exception to the rule, because obviously nobody told them that before that went into the studio to record their new EP which is tiled Ham

The old school and new school (is that a term…well it is now) certainly come together on an EP that is going to be a pleasure for all rock fans to listen to. Take one listen to ‘Who’s To Say’ and you’ll see exactly what I mean as it’s old school rock sound is mixed with some Seattle sounding grunge and an intensity normally reserved for venues such as the Tote.

That intensity builds even more on ‘Get Down To It’. It’s a rock track but has a punk feel, the only way to describe it is to admit that the Red Rockets Of Borneo are one of those rare bands that can capture the essence of a live show and harness it in a studio.

A dirty rock sound shines through on ‘Ready Made’… so dirty in fact you may find yourself needing to take a shower. ‘Ready Made’ is made even better by the amazing vocal styling of Jean Philippe Lopez… you’ll want to listen to the track over and over just to hear his voice. Ham then closes with ‘Be That Noise’, a track that once again allows the old school sound to shine through.

Ham is a great little EP that once again reminds people that Melbourne can produce some sensational rock music.

Dave Griffiths

Don’t you just love that feeling when you are listening to an album by some newcomers on the scene and you realise that what you are listening to is the debut of a band that is going to be great. That is certainly the feeling you get when you listen to Melbourne band Waverley’s first delivery, Challenger.

The album may only be eight tracks long, but they are tracks of pure genius. Opening track ‘Amy Remember’ certainly delivers more venom than you maybe expecting while ‘Paper Walls’ is a shout back to old school Kisschasy… and don’t we all remember how great that sound was.

‘Feeling Nothing’ reveals just how talented Waverley is. The song is well constructed and builds up in the right places. Add on a great melody and some vocals from Darius Papak that shine throughout and you have a track that deserves more than a few listens.

Teenage angst is the flavour of the day on ‘Until I Am Alone while the strong guitar work on ‘Who Will You Find?’ makes it a standout. This is also the track that makes you realise that Waverley have what it takes to crack that elusive U.S. market… this could be a teen anthem worldwide.

‘One From Two’ is yet another cool and smooth track while ‘Where Were You’ again stands out because of smart lyrics (you can tell some thought has been put into them) and is catchy enough to be a radio single. Challenger then closes with ‘Madeline’ a brilliant sounding track that would feel very at home on My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade.

Challenger is a terrific debut from a band that promises so much. Let’s hope we see Waverley doing some big things in the near future.

Dave Griffiths