Reviews

Bobby Oroza: Get On The Otherside [Album Review]

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Bobby OrozaGet On The OthersideBig Crown Records [2022] By now, we have heard many artist experiences on how they survived the pandemic when everything was shut down. It is one thing for a large venue and mass sales artist to halt their daily activities but I don’t think many people understand how the lack of … Read more

Tedeshi Trucks Band: I Am The Moon – I. Crescent [Album Review]

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Tedeshi Trucks BandI Am The Moon: I. CrescentFantasy/Concord Music [2022] When singer/songwriter Susan Tedeschi, already with six albums and a storied career to her credit, and slide guitar wunderkind and Allman Brothers Band acolyte Derek Trucks joined their romantic lives, and then their two bands together, it was obvious they were a courageous lot. Now, … Read more

The Dream Syndicate: Ultraviolet Battle Hymns And True Confessions [Album Review]

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The Dream SyndicateUltraviolet Battle Hymns And True ConfessionsFire Records [2022] In many ways, Steve Wynn and his reconstituted band, The Dream Syndicate, have spent the decade since the band reformed in 2012 trying to sort out who they were and how they wanted to sound in this new era, or as Wynn sings in the … Read more

Green/Blue: Paper Thin [Album Review]

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Green/BluePaper ThinFeel It Records [2022] I like it when a band is on a creative streak and they just keep rolling the dice. Minneapolis’ Green/Blue have just done that with their fantastically new dark and pulsing third record, Paper Thin. This album is really a rush because it follows their killer second album, Offering, which … Read more

Andrew Bird: Inside Problems [Album Review]

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Andrew BirdInside ProblemsLoma Vista Recordings [2022] In the follow-up to his fine, Headphone Approved 2019 release, My Finest Work Yet, Andrew Bird continues to deliver smart, thoughtful music that displays his talented violin skills in catchy pop-oriented songs, most that defy simplistic genre categories. On that work, he seemed quite taken with the world of … Read more

John Doe: Fables In A Foreign Land [Album Review]

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John DoeFables In A Foreign LandFat Possum Records [2022] Before “Folk music” was an established commercial genre and came to be associated as a specific style of acoustic music, it was first and foremost music made by and for regular folk. Whether sung around a campfire or on street corners, and broadly speaking folk music … Read more

Horsegirl: Versions Of Modern Performance [Album Review]

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HorsegirlVersions Of Modern PerformanceMatador Records [2022] Chicago’s Horsegirl is a fantastic throwback nod to some indie guitar greats of the past that include Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Gang Of Four. The trio of Penelope Lowenstein (guitar, vocals), Nora Cheng (guitar, vocals), and Gigi Reece (drums) represent a fresh face of artists that have … Read more

Sharon Van Etten: We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong [Album Review]

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Sharon Van EttenWe’ve Been Going About This All WrongJagjaguwar [2022] There’s a lot going on in our world right now, and rocker Sharon Van Ettan, like many of us, takes the whole mess quite personally. In her song “Anything,” she admits to being “Up the whole night, undefined/Can’t stop thinking about peace and war.” But … Read more

Drive-By Truckers: Welcome 2 Club XIII [Album Review]

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Drive-By TruckersWelcome 2 Club XIIIATO Records [2022] The opening chords of Drive-By Truckers’ fourteenth studio album carry the dense distorted grungy guitar sound of The Dirty South in a way that recalls many of the band’s releases across their long, 26-year history. They lead the listener into the 7-minute talking blues of Patterson Hood’s The … Read more

Dehd: Blue Skies [Album Review]

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DehdBlue SkiesFat Possum Records [2022] Chicago’s Dehd have grown with each album they have released since their self-titled debut came out in 2016. The band really seemed to be hitting a musical peak with 2020’s Headphone Approved Flower Of Devotion and with all the critical acclaim the indie band experienced – way more attention! That … Read more

Mitch Mitchell’s Terrifying Experience: Appalachian Tontine [Album Review]

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Mitch Mitchell’s Terrifying ExperienceAppalachian TontineThrill Kill City Music [2022] Somewhere in a Dayton, Ohio neighborhood, squalls of guitar feedback escape into the night air. Cans of cheap beer and ash trays are scattered around the makeshift home studio, where riffs seemingly transported through time from somewhere between 1967 and 1975 keep pushing the levels on … Read more

Slang: Cockroach In A Ghost Town [Album Review]

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SlangCockroach In A Ghost TownKill Rock Stars [2022] Slang started out as a side project for drummer Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney) and singer/guitarist Drew Grow, in Portland, Ore. over a decade ago, singing covers of the Everly Brothers and Traveling Wilburys, but Cockroach In A Ghost Town finds them joined by Anita Lee Elliot on guitar … Read more

Wilco: Cruel Country [Album Review]

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WilcoCruel CountrydBpm Records [2022] The advance word on Wilco’s 12th studio album, Cruel Country, was that the long 21-song double-disc release would be a return of sorts to leader Jeff Tweedy’s country music roots. Tweedy’s previous work in Uncle Tupelo was largely responsible for creating that expectation, something the band strived to distance itself from … Read more

Golden Apples: Golden Apples [Album Review]

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Golden ApplesGolden ApplesLame-O Records [2022] Led by guitarist/songwriter Russell Edling, Philadelphia-based Golden Apples started as more of a solo project but now has evolved into a full band lineup. Edling and the group showed a catchy indie pop style on their excellent Headphone Approved debut, Shadowland, just last year so this sophomore effort represents a … Read more

Cola: Deep In View [Album Review]

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ColaDeep In ViewFire Talk Records [2022] Deep In View is the debut album from Cola. The band is made up of former Ought members Tim Darcy (vocals, guitar) and Ben Stidworthy (bass) alongside drummer Evan Cartwright (US Girls, The Weather Station). Titled after philosopher Alan Watts’ anthology of the same name, the record thrives on … Read more

Craig Finn: A Legacy Of Rentals [Album Review]

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Craig FinnA Legacy Of RentalsPositive Jams/Thirty Tigers [2022] By now, after eight albums with The Hold Steady and four solo studio albums, we’ve figured out that Craig Finn is as much of a storyteller as he is a songwriter. Finn has a penchant for dark narratives about folk trapped in the difficult outcomes of bad … Read more

Weird Nightmare: Weird Nightmare [Album Review]

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Weird NightmareWeird NightmareSub Pop Records [2022] Weird Nightmare is the new project from METZ guitarist and singer Alex Edkins. This self-titled debut record showcases a new side of Edkins, as it was created of mostly ideas that didn’t seem to totally fit the more in your face post punk noise rock of METZ. Some of … Read more

Porridge Radio: Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky [Album Review]

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Porridge RadioWaterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The SkySecretly Canadian [2022] The power of song is always something you hear people say but you can go searching far and wide sometimes to find music that really touches your core. Well, welcome to Brighton’s Porridge Radio and their third long player, Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The … Read more

Monophonics: Sage Motel [Album Review]

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MonophonicsSage MotelColemine Records [2022] San Francisco’s Monophonics have been serving up a high quality of soulful psychedelia since 2012’s In Your Brain. Over the years, the Bay Area band has increased their range and style while staying honest to the classic soul sounds. Sage Motel keeps the progression going as the record once again has … Read more

The Smile: A Light For Attracting Attention [Album Review]

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The SmileA Light For Attracting AttentionXL Recordings [2022] Thom Yorke will never tire of writing music. He might get “bored” of focusing on a single project for a while but, he just finds somewhere else to focus his creative output. Cue Glastonbury 2021 and the debut of Thom Yorke, Johnny Greenwood, and Tom Skinner (Sons … Read more

Spread Joy: II [Album Review]

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Spread JoyIIFeel It Records [2022] Chicago’s energetic post punk rockers, Spread Joy have returned with their sophomore release just a year after their excellent Headphone Approved self-titled debut hit our ears. The high energy band once again keeps the adrenaline level up and delivers another short in your face type of album. In fact, II … Read more

The Waterboys: All Souls Hill [Album Review]

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The WaterboysAll Souls HillCooking Vinyl [2022] Just a year short of 4 decades since Mike Scott introduced The Waterboys on its eponymous debut, the singer/songwriter best known for giving the world “The Whole of the Moon, continues to expand on his vision for “The Big Music.” A Scot by birth, Scott comes by his interest … Read more

Kevin Morby: This Is A Photograph [Album Review]

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Kevin MorbyThis Is A PhotographDead Oceans [2022] This Is A Photograph is singer/songwriter Kevin Morby’s 7th album which once again is a record that captures his look at life with intelligent lyrics, complex arrangements and his calm as can be vocals. Since his gospel-folk delivery on the fantastic Singing Saw (2016), Morby has tweaked his … Read more

The Black Keys: Dropout Boogie [Album Review]

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The Black KeysDropout BoogieNonesuch Records [2022] For the last 20 years, the former Akron, Ohio duo that make up The Black Keys have been refining their own take on the blues and R&B influences that are the underpinning of early rock icons like Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton’s Cream. Guitarist and vocalist Dan Auerbach and … Read more