Rock Sweep: September 22, 2012...

Thanks for stopping by again, it's time for round two of today's "chart sweeps" of the weekly music charts according to Billboard magazine. This time out it's the newest entries on the rock radio charts...

On the combined Rock Songs chart, the radio-monitored list is led again for the seventh non-consecutive week by Green Day's "Oh Love".

The top entry is by the French electro-rock outfit M83, whose recent top-10 hit "Midnight City" is still hanging around the chart in its 41st week. Their latest, "Reunion", comes in at #45 (it's already #24 on the Modern Rock-specific chart), and to me it bears a passing resemblance to the old Icicle Works hit "Whisper To A Scream".

Entering at #46 on the Rock Songs chart as well #28 on the Mainstream Rock radio list (the top debut there this week) is Shinedown with the third single from their Amaryllis album, "Enemies". The alt-metal group from Jacksonville, Florida has had a banner career so far, with every radio single of theirs making the top-5 on the Mainstream Rock chart, and eight of them (including the last four) making it to number one. On the Rock Songs chart (which has been around since 2008), the band's sole #1 so far is 2010's "The Crow & The Butterfly". The new track is a bit more rollicking and less dark than their usual fare, which explains the total WWF throwdown in the music video...

Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers are back after a seven year break at #49 with "Reboot The Mission", featuring Mick Jones from the Clash. The son of Bob had his big break with 1996's Bringing Down The House, which spun out four charting singles including the big hit "One Headlight" which topped both the Mainstream, Modern Rock, and Adult top-40 radio charts. Their latest is already at #9 on the Triple-A (adult album alternative, aka "hipster rock") chart, and its quite a departure from their alt-stream rock from before. I think the inclusion of Jones is more an homage to his work with Big Audio Dynamite than the Clash, and the track is also more a statement of purpose than a work of art, per se. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the upcoming album (due in October), but damn, he's looking like his dad right now.

...and rounding it out at #50 is another Triple-A rock hit, "Live And Die" by the Avett Brothers. The band, fronted by brothers Seth and Scott, came together in the Charlotte, North Carolina suburbs, and they've had two AAA top-10 singles previously, with "Head Full Of Doubt" bubbling under the big chart (Hot 100) at #103 in 2011. "Live And Die" at now #5 on the Triple-A list, and their roots-rock has now been caught up with by American audiences, and their simple love song is made much sweeter by the brothers' instinctive harmonizing and the band's non-intrusive backdrop.

Meanwhile, on the Mainstream Rock radio chart, Three Days Grace leap to #1 after only four weeks with "Chalk Outline", while the aforementioned "Enemies" by Shinedown is the highest entry.

Coming in at #34 is the neo-heavy metal band All That Remains, whose last single "The Waiting One" was their biggest so far, peaking at #5.  Their forthcoming sixth studio album, A War You Cannot Win, will be released in November, and the first single from it, "Stand Up (Stand Up)", has a busy melodic rhythm guitar backdrop that somehow reminds me of Ratt back in the day, along with the echoed post-grunge vocals that prevail in hard rock today, before it devolves into a axe-jam for the air-guitar enthusiasts.

 Hard rockers Candlelight Red are from the section of my neighboring state I call "Pennsyltucky", which is mostly everything not Philly, Pittsburgh, Scranton, or Harrisburg. But I can't fault these guys - hey, they did a metal cover of Roxette's "The Look"! They enter the rock chart for the first time at #39 with "Demons". Ryan Hoke's got the vocal chops that he doesn't have to scream everything, and their approach is accessible without compromising their strength. I do gotta say that the chick in this video freaks me the fuck out, though....

Over on the Modern Rock/Alternative specific radio chart, New Yorkers fun reclaim the top spot for a third non-consecutive week with "Some Nights".

The sole new song on this weeks chart is by the Colorado indie rock group Churchill, with their first hit "Change" at #36. This jangling winner is like a reincarnation of the Mamas and the Papas as neo-hipsters, and the video featuring a skate-dancing senior only adds to its preciousness.

Finally, over on the Triple-A (hipster rock) radio list, Mumford & Sons check off a third week at #1 with "I Will Wait" (new video alert! click on it).

There's one debut on this week's chart, and it's by indie-soul singer ZZ Ward (ZZ is from her first name Zsuzsanna), whose debut album Til The Casket Drops drops in October. From that set, "Put The Gun Down" arrives at #30. It brings to mind the work of fellow blue-eyed soulster Mayer Hawthorne, which to me is a good thing. If this is a prediction of the rest of her album, I'm psyched...

Well that covered the rock side of the house, check back in an hour and a half for the latest R&B hits. Rock on!