I am a really lucky son of a sausage roll. I get to listen to the most amazing music from artists at the very top of their game, and I get to post stuff about what I think of their work. I feel reviewing is different to being a critic: in that I am going over what they have provided me to listen to and look at, and I temper the subjectivity with objectivity in order to give you, the music lover, a more balanced report on what I am writing about – because my audio nightmare might be your audio utopia. And I have no right to cloud things with pure subjectivity.

Black Smoke Trigger is a band that falls directly into my sweet spot time and time again. I cannot help but be subjective when it’s this specific group of genres – real heavy rock. The band has released new single Proof Of Life, with accompanying promo vid on the You Tubes. Some gloriously muddy riffing, accompanied by monster bass and drums providing a mid tempo crescendo of sound, is overlaid with some nicely targeted lead work. The fretboard is used well, and Charlie Wallace gets his money’s worth from his instrument. It borders on shredding but has a more disciplined air to it. Very tight, while feeling deliberately dissonant, somehow. Cool!

Baldrick‘s vocals bring to me a sense of what Offspring‘s vocalist could have been if the band had stayed intense and not gone astray and almost a self parody (just my own view). Added to the overall mastered sound behind the vocal, this song put me in mind of The Almighty in the early 90s. That aforementioned muddy riff-laden heavy rock, bordering on grunge but not straying into that field. The melody sits in the same vein – it’s an immense, soaring tune, a plaything for the outrageous chops the singer has.

Anthony Plant has directed a great video. Again the band has taken time and effort with this medium, and I appreciate the artistry behind the vision, and their taking seriously what this medium can do for a song is commendable and adds to the obvious experience and professionalism in their ranks. It’s a more subdued setting, with a sort of sepia lighting going on. The band is playing in a practice formation, within an under-stated post-apocalyptic setting. Go check it out. Very cool, and as different to their last vid as that one was to the one before (with Charlie jumping off the Sky Tower while playing the lead).

This is a really good band. They are obviously seasoned. They gel perfectly together, and have a visual image as anti-conformity as any self-respecting rock band should. They are top tier musicians, and they play my type of music. This stuff plays well from the small venues to stadiums. From the back of a truck to festivals. This one will have legs on the Rock, and the vid will have to see airtime on Juice.

This band needs a campaign in Asia and the EU nations. This stuff is mega popular for the live circuit there. I’d send their vid and some marketing to Los Angeles and Seattle, but the USA would glean better pickings for them on the live circuit if they were to try South by Southwest or other non-LA scenes. LA is saturated with acts trying to resurrect the early 80s Sunset Strip scene. And you still have to pay the venue to play there.

This track joins their other releases on the Spotty Fly. If you’re not already aware of, and into, Black Smoke Trigger yet then where the hell are you? This is the real thing. This is ROCK.