Single Review: The Cold Stares’ single”Heavy Shoes” – The album Heavy Shoes will be released August 13, 2021 via Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group
Rock At Night says: The Cold Stares probably get compared to The Black Keys being a drum/guitar duo. However, guitarist/vocalist Chris Tapps and drummer Brian Mullins have a true, grittier feel to their brand of blues-rock, which was recorded in Sam Phillips Recording Studio, Memphis. This Western Kentucky-bred band has honed in on their Southern rock roots, bringing a full sound–and heavy at that–adding to the roster of New Classic Rock bands that are going back to the roots of rock.
“Heavy Shoes” has a cool, guitar groove, Tapps’ voice totally rocks, and Mullins keeps the back beat solid and driving. The video is set in a church, giving a Gothic charm and authenticity to “Heavy Shoes.”
Check out their other songs “Hard Times” and “The Night Time”. I can totally see myself spinning their upcoming album over and over.
VIDEOS
Tracklist:
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- 1. Heavy Shoes
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- 2. 40 Dead Men
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- 3. Take This Body From Me
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- 4. Hard Times
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- 5. In The Night Time
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- 6. Strange Light
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- 7. Prosecution Blues
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- 8. It’s A Game
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- 9. Save You From You
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- 10. You Wanted Love
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- 11. Election Blues
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- 12. Dust In My Hands
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13. Hard Times
ABOUT The Cold Stares:
The duo, originally from Western Kentucky, is guitarist-singer Chris Tapp and drummer Brian Mullins, who have a friendship that dates to their early twenties when they were in bands together. They went their separate ways then to only circle back a decade later. “A buddy of ours asked us to open the show for him. We ended up doing that, but we were so adamant that we weren’t going to be a band that we didn’t hire a bass player or anything else,” remembers Tapp.
Since their debut album in 2014 (A Cold Wet Night and a Howling Wind) they followed up with three more releases; Head Bent (2017), Mountain (2018) and Ways (2019), with new album Heavy Shoes to be released on 13th August, their first for Mascot Records.
The bands’ music has also featured on several TV adverts, shows and games, including CyberPunk 2077, ESPN, X-Games, Monster Energy, TNT’s Animal Kingdom, and the Dodge Motor Company and they have gone on to have an incredible 20m+ streams.
Early 2020 the band returned to the fabled Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Nashville to record Heavy Shoes. “We did our Ways album there, so it very much felt like a continuation of that. So, it was familiar and pretty much the same cast of characters,” says Mullins. Much of the album was recorded there, with three additional songs recorded at their own studio in Indiana.
Mixed by Mark Needham (The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Fleetwood Mac) and mastered by Andy Vandette (Beastie Boys, Kid Rock, Smashing Pumpkins), Heavy Shoes is their heaviest record to date.
The Cold Stares Online
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I grew up in a household full of rock music, studied journalism in college, and then became a scientist.Although my science career has served me well, music has always played a major role in my life. I grew up reading "Creem" magazine; I play several musical instruments as a "hobby";and it seems a camera has always been in my hand. Now, I am combining what I love the most--music and photography--serving as editor of Rock At Night. I travel between the US and UK seeking my dream! My motto: life is short...no regrets. Chyrisse
