Review JUNKYARD DRIVE “Squeeze”

It’s been quite a while since I first discovered Junkyard Drive. The Danish band played the P60 in Amstelveen, Netherlands, almost exactly eleven years ago as part of the Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival with a lineup that also featured bands like Primal Fear and Kissin’ Dynamite. Junkyard Drive had only been around for a little over a year at the time, but I still remember their show as a very positive experience.

That was 2015, and plenty has changed since then. Fast-forward to 2026, and the Danes are ready to put their next album, Squeeze, on the shelves. Ten new tracks deliver contemporary hard rock with plenty of hooks that stick around after the songs are over.

“Ordinary,” “Echo,” and “Beautiful Love” have already offered a taste of what’s coming, with lead single “Ordinary” also opening the album. It’s a groove-driven rocker built around a throbbing chorus that gets the job done.

“Learning to Lose” comes with a rolling bass groove that makes standing still a bit of a challenge. Things take a darker turn on the stomping “Not in the Mood,” while “Powerless” is a gritty, hard-hitting rock song and perhaps the heaviest track on the album. Darker tones creep into “Bad Things” as well, before “The Day Will Never Come” delivers another standout moment. The song builds gradually, starting with a galloping rhythm that keeps gaining momentum before opening up into a well-crafted chorus. It has a few rough edges and takes a couple of spins to fully reveal itself, but once it clicks, “The Day Will Never Come” shows what it has to offer.

“Echo” brings things back to a more straightforward approach, and the same goes for the closing track, “Nobody Wants Me Around.”

With Squeeze, Junkyard Drive deliver a solid rock album. Modern hard rock pours from the speakers, backed by enough melody and groove to keep things moving. Squeeze is an album that’s simply fun to listen to—and sometimes, that’s all you need.