Introducing Nicky Reviews Rock, Series 1: Iron Claw, House of Leaf, Deep Cast, The Hunting Accident, Ultradrive

I don’t call Sophie’s Turn a rock star romance without reason.  After all, the male lead character is a rock star!  And the plot was born from and spiced with my love for all things rock.  I’ve always been a big fan of rock music, and I’ve always had (and still do have) a bit of a soft spot for rock musicians.  Not just lead singers… There’s the odd yummy guitarist, gorgeous drummer and delectable bassist in the mix as well!

On my rock shelf, you will find the likes of:  AC/DC, Bon Jovi, The Darkness, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Europe, John Norum, Heart, Creed, Dare, FM, Aerosmith, Nirvana, Muse, Nickelback, Kings of Leon, Evanescence, Foreigner and Guns’n’Roses… among others.

Imagine my delight as I’m discovering a whole host of new (to me, at least) and extremely exciting rock bands through Twitter!  So I thought I’d take a moment to take stock and introduce you all to some fantastic talent.  And then I thought… hang on! Why not make this a new feature on my blog?  After all, Sophie’s Turn combines chick lit with rock extremely successfully… why not carry the theme through?  And thus was born (drumroll, please!):

***NICKY REVIEWS ROCK***

Every once in a week or two, I will feature right here on my blog one of the exciting bands I’m finding through Twitter, Facebook, and friends–or indeed through recommendations, if you have any.  And who knows, occasionally I might even feature some old favourites, too!  I hope to bring you album reviews, a little bit of history and, over time and if the rockers concerned are interested, perhaps even interviews and more.   Some of the bands are signed, others are brand-new raw talent.  Some have re-formed after a few years of being absent from the scene.  Anything goes! I am not an expert music critic, but I am a huge rock fan and I know what I like.  And that’s exactly what I’ll bring you: my honest opinion on the music I encounter on my review journey.

Here is a little taster of the bands I plan to feature in
Nicky Reviews Rock, Series 1:

Deep Cast hails from Sydney, Australia, and is made up of Jake Savich (Lead Guitar), Sasa Vitanovic (Guitar/Vocals) and  James Brant  (Drums).  Their influences include Pearl Jam,  Creed,  Steve Vai and… Elvis Presley! I can definitely hear Creed-like undertones, folks!  You can find Deep Cast and links to some of their music on You Tube via their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deep-Cast/202088903151932?sk=wall#!/pages/Deep-Cast/202088903151932?sk=wall. My favourites to date:  Blue Heart (classic!), Ice Breaker… and the Creed cover, With Arms Wide Open (one of my all time favourite ballads!)

The Hunting Accident is based in Los Angeles.  Band members are Nate Greely, Aaron Stuart, Travis Shettel, Pete Beeman and Paul The Guy.  Influences include Joe Jackson, The Soft Boys and The Fall.  The band likes existential phenomenonolgy and tennis.  Listen to some cool, cool tracks here:  http://thehuntingaccident.com/?page_id=5.  Check out “Hot Drum”–it’s hoppin’!  Makes you want to get up and mosh away.

Ultradrive is Jay Henderson (lead vocals), Tommy Thompson (guitar and vocals), Derrick Dickey (drums and percussion) and Anthony Holcombe (Bass/Keys/Vocals). Ultradrive are based in Atlanta, Ga.  You can find out more about Ultradrive on their website at http://www.ultradrivemusic.com/home#!__home and listen to some tracks on their Facebook site at http://www.facebook.com/ultradrive. Be sure to check out “Crush” or “From the Outside”–fantastic, classic, Nicky-likes rock!

House of Leaf is a jewel to behold!  Dig this (from the official House of Leaf site):  House of Leaf marks the ”solo” debut of one of Sweden’s most talented singers, songwriters and musicians, Leif Sundin. Expect great songs, organic playing, and a timeless sound, steeped in Americana. 

 Well, I love his music; it’s ‘gentle’ rock, if you will–mellow but with bite.  Even listening to it first time, it’s got the kind of ‘known it all my life’ feel to it. A classic in the making–check out “Someday Somewhere” and “Wash Away Yesterday” here: http://www.houseofleaf.com/listen.

Iron Claw  is the latest addition to my rock revelations.  And my, they blow me away! Iron Claw were an early 70s’ heavy rock band from Dumfries who managed to build quite a following before they split up in 1974.  Sadly, I am personally a little too young to remember them first time round (I was only two when they split!) BUT now they are back and about to release newly recorded album, A Different Game.   Iron Claw is Ian McDougall (Drums), Alex Wilson (Bass) and Jimmy Ronnie (Guitar), plus new vocalist Gordon Brown from Annan.  Find a sample track here:  http://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/track/what-love-left (be sure to turn the volume down if, like me, you have sleeping kids upstairs! That was a close esacpe!).  Wow, guys: classic, hard, melodious:  just what I like. x

I have ordered the albums (where available) and in the next week or so, I will post the first instalment of Nicky Reviews Rock… watch this space to find out who features first!

Sophie would be absolutely DELIGHTED with meeting any and all of these bands… they are right up her street! 

Rock on, everybody. 🙂

All pictures taken from artists’ official websites.