LAURA COX – Trouble Coming (earMUSIC/Verycords)
Let’s get one thing straight: Laura Cox is a guitar player who operates at a volume level reserved for arguments and jet engines. She didn’t spend a decade building a viral presence just to release some polite, mid-tempo ballad collection. Title track Trouble Coming is the sound of that viral spark igniting a full-scale conflagration. It’s loud, it’s loose, and it’s got enough distorted heart to power a small European nation.
The whole album is built on the thrill of excess and the delicious point where “letting go” turns from liberating into potentially self-destructive. It’s the moment you plant your foot on the accelerator and decide you’ll deal with the consequences later.
The statement track, Do I Have Your Attention?, hits you like a pub door in a storm. It’s a fierce, riff-driven one-shot that’s unapologetically heavy and built to shake the foundations of any venue bigger than a garden shed. She couples that raw guitar mayhem with a chorus that absolutely demands a sing-along, or maybe a sing-off. It’s confrontational party rock at its absolute finest.
If that’s the reckless dare, then No Need To Try Harder is the swagger that precedes it. It sets the tone for Cox’s “complete freedom in writing,” balancing that deep, classic rock heart, the kind that pumps Black Crowes and AC/DC through its veins with a modern punch that keeps the sound urgent. It’s a perfectly dialled-up tone that sounds like the amp tubes are glowing white-hot right in your face.
What separates Trouble Coming from being just a bunch of loud noise is the thematic depth tucked behind the chugging power. Tracks like Inside the Storm and What Do You Know? show the band is willing to navigate the wreckage they create, while Dancing Around the Truth nails that groove-heavy, rhythmic movement. When the guitars are this saturated, they could coast, but Cox ensures every riff pulls weight.
You get a sense of that classic rock structure holding firm on every turn from the bluesy propulsion of Out Of The Blue to the anthemic power of Rise Together. The broken-down moments, particularly on The Broken and the album-closing reflection of Strangers Someday, offer just enough space for air before the next sonic assault. It shows maturity: she knows how to build a wall of sound, but more importantly, she knows when to carve a window out of it.
This album is for anyone who loves their rock honest, loud, and built on the foundation of genuine guitar chops. It’s built for now, but it’s fuelled by the spirit of ’77. If you wanted subtle background noise, buy a fountain. If you wanted a firebrand to demand your attention, you just found her.
Laura Cox’s new album “Trouble Coming” is released by earMUSIC on Friday October 31st. The album is available from www.earmusic.com and www.lauracoxmusic.com.
Review by Spike
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Laura Cox Trouble Coming Album Review: Explosive Rock Riffs and Guitar Mayhem Ignite 2025 @RockNews
