Best Releases of 2023

Here’s our selection of 2023 releases worth a spin, all in alphabetical order plus the big five that get on the Leatherboyz’ glamtrashpunkpopr&n podium. Quantity and quality I would say!

-After Adam – Cosmonaut Cowboys
-All Time Low – Tell Me I’m Alive
-Andy Taylor – Man’s A Wolf To Man
-Angels in Vein – Long Time Coming
-Backstreet Girls – In Lust We Trust
-Black Star Riders – Wrong Side Of Paradise
-Black Stone Cherry – Screamin At The Sky
-Blade – Joker And Clowns
-Bloody Dice – Bloody Dice
-Bombay Black – ¡En Fuego!
-Bowling For Soup – Dont Mind If We Do
-Brannon – Heartbreak Is Misery
-Buckcherry – Vol. 10
-Cherry St. – Twisted, Rude & Sticky Sweet
-Cold Shot – Cold Shot
-CoreyTaylor – CMF2
-Cruella D’ville – The Power And The Passion
-Danko Jones – Electric Sounds
-Dave And The Dudes-DownForTheCount
-Dirty Honey- Can’t Find The Brakes
-Dokken – Heaven Comes Down
-ElectricBoys – Grand Explosivos
-First Night – Deep Connection
-Ghosts Of Sunset – Breathe-2023
-Glorious Bankrobbers – Back On The Road
-Golden Earrings – Cut [Remastered & Expanded 2CD]
-Gunner – Sinners
-H.e.a.t – Extra Force
-Heart Line – Rock ‘n Roll Queen
-Heavens Edge – Get It Right
-Hell’s Addiction – 9 O’Clock Horses
-Hitten – While Passion Lasts
-Hotwire – The Story so Far
-Jetboy – Crate Diggin
-John Diva and the Rockets of Love – The Big Easy
-Johnny – No Destination
-Kardang – Rizky Biznizz
-L.A.Guns – Black Diamonds
-Lace – On Your Way – EP
-Måneskin – Rush! (Are U Coming)
-McRackins – Wake The Fun Up
-Midnight Phantom – Murder On 42nd Street
-Hell in The Club – F.U.B.A.R
-Mike Tramp – Songs Of White Lion
-MXPX – Find A Way Home
-Nitrate – Feel The Heat
-No Love Lost – Last Call
-Oldhands – Little Bites
-Pink Dolls – Dirty Jewels
-Pop Evil – Skeletons
-Razorbats – Hit Crazy
-Roadkill – God Bless America
-Robby Valentine – Embrace the Unknown
-Rockett Love – Galactic Circus
-Romeo’s Daughter – Slipstream
-Sam Millar – More Cheese Please
-She Burns Red – Out Of Darkness
-Sister Morphine – Ghosts Of Heartbreak City
-Slade – And Now the Waltz(es)
-Sonic Wildhearts – Get It On
-Starmen – Starmenized
-Station – And Time Goes On
-Steel Panther – On the Prowl
-Stryken – Once Lost Now Found
-Sven Gali – Bombs And Battlescars
-Taz – Shipwrecked (Eonian Records Remaster)
-Taz – Wake Up And Sweat (Eonian Records Remaster)
-Tempt – Tempt
-The 69 Eyes – Death Of Darkness
-The Bites – Squeeze
-The Casanovas – Backseat Rhythms
-The Hangmen – Stories To Tell
-The Hellfreaks – Pitch Black Sunset
-The Killers – Rebel Diamonds
-The Royal Beggars – Falling To New Heights
-The Unknown – Big Dreams (FnA reissue 2023)
-Trench Dogs – Stockholmiana
-Tuple – Paradise Lost
-Vega – Battlelines
-Wanted – Late Attraction – 2023
-Wig Wam – Out of the Dark
-Wildside – We Are The Fucking Wildside
-Winger – Seven

#5 THE ROLLING STONES – Hackney Diamonds

What more can we say about those legends? The godfathers of rock’n’roll are still teaching modern bands how to play and write good tunes. They never sounded so ‘fresh’ and obviously prove to have sold their souls to the devil long time ago! Plus a few songs remind me of The New York Dolls so this is a must-have album in my book.

The Rolling Stones – Angry (Official Music Video)

#4 THE DEFIANTS – Drive

With an updated Danger Danger sound courtesy of Bruno Ravel for Frontiers records and the usually great songwriting The Defiants come up with a memorable single in the form of “19 Summertime” and more rockin’ tunes that may be ‘modern’ without losing the catchiness of the 80’s. Paul Laine voice still sounds killer.

The Defiants – “19 Summertime” – Official Music Video

#3 THE STRUTS – Pretty Vicious

Mixing Queen, David Bowie and the best of 70’s glam together with some modern brit pop and some swag a-la Biters/Tuk Smith they have crafted some great rocking tunes that in a perfect world would invade every radio station of the galaxy! I never get bored to play stuff such as “Pretty Vicious” and ” I won’t run”. UK’s finest classy rawk.

The Struts – Too Good At Raising Hell (Official Music Video)

#2 MIDNITE CITY – In At The Deep End

It’s glam, it’s pop, it’s metal (in a hair metal way), it’s a band getting better and better. Midnite City might be completely outta vogue but sure keep the flag flying! 4th release and Rob Wylde’s mob sure has that certain something that makes me wanna play those tunes over and over again. One of the few Euro outfits that can compete with the Scandi troops. Great at writing monster ballads too…

Midnite City – Girls Gone Wild – (Official Music Video)

#1 MARVELOUS 3 – IV

Always been a fan of Butch and the boys but this time they even exceeded the expectations since the “Ready Sex Go” album! Lots of killers tracks you won’t stop humming night and day, it’s hard to even find a fave tune, I could choose “My Old School Metal Heart” also for the video that brings a tear to every 80’s rock fan or “Kill a Motherfucker That Breaks Your Heart” which is probably the single of the year.

Marvelous 3 – My Old School Metal Heart (Official Lyric Video)

Danny Swift remixes Bangkok Shock song.

Danny Swift of Bangkok Shock fame has remixed “Any Way She Can Get it” taken from the 1995 band’s debut”Arrested for Success”. Let’s spin this sleazy cut…

Any Way She Can Get It

Trash Stars – Bubblegum Ezycum

Just when you thought that late 80’s/90’s Sunset Strip-type sleazy-glam/bubblegum was dead, the violent streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina gave us the antidote to these lazy infected years in the form of the Trash Stars!

The band consists of Santy Trixx (vocals), Marky (guitars and backing vox), Kiko Rivers (bass and backing vox) and Mar Dragon (drums and backing vox). Trash Stars have been active for a while now and they just unleashed the latest single “Bubblegum Ezycum”, an infectious tune that comes across like the bastard son of Peppermint Creeps and Pretty Boy Floyd! Everything here is dirty but sugar coated and glamorous, the guitar licks rock big time and have that touch of desperation thrown in for good measure while the choruses will be buzzing in your head for days! A few more tracks like this and the band will be legend amongst the die-hard fans of lipstick and leather.

All the music is written by glam madman Marky (who was also known for having the biggest underground music collection in the world) while the lyrics come from the dirty mind of Kiko Rivers, formerly fronting UK’s bubblegum disaster Scritt Scrat. Impressive.

Spotify – Trash Stars