Dirty Rock from the U.K

I woke up a little hazy today and have been moving slowly ever since. Not that the night before was epic or anything, but it included a stop at a bourbon bar, a creepy mustache, and a bartender so hot that my brother-in-law and I named her Zooey Fox. I think the mustache was probably the worst part of the night.



As I was beginning my afternoon slide into unproductivity (aided by the haze and the heat), I heard a song on Sirius XMU (still Left of Center to me) that was so great I had to listen to it again. Because I was streaming Sirius online and not listening through my radio, I couldn't check out who the artist was. I then tried the next-best solution, Shazam on my iPhone, only to learn that this song was unrecognizable. I ran to the other room to turn on my Sirius receiver (and wait for the antenna to find a signal) just in time to see who sang the song.

It still amazes me that some bands can be so strongly associated with a region, yet they come from somewhere else. My go-to example for this is Creedence Clearwater Revival, who sound like they are from the South but were actually from San Francisco. The band I heard today also captures this same phenomenon: The Heavy.

On first listen, they also have a dirty, southern sound. And the first video I watched ("Sixteen") had the familiar backdrop of "Shoot the Freak" and Coney Island. But they're not from the South or from Brooklyn. After looking around for a release date on their upcoming album ("The House that Dirt Built" drops in the U.S. on October 13, according to Amazon), I found that this album was released in the U.K.--their home base--two days ago. We Americans need to wait another three weeks.

Not being very patient, I tracked down two songs today: the soulful "How You Like Me Know" and the bluesy "Sixteen." The Heavy channels a little Screamin' Jay Hawkins on "Sixteen," which is always acceptable to me. Let me know what you think (about the songs, not the mustache).

How You Like Me Now - The Heav...

Sixteen - The Heavy