SA’s favourite rock bank Aking is preparing to release a new album entitled “Red Blooded Years”.

According to the band’s drummer Snake Venter, “The songs are quite varied: we have an upbeat pop-rock number, a heavier rock number, a ballad, an African-inspired rock track and a dark-sounding 80s track”.

The band is obviously trying out new things and hoping to gain more fans with the various songs.

But bigger news is that the band is to appear in Engen Wimpy and Woolworths major advertising campaigns in 2012 – this is some amazing endorsement for the band, who now seem likely to rise to the heights of The Parlotones, who can charge R300 000 for a half hour performance.

Meanwhile, the band is touring South Africa in December, making their way up the East Coast, visiting Johannesburg and then spending some time in Namibia, as well as spending New Year’s Eve in Cape Town.