The Ophelias CrocusJoyful Noise Recordings [2021] The Ophelias, an indie folk/rock quartet which got their start in Cincinnati, return with a third studio album, Crocus. While the four members came together after playing the role of the “token girl” in a male band, their collaboration grew from their combined creativity marked by the unique voice … Read more
Heartless BastardsA Beautiful LifeSweet Unknown Records/Thirty Tigers [2021] Since Heartless Bastards’ debut, Stairs And Elevators, was released in 2005, lead singer founder Erika Wennerstrom’s voice has always been a focal point of the group. Over the years, and now on album number six, Heartless Bastards have had a different lineup of musicians but Erika’s soaring … Read more
Meatbodies333In The Red Records [2021] Meatbodies’ Chad Ubovich has kept busy over the last decade playing in Mikal Cronin’s backing band, playing along Ty Segall and Charlie Moothart supplying the killer bass in Fuzz, and then releasing two albums and touring to support his own Meatbodies. The group now returns with the seven song 333 … Read more
Tropical Fuck StormDeep StatesJoyful Noise Recordings [2021] Australia’s Tropical Fuck Storm continue to be one of the most interesting groups on the indie scene with their new third album, Deep States. I say this because their style is disjointed and sometimes weirdly hard to capture in one setting. At times, their music gasps for air … Read more
The UmbrellasThe UmbrellasSlumberland Records [2021] The San Francisco bay area has long been an place where jangly indie pop has soared from 90’s groups The Aislers Set and The Fairways to the more recent bands like The Mantles and The Reds, Pinks & Purples. Now you can add The Umbrellas to the current contemporary list … Read more
Robert Finley Sharecropper’s SonEasy Eye Sound [2021] Robert Finley is a classic late bloomer. As the title of his sophomore album for Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye label suggests, he’s a “Sharecropper’s Son,” who grew up singing Gospel music in the church, playing guitar and acting as bandleader in an Army band while serving in the … Read more
Descendents 9th & WalnutEpitaph Records [2021] Classic punk band Descendents newest album, 9th & Walnut, is actually a collection of songs written from 1977 through 1980. They were on a shelf until finally recorded to tape in 2002, but luckily were brought back out last year during the band’s downtime. Most of the tracks were … Read more
Yola Stand For MyselfEasy Eye Sound [2021] 2019 was a great year for British singer/songwriter, Yola, who’s debut solo album Walk Through Fire earned her a Best New Artist nomination at the Grammys. Born Yolanda Quartey in Bristol, England, the expatriate currently living in Nashville spent that summer on tour opening for Sheryl Crow, and … Read more
WavvesHideawayFat Possum Records [2021] It is hard to believe that Wavves broke out over a decade ago with the release of their third record, King Of The Beach, on Fat Possum Records. Since that time, Nathan Williams and the band has been to the major labels, released music on his own Ghost Ramp and now … Read more
Hiss Golden Messenger Quietly Blowing ItMerge Records [2021] On the current single from his new album, “Sanctuary,” singer/songwriter MC Taylor, a.k.a. Hiss Golden Messenger, gets that the world is a mess right now. “Feeling bad, feeling blue,” he sings, acknowledging that “I know it feels like hell now/‘Til we get to the otherside,” he wants … Read more
Vanishing Shores MapsSelf-Released [2021] Cleveland, Ohio band Vanishing Shores delivers the kind of high energy, anthemic rock on their debut full-length release Maps, that aspires to fill arenas with big guitar sounds, floating synths, and big, power pop sing along choruses. This 8-song album is set-up like an opening set you might hear, delivered by … Read more
Cub Scout Bowling PinsClang Clang HoGBV Inc. [2021] If you are going into this band completely blind then it is important to know that Cub Scout Bowling Pins is a new secret identity for the current lineup of Guided By Voices. Like so many other Robert Pollard related “side” projects, Cub Scout Bowling Pins has … Read more
Rose City Band Earth TripThrill Jockey Records [2021] Rose City Band is guitarist Ripley Johnson, a celebrated guitarist from Portland, Ore. who also sings and plays guitar with psychedelic rock band, Wooden Shjips, and as part of the more kraut-rock/psychedelic duo Moon Duo. Earth Trip, his third as Rose City and second on the Thrill … Read more
Faye Webster I Know I’m Funny hahaSecretly Canadian [2021] Atlanta-based, singer-songwriter Faye Webster got the biggest boost to her career when the first single from her new album, “Better Distractions,” found its way onto former President Barrack Obama’s 2020 end of year playlist, earning the song national and international attention. Smartly, the 23-year-old leads off … Read more
Richard X Heyman Copious NotesTurn-Up Records [2021] Richard X Heyman, like most power-pop artists who came of age in the 80’s, draws on earlier generations for influences, most obviously the Beatles and British Invasion bands, LA sound bands like the Byrds, and pop songwriters from folk, R&B, and Motown. Starting out as a drummer in … Read more
Black River Delta Shakin’SofaBurn Records [2021] After a couple of listens to the hardcore blues rock of Black River Delta’s third album, Shakin’, you’d likely be surprised to learn that this band doesn’t come from the southern U.S., or even Ohio like the similar sounding Black Keys, but is actually comprised of a quartet from … Read more
Chrissie Hynde Standing In The Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob DylanBMG [2021] Chrissie Hynde was fresh from the release of another very good Pretenders’ album, Hate For Sale, when everyone was reckoning with the fact that the pandemic wasn’t a passing thing, and tours and concerts were going to be on hold for another year. … Read more
Reigning Sound A Little More Time With Reigning SoundMerge Records [2021] Reigning Sound’s singer/songwriter Greg Cartwright has returned to Memphis to record a collection of power-pop tracks that get back to basics. After working in the studio with Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach for 5 tracks on 2011’s EP, “Abdication… For Your Love,” and the R&B … Read more
Damien Jurado The Monster Who Hated PennsylvaniaMaraqopa Records [2021] The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania, the 17th album for singer/songwriter Damien Jurado and first for his own label Maraqopa Records, is an intimate affair, ten songs that capture the characters in a decisive moment in time. The brief album notes suggest it’s the “middle ground between … Read more
Tim Foljahn I Dreamed A DreamCart/Horse Records [2021] Guitarist Tim Foljahn has been around for a while. In addition to making six albums with the New Jersey outfit, Two Dollar Guitar, he’s toured as a support player with Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Cat Power, most famously his band was hired to record an album with … Read more
Weezer Van WeezerCrush Music/Atlantic Records [2021] Back in 2018, when Weezer shared a co-headline tour with The Pixies, everything about the former’s end of set theatrics suggested the band’s need for an album like Van Weezer. As suggested in The Fire Note concert review at the time, when the set design switched from the “garage … Read more
Finn’s Motel Fireworks Or LightningVictory Over Gravity [2021] One of the pleasures of advanced age is being around long enough to experience the development of a musician or artist over the course of their creative life. Back in the 80’s and early 90’s when I was writing about music out and about in St. Louis … Read more
Teenage Fanclub Endless ArcadeMerge Records [2021] In 1991, when Scottish band Teenage Fanclub first broke in No. America with their third album, Bandwagonesque, their sound was brimming with electric guitars turned up so they were humming on the edge of feeding back, brisk pop song rhythms with Beatlesque hooks and harmonies, and two strong singles … Read more
Proper Nouns Feel FreePhone Booth Records [2021] Feel Free is the debut Baltimore’s Proper Nouns, a power pop three-piece led by singer/songwriter and guitarist Spencer Compton. Joined by Jon Birkholz on bass and Joe Martin on drums, Proper Nouns delivers the kind of fast, punchy, punk-influenced, 80’s alt/pop associated with artists like Elvis Costello, Squeeze, … Read more
Keith Kenny Lifetime Ago MoteliNtuRecords [2021] New Jersey indie recording artist Keith Kenny’s fifth album is a testament to the persistence and innovation required to thrive as a singer/songwriter in the digital age, made all the worse by the forced touring sabbatical required due to the pandemic. Kenny’s career as a band-of-one allowed him to … Read more