This week’s rock hits hard and means it. Big riffs, real defiance and a streak of mischief run right through, songs that trade empty bombast for grit and character. Loud, alive and built to be felt in a room rather than just heard.
Pray Silence – Kill Room
Pray Silence serve up an excellent slice of anthemic alt-rock, all huge riffs and sardonic bite aimed straight at the heart.
This is rock built to hit on three fronts at once. Huge guitar riffs drive it forward while anthemic choruses open it up, and biting, sardonic lyrics keep it sharp between the swings. It really is a great mix. There’s a kind of propulsive, intricate quality to the writing that feels a little 90s alt-rock lineage. Nothing feels padded: the heaviness has purpose, the hooks are muscular, and the whole thing carries the confident charge of a band who know exactly the impact they want. The vocal is the standout of course, isn’t it lovely to hear rock which doesn’t have that standard rock vocal? Yes, is the answer, and Pray Silence do it in style.
Pray Silence are Edinburgh newcomers, the project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Marky Wildtype alongside Sam Siggs, frontman of garage punk band The Head Henchmen, both wanting to get back to something heavier. The band coalesced slowly over several years rather than arriving fully formed, gradually gathering strength in the dark. “Kill Room” is their second single, building on debut Dragon of Chaos, and lands squarely for fans of Biffy Clyro, Arcane Roots, Black Peaks and Jamie Lenman. They’ve definitely got a new fan over here at BOPS, cos this one’s great.
Reetoxa – Bottle
“Bottle” is a superb piece of 90s-rooted alt-rock from Reetoxa, a thirty-year-old song that sounds exactly the way it was always meant to.
This is a song that has waited three decades to detonate. And explode it does. The best riff we’ve heard in a while, a whole bunch of vintage 90s alt-rock grit, and the whole thing really does comes alive. There’s a lovely raw teenage edge here, with a touch of restless defiance and youthful rebellion. And the chorus? That’s a winner. And it wouldn’t sound out of place on the radio, this one.
Reetoxa is a Melbourne band fronted by Jason McKee, who wrote “Bottle” back in 1995 at just fifteen, the fifth song he ever penned, and deliberately set it aside for a hypothetical second album. It stayed in the drawer for thirty years until McKee met producer Simon Moro and finally began releasing his catalogue. Moro became invested enough to master the track himself, while James Ryan reworked McKee’s original guitar ideas into the finished sonic explosion, closing a loop three decades in the making. We’re glad they did, because the result are genuinely great. More of this please, Jason!
The Colinizers – Gravitational Bull
“Gravitational Bull” is a lovely bit of art-rock mischief from The Colinizers, sharp social commentary smuggled inside an unstoppable hook.
This is rock that treats life as a carnival worth enjoying. An unstoppable groove of a beat and razor-sharp guitar riffs drive the track forward. There’s knowing winks and contemporary pop sensibilities, and the playful surface with real bite is the combo we’re enjoying. The flow is good, musically it’s confident, colourful and a little unhinged in the best way. The sound of a group who clearly relish blurring the line between a serious idea and an outright good time.
The Colinizers are a Philadelphia band whose ambitions stretch well past a single: this track sits inside a trilogy of animated videos, alongside a Sympathy for the Devil cover and a festive cut, all built to support their forthcoming novel Crackpot Jackpot. Recorded at Fat-Finger Studios in their hometown and considered their lyrically strongest work yet, it arrives as they finish their sixth album Bigger Whole. Theirs is a sprawling multimedia universe, a band treating music as one thread in a much larger story. Check it out below, you will definitely not regret it. A great single.
LY@TT – Song for Pete Ham
“Song for Pete Ham” is a beautiful tribute from LY@TT, honouring the Badfinger great with a stunning pop rock single that genuinely soars
This is a tribute done with real love and real care. LY@TT honour the late Pete Ham of Badfinger, and everything about it feels like a labour of devotion. The slide guitar deliberately echoes the signature texture of “Day After Day”, and the lyrics are peppered with nods to Ham’s classics. Vocally, it’s a duet between Paul R Johnson and DC Williams, with Kleidi Buroz’s backing vocals lifting the whole thing in style, and Rick Skinner’s guitar work is lovely. And here’s a fun detail: Ed Booth nailed the drums in a single first take, so perfect no one wanted a second. A lovely cast, but it’s the keen melodic approach that’s the standout. It’s a beautifully moving, respectful piece.
LY@TT, pronounced “Late”, hail from Charlottesville, Virginia, and comprise Rick, Paul, D.C. and Ed, seasoned musicians who first started playing together back in 1988 in Lynchburg, Virginia. After reuniting in 2024, the band have been crafting new music at Studio 607 in Ivy, Virginia, under the guidance of their mentor and producer Tim Ryan. Their sound is a blend of heartfelt lyrics, soulful melodies and a real touch of nostalgia, and here it’s all in service of a fellow songwriter they clearly cherish. It’s brilliantly done. More of this, please LY@TT.
Take Back The Sun – Modern Treason
Take Back The Sun deliver a standout brand of prog-tinged hard rock, all big riffs and melodic keys aimed squarely at the state of things.
This is hard rock with something to say and the muscle to say it. Take Back The Sun come out swinging on “Modern Treason”, a song about political turmoil that never lets the message dull the impact. Big riffs drive the whole thing along, but it’s the fantastic lyrical themes woven through that really catches the ear, giving the whole thing a proggy edge that lifts it above standard hard rock. There’s a punk bite in the delivery too, and the balance of heaviness and hook is spot on. It’s angry in all the right way, urgent without being preachy, and it hits hard. Cracking stuff.
Take Back The Sun are a rock band from southern Wisconsin who have been performing and writing together since 2021. They deal in a hard rock sound shot through with prog and punk influences, and that melodic keyboard running through many of their songs is the thing that really defines them. This is a band with a clear identity and a clear mission, wanting simply to reach as many ears as they can, and on this evidence they deserve to. Give them a spin, you won’t regret it. We’re 100% on board.