Bay Area rockers Don't Tell John released their most unapologetic single so far in "Hard Luck," it's a bruiser from start to finish. Today, June 17, the new track fuses blues' gritty sentiment with a raw, unfiltered rock ethos delivered by one of music's gruffest, most dominating voices. There's no gloss or frills and, indeed, no pretense. Raw emotion poured into a record that speaks to anyone who's had to claw their way through life's rougher patches.
Central to "Hard Luck" is its lead singer, Veronica Larkin, whose voice rips through the mix like a tempest. There's weight and soul in every word she sings, tapping into the angst and urgency of 90s grunge but from a perspective entirely her own. She has her fans.; "Female-fronted Soundgarden" is probably onto something, but there's more to all this than vocal firepower. Larkin has a world-weary believability that has been earned rather than borrowed.
"Hard Luck" takes a bluesy swagger that could sound at home on a dive bar jukebox or a midnight cruise with the windows down. The guitars snarl, the rhythm section stomps, and everything feels tight but not tame, the kind of equilibrium that can be achieved only by a band that has lived inside its sound long enough to learn to trust it.
"Hard Luck" is a fulfilled band unafraid to let their scars show and sing through the fire. For fans of grungy alt-rock, blues-rock hybrids, or great, old-fashioned rock vocal cords, this one cranked high is worth digging into. It's a tribute to the enduring presence of straightforward songwriting and the type of music that smacks you in the chest before it ever lands in the charts.
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