The Sore Losers is a Belgian rock band, formed in 2009. Jan Straetemans (vocals, guitar), Cedric Maes (guitar), Kevin Maenen (bass) en Alessio Di Turi (drums) combined their love for rock, country, blues and garage and brewed it into a raw and pure rock sound of their own.

History

The Sore Losers made it to the finals of the Belgian contest

Humo's Rock Rally Humo's Rock Rally is a Belgian contest for rock bands, organized every second year since 1978. It is organized by the Belgian magazine HUMO. Every band that has not yet released an official recording, may enter the Rock Rally, by submitting a demo ...

on 28 March 2010. The band signed a deal with

Excelsior Recordings Excelsior Recordings is an independent record label located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. History Excelsior was founded by Ferry Roseboom and Frans Hagenaars under the name "Nothing Sucks Like Electrolux", releasing a few limited-run seven inch si ...

that led to the recording of their first and self titled album in October 2010. The first single "Beyond Repair" spent 21 weeks in

De Afrekening De Afrekening is a Belgian radio and record chart broadcasting program featured on Studio Brussel (commonly referred to as "StuBru"). During the program, thirty top-rating "alternative" tracks are played, with the chart being assembled by the prog ...

Studio Brussel A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial d ...

and tied for the longest run on the show in 2010. The band played at

Pukkelpop Pukkelpop is an annual music festival that takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium, in mid- to late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland—adjacent to a dual carriageway called ''Kempische Steenweg''—in the ...

2010 and were invited to open the main stage in 2011. Not long after their show the festival was cancelled due to damage caused by severe storms which killed five people. The Sore Losers released their second album ''Roslyn'' in February 2014, reaching number 5 in the

Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization ...

albums chart and spent 52 weeks in the chart. The three following singles "Working Overtime", "Don't Know Nothing" and "Tripper" became number 1 in

and Hotlist charts from

. In July 2014, the band played at

Rock Werchter Rock Werchter is an annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, Belgium, since 1976 and is a large sized rock music festival. The 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014 festivals received the Arthur award for ''best festiv ...

and on 20 December 2014, they sold out their first headline show at

Ancienne Belgique Ancienne Belgique ( French for "Old Belgium") is a concert hall for contemporary music in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the historic heart of Brussels, it is one of the leading concert venues in Belgium, hosting a wide variety of international and ...

, which was broadcast on Acht. The Sore Losers were nominated for the Belgian

Music Industry Awards The MIA's, in full Music Industry Awards, are Flemish music prizes that are awarded by the VRT in collaboration with Music Centre Flanders. The prizes replace the ZAMU Awards, last awarded in 2006. The abbreviation MIA is a wink to ''Mia'', a ...

2014 in the categories 'Alternative' and 'Breakthrough Artist'. The album was released on 20 February 2015 in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, followed by a German club tour together with Triggerfinger. In November 2015, the band went into the Vox Ton studios in Berlin with Grammy award-winning producer

Dave Cobb Dave Cobb (born July 9, 1974) is an American record producer based in Nashville, Tennessee, best known for producing the work of Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, John Prine, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, The Highwomen and Rival Sons . Cobb i ...

for ten days to record their third album, ''Skydogs''. The album came out on 18 March 2016 to critical acclaim in Benelux. The group’s sound is described as a raw blend of the early

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

The Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave ...

and

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their ...

, continuously in search of the essence of rock and psychedelia. They sold-out another headline release show at

on 15 April 2016. In France, Stéphane Saunier chose the album as "Album de la semaine" in his television program on Canal+ and The Sore Losers presented Skydogs for a live audience in a Parisian TV-studio. Also in France, Philippe Manoeuvre, editor-in-chief of the ''Rock & Folk Magazine'', chose ''Skydogs'' as "Best Album of 2016". The Sore Losers supported the album with an extensive tour through France, as support act for bands like White Denim, Boss Hog, The Bellrays and Lords of Altamont, and later as headliner of their own tour. In March 2017, The Sore Losers crossed the Atlantic for the first time, to introduce themselves to the music industry in New York and at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. The single "Nightcrawler" premiered on TeamCoco, the online platform of ''Late Night Show'' host

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (19 ...

. The magazine ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

'' launched the live video for "Nightcrawler" through their website. In 2018, the band released ''Gracias Señor'', their fourth album, on Ultra Elektric Records, their own record label. The album was recorded in the new DAFT Studio and produced by James Petralli and Steve Terebecki of the American rock band White Denim. ''Gracias Señor'' was distributed in Benelux and France by Caroline Music. In 2018, the band played at the Belgian festival Pukkelpop, followed by a sold out tour. On 22 October 2021, The Sore Losers released their fifth studio album ''Ultra Elektric'' on Suburban Records. The album was recorded between June 2020 and April 2021 in GAM, DAFT and Ultra Elektric Studios, which is the band's own recording studio.

Influences

The Sore Losers are influenced by blues rock bands from the 1960s-1970s, particularly bands such as

MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

and

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...

. The band name is inspired by the same titled cult movie from director John M. McCarthy. The title of their third album ''Skydogs'' is a reference to

Duane Allman Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock guitarist, session musician, and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in ...

's nickname.

Discography

Albums

* 2010: ''The Sore Losers'' (Excelsior Recordings/V2) * 2014: ''Roslyn'' (Excelsior Recordings/V2) * 2016: ''Skydogs'' (Excelsior Recordings/V2) *2018: ''Gracias Señor'' (Ultra Elektric Records / Caroline Music) *2022: ''Ultra Elektric'' (Suburban Records)

Singles

*2010: "Beyond Repair" *2014: "Working Overtime", "Don't Know Nothing", "Tripper" *2016: "Cherry Cherry", "Emily", "Got It Bad" *2018: "Dark Ride", "Eyes On The Prize"

References

External links

Website ''The Sore Losers''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sore Losers, The Belgian rock music groups