Yo La TengoThis Stupid WorldMatador Records [2023] This Hoboken, N.J., indie-rock trio have been faithfully plugging along for nearly 40 years, with a new release every few years offering their assessment of what was going on in the world around us. For instance, in 2020 as the pandemic was kicking all of our asses, Yo … Read more
The 1984 DraftBest Friends ForeverPoptek/Sell The Heart/Engineer Records [2023] The Dayton music scene has no shortage of great bands, from heavy hitters like The Breeders and Guided by Voices to rising stars and personal favorites like M. Ross Perkins, The Gabbard Brothers, Heather Redman, and Speaking Suns. The 1984 Draft is another band you can … Read more
The WAEVEThe WAEVETransgressive Records [2023] The WAEVE represents a new collaboration between Blur lead guitarist and second vocalist Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall, who was in the British pop girl group The Pipettes in the 00’s, before pursuing a solo career that included collaborating with Mark Ronson, performing on his third solo album, “Record … Read more
The DrinToday My Friend You Drunk The VenomDrunken Sailor/Feel It Records [2023] Today My Friend You Drunk The Venom is the third long player from Cincinnati’s post-punk group The Drin. The group blends a darker edge of the genre with an overall cold vibe that pulls you closer into the album’s 10 songs. Their sound … Read more
The ArcsElectrophonic ChronicEasy Eye Sound / Concord [2023] Had things gone as planned, we’d likely have gotten a follow-up to The Arcs’ fine 2015 debut album, Yours, Dreamily, by 2018, as the band reportedly put anywhere from 80 to 100 tracks down in the studio, recording even while they were out touring behind their first … Read more
The MenNew York CityFuzz Club Records [2023] Brooklyn’s The Men put out several fantastic punk records back in the early 2010’s and then over the last 10 years have expanded their sound into more indie friendly areas that even included a touch of Americana. Their recent material has been solid but I fully admit that … Read more
The Bad EndsThe Power And The GloryNew West Records [2023] According to their bio, three of the guys in this so-called Athens, GA super-group formed while they were picking up their kids from school, or something like that. In a music town best known as the breeding ground for R.E.M., as well as the B-52’s, … Read more
R. RingWar Poems, We RestedDon Giovanni Records [2023] War Poems, We Rested is the sophomore record from R. Ring and it is the band’s first full-length release since their excellent 2017 album Ignite The Rest. The group features the always engaging Kelley Deal (of The Breeders) and the talented musician/Candyland Recording Studio Owner/Engineer Mike Montgomery … Read more
CVCGet RealCVC Recordings [2023] Listening to Welsh band CVC’s debut Get Real is a lot like stepping into a pop/rock time warp machine set on the 70’s and early 80’s. It stands for Church Village Collective, borrowing their name from the village where the six-piece band formed in the south of Wales, near Cardiff. But … Read more
King TuffSmalltown StardustSub Pop Records [2023] On his sixth album, Kyle Thomas who performs under his original band name King Tuff, steps away from the guitar-driven garage-band power-pop that dominated their 2014 Sub Pop debut, Black Moon Spell, and the self-descriptive single “Headbanger.” Created as a love letter to the rural smalltown where he grew … Read more
The TubsDead MeatTrouble In Mind Records [2023] London group The Tubs formed in 2018 after the dissolvement of UK post-punk band Joanna Gruesome by former members Owen ‘O’ Williams and George ‘GN’ Nicholls. Their debut, Dead Meat, finds the group leaving most of that early post-punk distortion behind and embracing a classic British folk guitar … Read more
Margo PriceStraysLoma Vista Recordings [2023] When Nashville singer-songwriter Margo Price made her debut in 2016 with Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, on Jack White’s Third Man label, the album went to No. 1 on the UK Country Album Chart, and she earned a Best New Artist Grammy nomination. Here on her fourth studio album, Price, her co-writer … Read more
Ex PilotsEx PilotsSmoking Room [2023] Recorded at home between 2009 – 2019, Pittsburgh’s Ethan Oliva, aka Ex Pilots, gives recording credit of his self-titled debut to Logic Pro, a Korg CR-4, a 424 mk II and an MF-P01. That jargon may not mean much to many but when you are easily hooked on anything 4-track … Read more
Dave RowntreeRadio SongsCooking Vinyl [2023] 2023 is shaping up to be a big year for fans of the Britpop/alternative rock band Blur. While the quartet hasn’t toured since supporting their 2015 release, Magic Whip, Blur has already sold out one performance at London’s Wembly Stadium for this summer, and a second show currently on sale … Read more
Guided By VoicesLa La LandGBV Inc. [2023] After releasing two excellent albums last year (Crystal Nuns Cathedral and Tremblers and Goggles By Rank), Guided By Voices are getting 2023 started early with La La Land, their 37th album (depending on how you count). If you’ve been keeping up with the band the last few years … Read more
Jeff Johnson & Brian Dunning Coming, GoingArkMusic [2022] Flautist Brian Dunning, who died last February at the age of 70, had a solid recording career before he collaborated with Jeff Johnson on the Celtic-influenced jazz/new age/progressive instrumental music for the Songs From Albion trilogy in the early 90’s, a series offered as a soundtrack to … Read more
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Iggy PopEvery LoserGold Tooth/Atlantic Records [2023] Iggy Pop, sometimes called “the Godfather of Punk” for his role as frontman/vocalist with The Stooges, an early proto-punk band that formed in Detroit in 1967. Notorious for his over-the-top, shirtless, self-mutilating performances, it’s a wonder that Pop is alive at 75; the fact that he’s still releasing new … Read more
Belle And SebastianLate DevelopersMatador Records [2023] When novelist Nick Hornsby wrote that “Sentimental music has this great way of taking you back somewhere at the same time that it takes you forward, so you feel nostalgic and hopeful at the same time,” he tapped into a vibe that runs close to the surface in the … Read more
Dead MeadowForce Form FreeBlues Funeral Recordings [2022] Formed in the fall of 1998, Dead Meadow rose out of the Washington, D.C. indie/punk scene and have continued to evolve their sound through each record into the heavy modern psych you hear today. This psych path was highlighted on their Levitation Session album that was released in … Read more
HouseghostAnother RealmRad Girlfriend Records [2022] Another Realm is the sophomore album from punk group Houseghost out of Dayton, Ohio. The trio is made up of drummer Tyler Beaty (Goon, Break Yourself), guitarist/vocalist Nick Hamby (The Raging Nathans), and bassist/vocalist Kayla Hamby. The record was released in mid December of last year and is definitely worth … Read more
Bill CallahanYTI⅃AƎЯDrag City Records [2022] I think one could easily build an argument that Bill Callahan is one of the stronger singer/songwriters of the past 25 years. The Smog band leader had a multitude of great albums and then his solo career has been a fascinating journey to hear through his lens. He does not … Read more
Heather Redman & The ReputationHeather Redman & The ReputationMagnaphone Records [2022] It’s safe to say that soul music has been experiencing a major revival the last few years. The rise of independent labels like Loveland, Ohio’s Colemine Records or Brooklyn’s Daptone Records has produced an abundance of new top-shelf acts, from Sharon Jones and the … Read more
Brendan BensonLow KeySchnitzel Records [2022] Brendan Benson released his seventh solo album, Dear Life, early in 2020, and even though he played all the instruments when recording he’d put a band together and was ready to hit the road and introduce fans to his latest songs, when the pandemic upended touring for everyone. And while … Read more
Various Artists (Kribo Records)Sounds Of Lecak Vol. 1Guruguru Brain [2022] Even with the internet connecting us with people all over the world, it’s often easy to look past music scenes in other countries. Whether it’s because of a (perceived) language barrier, genre pigeonholing (“world” music), or just the sheer amount of music there is to … Read more