William Elliott Whitmore I’m With YouBloodshot Records [2020] You would likely be forgiven if you mistook Iowa-based singer/songwriter William Elliott Whitmore for someone much older. While still in his early 40’s, Whitmore’s straight forward folk and country roots, would feel right at home alongside the decades old output of Woody Guthrie, Jimmie Rogers, or A.P. … Read more
Kevin MorbySundownerDead Oceans [2020] Kevin Morby knows isolation and he is probably one of the best at using it as a tool to create thought provoking and engaging music. Much like some of his earlier work, his new 10 song album, Sundowner, is a product of secluding himself in his own studio (in this case … Read more
Stiff RichardsState Of MindLegless/Drunken Sailor Records [2020] The pure raw punk on Melbourne’s Stiff Richards third LP, State Of Mind, is a mind blowing powerful 27 minute ride of rock n roll that never lets its foot off of the gas pedal. Singer Wolfgang Buckley consistently struts around these songs like a young Iggy Pop … Read more
Tom PettyWildflowers & All The RestWarner Records [2020] As the story has been told, in 1994 when Tom Petty released his second solo record, Wildflowers, he and producer Rick Rubin intended it to go out as a double-album. While his 1989 solo project recorded with Jeff Lynne, Full Moon Fever, had been the source of … Read more
Laura Jane Grace Stay AlivePolyvinyl Records [2020] If 2020 had gone as planned, Laura Jane Grace expected to have recorded a new album with Against Me! by now, maybe spend the late summer and fall months on tour. But when the world shut down due to the viral pandemic, she found herself stuck in Chicago … Read more
OseesLevitation SessionsThe Reverberation Appreciation Society [2020] 2020 will be remembered for all kinds of depressing events including the halt of live music shows. Not only is touring the lifeblood for any artist, it is also the perfect escape for legions of fans that enables them to hear music in a totally different experience. As we … Read more
Travis 10 SongsBMG [2020] Scottish quartet, Travis, while often credited for breaking ground for bands like Coldplay and Keane, has always been a bigger deal in the UK than here stateside. With their early albums, lead singer and songwriter Fran Healy led the band to the top of the British pop charts which resulted in … Read more
METZAtlas VendingSub Pop Records [2020] Time flies when you are getting pounded by an arsenal of brutal post punk that over the last eight years METZ has delivered album after album after album. Atlas Vending is the Canadian groups fourth LP of all new material and I will be honest – the album hits you … Read more
Throwing Muses Sun RacketFire Records [2020] When Kristen Hersh finds a certain metallic tonality on her electric guitar and settles into a steady driving groove with Throwing Muses’ rhythm section of bassist Bernard Georges and drummer David Narcizo, they tend to grind out a truly righteous noisy groove. And here on Sun Racket, the band’s … Read more
AlrightI’m Doing This To MyselfSelf Aware Records [2020] Alright is a fuzzed out indie band from Charlotte, North Carolina that is led by the energetic guitar and voice of Sarah Blumenthal. Their debut full length, I’m Doing This To Myself, is a blood pressure raising rocker that throws out all the gimmicks and delivers a … Read more
Sufjan Stevens The AscensionAsthmatic Kitty Records [2020] By now, fans of Sufjan Stevens have learned to approach each new project with an open mind. On his most successful effort to date, 2005’s Illinois, Stevens revealed the breadth of his musical interests, from indie folk to pop/rock all the way to showtunes with full orchestrations, and … Read more
Frankie And The Witch Fingers Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters . . .The Reverberation Appreciation Society / Greenway Records [2020] Who: I count Frankie and the Witch Fingers as having one of the coolest stories in rock n’ roll right now: Release, ZAM, one of the best albums of your career, gain great attention with … Read more
Lydia Loveless DaughterHoney, You’re Gonna Be Late Records [2020] In the nearly four years since Lydia Loveless’ last album, Real, the country rock singer/songwriter has divorced her bass player husband, left her record company, and moved from Columbus, OH to Raleigh, NC, before writing and recording her new record, which has been released on her … Read more
IDLESUltra MonoPartisan Records [2020] One listen to the UK’s IDLES and you can’t deny the fierceness that surrounds their music. The band has a big attitude, plenty of opinions, and a snarl like no other band on the current scene. IDLES also has a front man in Joe Talbot that never takes a breath or … Read more
Fleet Foxes ShoreANTI- [2020] There are a handful of songs in the middle of this fourth album from Fleet Foxes that feel very much in sync with early expectations created by the folky, rural Americana, melody focused, harmony-rich albums, their ’08 self-title debut and 2011’s Helplessness Blues. “A Long Way Past the Past” relies on … Read more
Bob Mould Blue HeartsMerge Records [2020] Bob Mould was raging against the machine a full decade before Rage Against the Machine was a band. Early albums with the Minneapolis-based punk trio Husker Du, including the monumental Zen Arcade, proved provocative and influential, due largely to Mould and drummer/singer Grant Hart’s penchant for writing fast, edgy … Read more
Tobin SproutEmpty HorsesFire Records [2020] Tobin Sprout will always be the member from Guided By Voices that consistently changed the pace of the albums and wrote many, what I would consider “softer” tracks for the band. These songs were dependable and steady while able to find a balance with Robert Pollard’s dominant songwriting. Fast-forward to … Read more
Semisonic You’re Not AlonePleasuresonic Recordings [2020] Google the Minnesota power/pop trio Semisonic and the first listing will always be their big hit single for 1998, “Closing Time.” Of course, I don’t know this personally, but I’ve heard from some artist friends that writing a hit like that, where a fluky fun pop song written to … Read more
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
OseesProtean ThreatCastle Face Records [2020] Who: OCS, The Ohsees, The Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, Oh Sees, and Osees. Whatever they want to call themselves hail from San Francisco, California and have been making music since 2003. Sound: Osees have always had a knack for sounds of the otherworldly. These dungeon master punks brandish their … Read more
Bill CallahanGold RecordDrag City Records [2020] If there is one thing that shines some light during this pandemic year is that Bill Callahan has quickly returned with another batch of songs that documents his thoughts on the life that surrounds him. In fact, Gold Record has a little bit of a continuation sound vibe from … Read more
Rose City BandSummerlongThrill Jockey Records [2020] Summerlong is the sophomore record from Ripley Johnson’s Rose City Band. Already a staple in the psychedelic world as leader of Wooden Shjips and part of Moon Duo, Summerlong takes Johnson’s Rose City Band moniker to new heights and moves beyond his simpler 2019 self-titled debut which was much … 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
Neal MorseSola GratiaInside Out Music [2020] If the idea of religion as subject matter for progressive rock seems a little ridiculous at first then I completely understand. I do. But in all actuality nothing could be better suited for the complexity and grandiosity of the genre. Certainly bands like Yes always had a spiritual quality … Read more