Lambchop ShowtunesMerge Records [2021] Lambchop is a loosely defined collaborative focused by the artistic vision and voice of Kurt Wagner, who has defined this latest project as “Showtunes for people who don’t like showtunes.” While we tend to think of showtunes as up-tempo, focused by catchy melodies that move along the narrative toward some happy … Read more
James All The Colours Of YouVirgin Music [2021] In 1993 when Manchester, England band James had a break-out single with “Laid,” no doubt as much for all of its talk of “passionate love,” and that “she only comes when she’s on top,” the band was on their fifth album and had previous British radio hits … 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
John Hiatt With The Jerry Douglas Band Leftover FeelingsNew West Records [2021] It’s hard with a songwriter like John Hiatt, who seems to wear his heart on his sleeve, to imagine that on his 24th album he’d still have Leftover Feelings. On songs like “I Stood Up,” which describes him coming to sobriety, or “Your … Read more
St. Vincent Daddy’s HomeLoma Vista Recordings [2021] One of the most intriguing aspects of the musical artistry of St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, is that as she adapts her musical style to match the artistic aim of each project, she evolves in the way she presents herself, adapting a character to fit the concept. On … Read more
The Black Keys Delta KreamEasy Eye Sound/Nonesuch Records [2021] Ten studio albums and two decades into their career, any fans of The Black Keys who’ve dug in past their string of rock hits, like “Lonely Boy,” “Fever,” and “Lo/Hi,” is well aware of the band’s interest in the Mississippi delta blues music of artists like … 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
Manchester Orchestra The Million Masks of GodLoma Vista Recordings [2021] The sixth album from Atlanta alt/rock quartet Manchester Orchestra feels like the culmination of their 15 years as recording artists, bringing together their early guitar rock inclinations with the orchestrated compositional depth that came later. 2017’s A Black Mile to the Surface embraced a cinematic, … 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
Todd Snider The Agnostic Church of Hope and WonderAimless Records [2021] Here in the pandemic that defined 2020 and this first half of ’21, while most of us have been working/schooling at home, binging TV series at an alarming rate and snacking endlessly to assuage the haunting sense of ennui, many of our favorite artists … Read more
Dinosaur Jr. Sweep It Into SpaceJagjaguwar [2021] In a case of being in the wrong place at the right time, alternative rock power trio Dinosaur Jr. had their best-selling, major label releases in the first half of the 90’s, which got them lumped in with the grunge bands of the Pacific Northwest like Nirvana and … 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
The Choir Deep CutsGalaxy21 Music [2021] Originally formed in the 80’s, The Choir’s long creative partnership between singer and guitarist Derri Daugherty and drummer and lyricist Steve Hindalong continues to reap rich musical rewards on the band’s 16th studio album. While no band thrives through multiple decades without some willingness to adapt to changing musical … Read more
Bill Mallonee & The Big Sky Ramblers A Clamoring Of GhostsSelf-Released [2021] Bill Mallonee knows all the words, and he’s not afraid to use them. After 10 years of slogging it out on road throughout the 90’s, as the singer/songwriter that came to define Athens, GA alternative rock band, Vigilantes of Love through a … Read more
Cheap Trick In Another WorldBMG [2021] When guitarist Rick Nielsen formed Cheap Trick in Rockford, IL back in 1973, it seems more than doubtful that he could have imagined that he be releasing the band’s 20th studio album 48 years later. For a band with such staying power, it’s a bit strange that their greatest … Read more
The Natvral TethersKanine Records [2021] As the leader of NYC indiepop band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Kip Berman & Co. leaned into noisy pop of My Bloody Valentine and the 80’s melodic hooks favored by bands like the Psychedelic Furs and Echo & the Bunnymen. When that band broke up in 2017, … Read more
Josh Caterer The Hideout SessionsPravda Records [2021] Back in October, Smoking Popes’ vocalist and main songwriter Josh Caterer put together a new band, with John San Juan (of the Hushdrops) and John Perrin (drummer with NRBQ), and played a live show in the empty venue of The Hideout in Chicago, sending their music out over … Read more
Ghost Of Vroom Ghost Of Vroom 1Mod y Vi Records [2021] The story goes something like this: after making 3 critically acclaimed albums in the 90’s with Soul Coughing, a NYC band that distinguished itself from that decades heavy grunge/rock dominance with what Mike Doughty calls his “quasi-rap thing” delivered over the band’s unique mix … Read more
Peter Case The Midnight BroadcastBandaloop Music [2021] Singer/songwriter Peter Case’s first brush with mainstream rock star level fame came when his band the Plimsoul’s appeared in the 1983 cult classic movie, “Valley Girl,” which featured Nicholas Cage. The band was featured playing “A Million Miles Away,” their near-hit, and a couple other live songs in … Read more
Too Much Joy Mistakes Were MadePeople Suck Music [2021] Along with the quick arrival of life saving vaccines, you can count the return to recording by the late 80’s/early 90’s power pop/punk rockers Too Much Joy as something good that came from our year of COVID-19 shut-down. The Scarsdale, NY natives achieved a modicum of … Read more
Jay Gonzalez Back To The HiveMiddlebrow Records [2021] Athens, GA musician Jay Gonzalez joined Drive-By Truckers in 2008, filling in for Spooner Oldham on keyboards, and eventually sharing lead guitar duties with Mike Cooley to compensate for the absence of third guitarist Jason Isbell. Left to his own devices on this second full-length solo album, … Read more