16th October 2026
Christopher Nosnibor
I’m likely one of the last people to champion anything retrograde, cliché, whatever. I don’t hate nostalgia, but I absolutely detest the nostalgia industry that’s grown over the years which specifically exploits the latest cohort of an ever-ageing population. Gen X used to scoff at Boomers listening to golden oldies radio shows and watching nostalgic cack like The Golden Oldies Picture Show. Now we’re all splashing out hods of cash on thirtieth anniversary expanded reissues and spending long weekends at festivals like Shiiine On and packing out arenas to see acts from the 80s going through the motions as they crank out all the hits. I like hearting my favourite songs as much as anyone, but to live in the past is tantamount to being dead. As such, I’ve not much truck with acts who continue to exist solely to play the nostalgia circuit. But bands who continue to face forward, and to create, even when they’re beyond any career peak? I have more timer for them. A fair bit more.
LA hard rock / punk act Blacklist Union are marking twenty years as they release ‘Heavy Is The Crown’, the third single from their forthcoming album, The Good, The Bad And The Notorious, due for release in spring 2027.
I shall momentarily defer to the press release for more context, before coming to the single: “‘Jackson’, the first collaboration between Blacklist Union frontman Tony West and Femme Fatale’s Lorraine Lewis, saw the pair reimagine the Johnny Cash and June Carter classic, blending outlaw country, punk attitude and rock ’n’ roll swagger. It was followed by ‘Madame Butterfly’, an open love letter from West to Lewis, and it seems the song did the trick. After completing Blacklist Union’s recent UK & European tour with Faster Pussycat and Femme Fatale, during which Lorraine joined the band on stage at the end of every Blacklist Union set to belt out ‘Jackson’, Tony and Lorraine headed to Paris, where Tony proposed at the top of the Eiffel Tower. She said yes.”
Who saw that coming, eh? But ‘Heavy is the Crown’ sees them resume business as usual: unreconstituted hard rock riffery collides with punk and there’s a dash of post-punk style and some big-bollocked swaggering attitude behind it all. As much as it’s old-school, it’s got a dash of contemporary industrial going on, which gives it that vital edge. It’s that edge that pushes ‘Heavy is the Crown’ into a place where it matters, and is worthy of the ear of new listeners.
AA
Photo: George Reed photography
