The New Roses – Nothing But Wild

How has a band this good slipped passed my radar? The New Roses, formed 2007 in Wiesbaden, Germany, will release their fourth studio album Nothing But Wild on August 2nd 2019 via Napalm Records. Vocally they come across like prime time era Cinderella and musically they impress with early Guns And Roses attitude and the AOR finery of Boston.

Fifteen tracks to review seemed a daunting task but the quality of their writing did not lose my attention from start to finish. Album opener ‘Soundtrack Of My Life’ races in on the throaty growled vocals from Timmy Rough and if it’s the soundtrack of his life then it’s a full on one! It’s a real chest beater as he rages “I’ve got one more song to write for the soundtrack of my life” backed by hefty riffing and raging guitar solos. ‘Can’t Stop Rock & Roll’ lives up to its title with touches of ‘Hot Blooded’ in the verses which is no bad thing . Massive choruses arrive early, hollering out their message as near the knuckle lyrics add an extra edge. Laid back verses light the blue touch paper to ignite the choruses to ‘Down By The River’ that should be listened to by blasting them out with all your car windows down.

‘Nothing But Wild’, all tongue in cheek risque lyrics are backed by huge riffs and shout it out loud choruses. Simple but effective one word choruses hold down ‘Heartache’ as its hook laden headbanging grooves drive it along towards a full on snare drum heavy outro. ‘The Bullet’, a slow burning ballad ticks all the right boxes as it tugs at the heart strings throughout with an emotionally drenched vocal. Feel good melodies will have you grinning from ear to ear during ‘Running Out Of Hearts’ topped off by sugar sweet choruses. ‘Unknown Territory’ opens up with mighty “Whoa oh oh’s” as it thunders along on AC/DC tinged riffs and a rock solid rhythm section.

‘As The Crow Flies’ is powerchord heaven and once again, their knack of penning crowd pleasing choruses comes to the fore. ‘Give And Take’, a high rolling slice of heavy blues and more “Whoa oh oh’s”, eases along until the dexterous guitar solos rush in. ‘The Only Thing’, another syrupy ballad features big band vocals to muscle it up. They get all funky next as ‘Meet Me Half Way’ is a tasty toe tapper followed by my album highlight ‘Glory Road’. It’s a perfect example of melodic rock with added balls when the choruses head up to the stratosphere and “Whoa oh oh” overload.

Two unplugged acoustic bonus tracks come from a run through of ‘Down By The River’, highlighting Timmy’s vocal prowess with a paint stripping delivery over gently strummed chords and he croons impressively like a young Joe Cocker for an absolutely killer performance in ‘Fight You Leaving Me’.

Tracklist:

Soundtrack Of My Life.

Can’t Stop Rock & Roll.

Down By The River.

Nothing But Wild.

Heartache.

The Bullet.

Running Out Of Hearts.

Unknown Territory.

As The Crow Flies.

Give & Take.

The Only Thing.

Meet Me Half Way.

Glory Road.

Bonus Tracks :-

Down By The River (unplugged).

Fight You Leaving Me (unplugged).

The New Roses band line up : –

Timmy Rough – Lead vocals/guitar.

Norman Bites – Guitar.

Hardy – Bass guitar.

Urban Berz – Drums.