Brian Q. Newcomb 
The Texas Gentlemen Floor It!!!New West Records [2020] The first time I listened to The Texas Gentlemen’s newest release, Floor It!!!, I had a flashback to the summer of 1979. Something in the masterful instrumental prowess in the individual players and the band’s penchant for genre bending moves through funk, country swing, Dixieland jazz, and … Read more
Lo Tom LP2Self-Released [2020] Lo Tom’s 2017 eponymously-titled debut proved an unexpected delight. In an age of political and emotional dysfunction, it just felt so good to hear these long-time friends and musical collaborators get together in the garage with their guitars, turn up the amps and let it rip. Singer David Bazan of course … Read more
The Flaming Lips American HeadWarner Records [2020] Described as a reflection on singer Wayne Coyne’s youthful upbringing in Oklahoma City, The Flaming Lips’ 16th album, American Head steps away from the bombastic sci-fi rock opera visions of 2002’s Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and last year’s King’s Mouth to make a record of more reflective, … Read more
DMA’S The GlowInfectious Music [2020] In the half a dozen years that DMA’s have been together, they’ve proven to not only be productive, with an EP and now three full length albums to their credit, but also commercially viable in their native Australia and beyond. The band formed around three songwriters – singer Thomas O’Dell, … Read more
Kllo Maybe We CouldGhostly International [2020] These cousins from Melbourne Australia, Kllo (rhymes with “flow”) return with a follow-up to their 2017 electro-pop debut, Breakthrough. As described in their bio, the two abandoned recording together late in 2018, following tours that took them around the world twice, unsure about their musical direction and focus. Drawn … Read more
Moby All Visible ObjectsLittle Idiot/Mute Records [2020] The fact that we’re talking about the 17th album by Moby says a lot. Few artists have the distinction of taking a music form often limited to the club scene – dance, electronica, ambient – and giving it mainstream relevance, earning pop radio airplay in the bargain. Early … Read more
Old 97’s TwelfthATO Records [2020] The Old 97’s have been plugging away since forming in 1993, playing alt-country with such consistency that it might be tempting to take their musical strengths for granted. Picking up where cow-punk 80’s bands like Jason & the Scorchers and Lone Justice left off, singer Rhett Miller, guitarist Ken Bethea, … Read more
Bright Eyes Down In The Weeds, Where The World Once WasDead Oceans [2020] It’s been 9 years since the last album of new music by Bright Eyes, but singer Conor Oberst has been quite busy in the meantime. In 2016, he released an intimate solo acoustic album titled Ruminations, which was recorded only on guitar … Read more
The Chicks GaslighterColumbia Records [2020] With women coming on strong in popular country music last year via strong feminist empowerment anthems from the Highwomen collaborative made up of Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, Natalie Hamby, and Maren Morris, and Carlile’s collaborative production giving Tanya Tucker a career reboot, you had to know that we were due … Read more
My Morning Jacket The Waterfall IIATO Records [2020] Back in 2015 when My Morning Jacket was releasing their well-received seventh studio album, The Waterfall, singer/songwriter Jim James reported that the band had recorded enough new music for it to be a double album. Like much of the MMJ oeuvre, that album was marked by the … Read more
Kansas The Absence Of PresenceInside Out Music [2020] It’s one thing to find the right musicians to fill in key slots in a classic band like Kansas so that you can reproduce their sound and recreate the hits for fans who’ve memorized every guitar solo, every nuance and riff in the band’s repertoire. While a … Read more
Chris Taylor Born On The BeatSelf-Released [2020] Chris Taylor, a San Antonio artist, both a singer/songwriter and painter, is exemplary of how real indie rock artists (not those bands we call “indie rock” even though they’re signed to a major label) are struggling to get by, made all the more “interesting” by the current global … Read more
Liza Anne Bad VacationArts & Crafts [2020] Georgia-based, indie rocker Liza Anne returns with her fourth album of smart pop-craft, with plenty of 80’s new wave, pop/punk and rock influences on display. Past efforts have dealt with mental health issues head on in songs like “Panic Attack” and “Paranoia,” and here she describes the inner … Read more
The Psychedelic Furs Made Of RainCooking Vinyl [2020] As influential as UK post/punk rock band The Psychedelic Furs has been in modern music circles, it’s pretty surprising to look back at their discography and realize that the entirety of their studio recordings can be found on seven albums released over eleven years, between 1980 and … Read more
Gang Of Four Anti HeroGill Music [2020] After the death of long-time Gang of Four leader and lead guitarist, Andy Gill, in February, the band released the posthumous EP This Heaven Gives Me Migraine. It included a few spoken words from Gibb, a new track that had been slated for their follow up to last … Read more
Taylor Swift FolkloreRepublic Records [2020] It’s almost hard to say what’s more surprising here, that Taylor Swift dropped a surprise new album last Thursday that was entirely recorded in the months of this virus pandemic quarantine, or that you’re reading about it here on The Fire Note, where we pride ourselves by primarily focusing on … Read more
Weiwu Are You Perfect Yet?Self-Released [2020] Weiwu is the name chosen by Michael Gungor, as he steps away from the contemporary Christian music band that he led with his wife, Gungor, to explore both a broader, more expansive musical and spiritual realm, which for lack of better genre definition has been loosely labeled as “New … Read more
Pretenders Hate For SaleBMG [2020] Like many of the innovative, influential women artists who carved out a name for themselves in the early days of modern rock & roll music – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Nina Simone, Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Joan Jett – Chrissie Hynde is practically a force of nature … Read more
Paul Melancon The Get Gos Action Hour!Self-Released [2020] Atlanta-based, power-pop indie rock artist, Paul Melancon released a number of full-length albums in the early 2000’s to a modicum of local success, even touring with the Indigo Girls. But then, as he described in this new album’s Kickstarter campaign, he went radio silent due to “severe … Read more
Rufus Wainwright Unfollow The RulesBMG [2020] Somehow, even when Rufus Wainwright was getting a lot of buzz for the sophisticated sound on his self-titled debut (’98) and his sophomore outing, Poses, he felt like an old soul, someone who’s idea of pop music came from Cole Porter’s prestigious catalog in the 1930’s, and prone to … Read more
The Jayhawks XOXOSham/Thirty Tigers [2020] While the quartet of musicians at the heart of The Jayhawks have been together more or less for a quarter of a century, much of the attention around the band’s two breakout albums in the 90’s – “Hollywood Town Hall” and “Tomorrow the Green Grass” – much of the focus … Read more
The Beths Jump Rope GazersCarpark Records [2020] The debut of Auckland, New Zealand band The Beths, Future Me Hates Me, was one of the musical bright spots of 2018, making it onto a lot of music critics’ ‘best of’ lists. We hear a continuation of the band’s bright power pop, and the smart songwriting by … Read more
Wire 10:20Pinkflag [2020] While 2020 has taken a lot away from us, like live concerts and international travel, one thing we worth celebrating is that we not only got a strong new Wire album early in the year in Mind Hive, but now, intended as a Record Store Day release, we get a second studio … Read more
Japandroids Massey Fucking Hall (Live)ANTI- [2020] There’s a telling moment in Vancouver band Japandroids’ live concert album set, about three and half minutes into their third song “Heart Sweats,” where it feels like a natural ending. Drummer Dave Prowse stops playing and takes a long drink of water, while Brian King’s guitar’s power chords are … Read more
Phoebe Bridgers PunisherDead Oceans [2020] Phoebe Bridgers’ solo sophomore album arrives amid a growing demand for the young indie rock singer/songwriter. After the release of her debut, Stranger in the Alps in 2017, Bridgers formed the group Boygenius with Julian Baker and Lucy Dacus, releasing and EP in ’18 and then touring. In early ’19, … Read more