Kevin Bronson on June 22nd, 2011

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Rival Sons, “Pressure and Time” – When Jay Buchanan first surfaced, he was a pop songsmith trading in “middle-of-the-road adult alternative” (iTunes’ description), and he did it better than most. Whatever Kool-Aid he drank with new bandmates Scott Holiday, Robin Everhart and Michael Miley … well, bottle it. The L.A. quartet’s debut album “Pressure and Time” (out July 26) is scorching blues-rock, not far from how Led Zeppelin diagrammed it, with Buchanan’s wail rivaling any frontman from the past four decades. It’s not retro with a wink, it’s retro with a clenched fist, and currently the quartet is making its way around Europe doing festivals and opening for Judas Priest and Queensryche. Which ain’t middle of the road. The album’s title track is the iTunes free download of the week, so pass that jug.

Voxhaul Broadcast, six songs – The L.A. quartet, which earlier this year released its debut “Timing Is Everything,” is currently the featured band on the lifestyle website 1band 1brand. By signing up, you can acquire to six of Voxhaul’s songs on a name-your-price basis. 1band 1brand has had some pretty good bands participate so far (Eastern Conference Champions, Dead Confederate, the Lonely Wild aomng them), so it might not be a bad mailing list to be on. As for Voxhaul, they play the House of Blues Anaheim tonight and the El Rey Theatre on Friday, both shows supporting Rooney.

Superhumanoids, “Malta (Kisses Remix)” – The up-and-coming L.A. quartet had a song featured on Urban Outfitters’ Music Mondays (five free downloads weekly). Always a good site to check – that’s where the White Sea EP debuted. Superhumanoids open for Autolux on July 8 at the Skirball Center.