Tom Morello talks Street Sweeper Social Club

Morello and Riley are ready to clean up
Morello and Riley are ready to clean up

You can now officially stop mourning Rage Against The Machine. Tom Morello's new group, Street Sweeper Social Club, packs the same king-sized riffs alongside raps that wallop you upside the head.

The band, which features Boots Riley of The Coup, will release their debut album on 16 June. The group's first single, 100 Little Curses, is streaming now on the Street Sweeper Social Club's MySpace page.

And what a song it is, with a molten riff that recalls Rage Against The Machine in their heydey, and a solo that is sure to allay fears that Morello's ongoing folk project, The Nightwatchman, might have diminished the guitarist's six-string skills.

Make no mistake - the man can still play.

Revolutionary party jams

"It's got huge steamroller riffs combined with depth, charge, funk, while Boots unloads clip after clip of incendiary rhymes" Tom Morello

"It's revolutionary party jams," Morello says of of the new outfit. "It's got huge steamroller riffs combined with depth, charge, funk, while Boots unloads clip after clip of incendiary rhymes rich with satire and venom."

Along with 100 Little Curses, three other songs are streaming on Street Sweeper Social Club's MySpace page: Fight! Smash! Win!, Clap For The Killers and The Oath.

The band is currently rehearsing for their opening slot on the upcoming Nine Inch Nails/Jane's Addiction summer tour. Want to know more? Check out the video below, in which Morello and Riley discuss how they came together.

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.