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Authentic rock music can be hard to come by these days. While most bands traded their electric guitars for midi keyboards and toms for pads over the past five years, Butch Walker has (thankfully) remained a steadfast rocker – a sound he showcases on his latest album, Spade, to great effect.

Read Street Date’s review of Spade

Grab a free download of “Summer of ’89″ below and you’ll know exactly what we mean by “authentic rock music.” Guitar licks with distortion and dirt, cigarette-roasted vocal chords, wild, teetering on the verge of spontaneous combustion drum solos – Butch Walker and the Black Widows have those attributes in…spades. A catchy chorus and Specter-inspired ‘wall of sound’ production unnecessarily reinforces the coolness of this track.

Check that video for even more proof how rock ‘n roll this Butch Walker character is. It doesn’t even matter that he wrote songs for Pink, Dashboard Confessional, and Avril Lavigne – I’m sure the rock gods will forgive him for such trespasses. Go see him live on his current tour and share a bottle of whiskey with him:

10/6 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt
10/7 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
10/8 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
10/12 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fineline
10/13 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
10/14 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Bag
10/15 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
10/16 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement
10/18 – Buffalo, NY @ Tralf Music Hall
10/19 – Toronto, ON @ Mod Club
10/20 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Club AE
10/21 – Asbury Park, NJ @ The Stone Pony
10/22 – Boston, MA @ Royal
10/24 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theater
10/25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
10/26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
10/27 – Baltimore, MD @ Ramshead Live
10/28 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
10/31 – Orlando, FL @ The Social
11/2 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ The Culture Room