ALBUM REVIEW: ROSE CARLEO BAND – 42 DAYS

Shane | 20 May 2026 | Reply

ALBUM REVIEW: ROSE CARLEO BAND – 42 DAYS
Independent
May 2026
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
93%

From opener You Ain’t Foolin’ Me it’s patently clear that The Rose Carleo Band are on the level. Like the protagonist of this song, we can usually smell anything fake a mile off, and what we have here is the real deal: sincere rock n’ roll at the highest level. Great songs, thoughtful lyrics, irresistible ear worm melodies, playing that sizzles when there’s room, lashing everything down to the foundations when that’s what is necessary.

If I sound like a fan – guilty as charged. Carleo’s vocals have always been rich and warm, throaty with just enough grit to make sure proceedings never feel too safe despite a great production job by Mick Adkins & David Manor (Carleo co-produces), and if anyone with a decent taste in music WASN’T a fan I’d pick up the phone and book them an appointment to have their ears cleaned.

The wait for this pearler of an album was extended due to Rose’s appearance on TV talent show The Voice, where she showed the producers and viewers around the country what a powerhouse of a vocal talent she really is.

Thankfully it is finally here, REAL rock n’ roll in the grand Aussie tradition, and where these songs come to life is in the playing – and what a band this is. Life, band & guitar partner Mick Adkins can deliver AC/DC-esque fireworks and gentler grooves; Mick O’Shea is one of Australia’s most storied journeyman drummers and there’s no beat ever got the better of him; Bill Kervin held down the bass position for Dragon for years, and it shows. Collectively, they have the tunes, the riffs, and more grooves than a record store.

Carleo’s vocals are a tuneful roar, a unique white hot bolt of lightning cutting through the rock n’ roll storm, which I’ve previously described as “melted honey dripping through burnt charcoal, simultaneously restrained and impassioned, as emotive as the lovechild of Bon Scott and Janis Joplin on their very own highways to hell, and as powerful as Tina Turner rollin’ down the river.”

Hideaway boasts great harmony vocals and a short scorcher of a wah wah solo from Adkins; Son Of God pays tribute to the late, great Malcolm Young, a touchstone for us all, via the band’s friendship with his son; Remember Me tells the story of a man’s search for his long lost love; Sacrifice has a fuzzed up bluesy ZZ Top edge to it; Dirt Bound features the inestimable backing vocal talents of Swedish rocker Pontus Snibb, who wrote the song for his band Bonafide and is a latterday veteran of alt-country legends Jason & The Scorchers, no less.

The album finishes with the afterparty drinking song Line ‘Em Up, and what a great way to wrap things up: it’s a high energy rocker with the band locked on target and Rose’s vocals in sensational, ferocious form, guaranteed to make you feel like having a shot and putting the record back on again.

There’s only two questions you need to ask yourself at this point:

‘Where do I buy the album?’ and ‘When are they playing live near me?’

All hail the Queen.

CLICK HERE to read our brand new interview with ROSE CARLEO