Seán Griffin has spent decades channeling Celtic fire through punk rock grit, most famously as the voice of The Ruffians. Now stepping into his solo era, he’s tapping into something both familiar and freshly sharpened, and his new single “Rocks Off” makes that shift loud, swaggering, and impossible to ignore. After releasing “People Are Mad” as a wry, almost sly commentary on modern tension, Griffin turns up the voltage here. The track revives a song he’d tucked away for years, now rebuilt with the kind of clarity that only comes from experience, timing, and a gut-level urge to finally say the thing out loud.
The song bursts open with churning, shimmery guitar riffing over bustling drums—there’s an instant sense of motion, like someone just kicked open a bar door with the sun still in their eyes. Griffin’s unmistakably energetic and urgent grainy voice cuts through the mix, carrying that familiar flair and grit. You can feel the lineage of Ruffians storytelling, Pogues-style bite, Britpop sparkle.
The chorus hits with that effortless, addictive pulse Griffin has always had a knack for: something you want to shout back before you even know the words. Then comes the guitars grinding and snarling in a riff, like it’s been waiting years to be played loud. You might end up instinctively turning the volume up just a bit more.
The accompanying music video deepens the play between yearning and reality. A man in a minivan fantasizes about roaring engines and cinematic passion, only to be snapped back to his kids yelling in the backseat—It’s peak midlife crisis waiting to throw the whole life built here, under the bus. It’s ordinary life versus what-ifs, grounded by the people who keep us steady. Griffin’s solo debut album, recorded with Kenny Siegel, mixed by Paul Kolderie, and mastered by Greg Calbi, arrives soon.
If “Rocks Off” is the temperature read, he’s stepping into this chapter with confidence, history, and his foot planted firmly on the accelerator. Check out the music video on YouTube.
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Review by: Naomi Joan