Big Wreck, ‘Grace Street’ – February 2017 Release of the Month

The shortest month also has one of the smaller amount of new releases for the year, but there's still great music to be heard. After asking you, the Loudwire readers, to vote for which album you most wanted to pick up from the February releases, it really came down to a two horse race with veteran rockers Big Wreck and their Grace Street album emerging victorious over A Killer's Confession's Unbroken album. Overkill's The Grinding Wheel finished a distant third in the voting.

Grace Street is Big Wreck's fifth studio album, following on the heels of 2014's Ghost and 2012's Albatross -- discs that gave the band a promising start to the second act of their career. The band was formed in 1994 and enjoyed some late '90s and early 2000s success before Ian Thornley went on to form his own self-titled band. After a reunion with guitarist Brian Doherty in 2010 proved successful, Big Wreck resumed as an active band.

For their new disc, Grace Street, the band co-produced the effort with acclaimed rock producer Garth Richardson delivering some of their best work to date. "There was a lot of growth from Albatross to Ghost, and I think Grace Street is the next step in that process," says Thornley. "What helped greatly was Garth's attitude of let's go further and deeper. We really left no stone unturned as we were making this record."

The band is off to a solid start, releasing a video for "One Good Piece of Me," an upbeat track with a heavy groove that pulls in the listener. Other standouts on the album include the Zeppelin-esque delivery of "Digging In," the dreamy build-up of "A Speedy Recovery," the melodic rocker "You Don't Even Know" and the epic instrumental track "Skybunk Marche."

"Musically, I'm still searching for the stuff that turns me on and takes me somewhere," says Thornley. "You want to be brought to tears or have the hair on your neck stand up, and if the search for that takes you to new territory, then so be it. You have to follow. It's like chasing a high, and Garth feels that just as much as we do."

Big Wreck's Grace Street album arrives this Friday (Feb. 3) via Ole / Rounder and is currently available for pre-order via a variety of platforms at this location. The band recently launched their winter tour with many dates taking place in Canada before dipping into the U.S. briefly toward the end of February. See all of their scheduled stops here.

Once again, congratulations to Big Wreck, as Loudwire's Readers have voted Grace Street as the February 2017 Release of the Month.