Slash featuring Myles Kennedy, “You’re a Lie”

If you happened to see Myles Kennedy perform with the original members of Guns N’ Roses at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in April, you’d have noticed that the man is no Axl Rose.  But screw that noise, this cat can wail.  Perhaps one of the most underrated singers in modern rock, Kennedy is joined by legendary guitarist Slash and backed Slash’s band the Conspirators for “You’re a Lie,” a leather-and-denim-bound rock track that fantastically showcases both musicians in shared element.  There is life outside “Appetite for Destruction,” for those wondering what Slash is still capable of. 

Give the girls something to groove and move to with “Remember everything” from five finger death punch
In the “safe pop” world of Justin Bieber, Big Time Rush and the Jonas Brothers, there’s hardly any room in the mainstream landscape for a band with the name Five Finger Death Punch (a moniker derived from classic martial arts cinema).  And yet, in just five years’ time, the band has gained a legion of followers and have released two gold albums, with their newest, 2011’s American Capitalist, well on its way to gaining that elite status as well.  Tracks like “Hard to See,” “Far From Home” and their cover of the classic rock tune “Bad Company” (by, who else, Bad Company), combined with slots on such huge summer tours as the Rockstar Mayhem Festival, the L.A.-based melodic metal quintet have ascended higher and faster than a Bruce Lee roundhouse kick to the face.

Classic rock is reborn with L.A.’s Venrez

Their new tune proves that “Karma” is more than the next girl up on the sidestage!

Some things in life are, simply put, timeless.  Beauty, of course, is timeless; people still talk about allure and aura of Marilyn Monroe today.  Arts and entertainment are timeless; Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and The Godfather never seem to wane in popularity.

Black Stone Cherry
“Blame it on the Boom Boom”

Kentucky rockers Black Stone Cherry make lack of pretension sound tough as hell in “Blame it on the Boom Boom,” the band’s second release off of their latest album Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.  Like the musically nurtured of children of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Black Label Society, Black Stone Cherry’s “Blame it on the Boom Boom” is a Southern-style rocker filled with raunchy attitude that, to be enjoyed properly, should be accompanied by a glass of whiskey—and the club’s hottest girl on your lap.

Nickelback
“Bottom’s Up”

There is a reason why you keep seeing Nickelback on these Concrete Marketing “StripJoints” CDs: they are modern-day bar-party gods.  Their success is based on knowing that their target will is, and forever be, their core audience—and nobody else.  Which is to not undercut the fact that they are about as consistent a modern rock band as one will find on the charts.  (Think Coldplay with balls.)  Like the tracks before that have built the foundation of their decadent kingdom, “Bottom’s Up” is—with all due respect—more of the same.  Which makes their fans happy and the party continue. If a Nickelback song ain’t about strippers, then it’s probably about drinking.  To which we say, if it ain’t broke ...

Venrez
“Karma”

From their forthcoming record Sell the Lie, L.A.’s quintet Venrez introduces itself to the music scene here at home with their brand of Southern California rough and tumble, f*ck and fight rock ‘n’ roll.  Don’t call’em a throwback, ‘cause in reality, Venrez is continuing the same type of sleazy, ballsy rock that’s been around for decades—it’s just harder to find in all this strange mirth of newer nu-metal.  If rock is fun it should sound fun, and that’s what “Karma” sounds like.  Nothing new, but another good-time track for your club.  Nothing wrong with that.