The Head And The HeartEvery Shade Of BlueReprise/Warner Records [2022] The band, The Head and the Heart, arrived along with a new class of indie folk/rock acts in the early 2010’s that included The Lumineers and Of Monsters and Men, as the new popularity of Mumford & Sons suggested a hunger for a more earthy, … Read more
Ryan AdamsChrisPAX-AM [2022] Ryan Adams is playing for redemption on his 19th studio album, Chris, which he’s described as the third part of a trilogy that began with his 2020 release, Wednesday. Of course, Adams has been persona non grata since the NYTimes in February of 2019, where his ex-wife Mandy Moore and several other … Read more
Curse of LonoPeople In CarsSubmarine Cat Music [2022] The path to wrapping your head around the London band Curse of Lono and its third album, People In Cars, is nothing if not an invitation to cultural literacy. The band’s name comes from an obscure Hunter S. Thompson book based on his adventures in Hawaii, while … Read more
Kurt Vile(watch my moves)Verve Records [2022] (watch my moves), the ninth studio album from Kurt Vile if you include his collaboration with Courtney Barnett on 2017’s Lotta Sea Lice, finds the Philadelphia-based folk/rock singer/songwriter guitarist in now familiar territory. A traditionally laid-back creator of jangly guitar rock, Vile used some of the pandemic shutdown to … Read more
Christian Lee HutsonQuittersANTI- [2022] In the songs from his ANTI-Records debut, 2020’s Beginners, modern folk/rock singer/songwriter Christian Lee Hutson wrote songs that looked back to one’s formative years and experiences, the memories and disappointments that shape the person you become. In his follow-up, Hutson seeks to make sense of the events that followed, sorting one’s … Read more
WeezerSZNZ: SpringCrush Music/Atlantic Records [2022] Even if you haven’t loved every step on the journey with Weezer, you have to be impressed by composer/bandleader Rivers Cuomo’s work ethic and high-quality output. Frankly, I was less than enamored with the mega-buzz that accompanied the band’s cover of “Africa” by Toto than say, the original the first … Read more
Jack WhiteFear Of The DawnThird Man Records [2022] There’s a moment in the 2008 guitar rock doc “It Might Get Loud,” featuring Jack White, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, and U2’s The Edge, when Page starts to play his rock hit classic “Whole Lotta Love,” and the other two’s cool demeanor cracks as fan boy … Read more
CalexicoEl MiradorANTI- [2022] When Calexico’s primary members and writing team, Joey Burns and John Convertino convened in Tucson at the home studio of their keyboard player Sergio Mendoza last summer it may have seemed unlikely that the rock press would be discussing an 18 year old album track off their Feast of Wire album by … Read more
ShayleeShort-Sighted SecurityKill Rock Stars [2022] Performing as Shaylee, Portland, Ore. singer songwriter Elle Archer has delivered a true ‘Do-it-yourself’ tribute to the music that inspired her to make music in the first place, turn of the century works by alternative rock bands like Flaming Lips, Wilco, and Radiohead. Of course, many of the alt/rock staples … Read more
Yumi ZoumaPresent TensePolyvinyl Records [2022] While Yumi Zouma is most comfortable in gentle confines of the midtempo electronic tones of classic Euro-pop sounds, the band which got its start in Christchurch, New Zealand, leans into the energy of live drums and a wider spectrum of organic, orchestrated sounds on their fourth full-length album, Present Tense. … Read more
Red Hot Chili PeppersUnlimited LoveWarner Records [2022] Nobody who caught the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the mid-80’s imagined that the LA funky punk boys that rapped most of their best songs were going to last for the long-haul. Dancing around the stage in nothing but their socks they were built for speed, not for … Read more
Ceramic AnimalSweet UnknownEasy Eye Sound [2022] Ceramic Animal, the 5-piece rock & pop band out of Doylestown, PA, had already released three independently produced albums before signing with Black Key’s Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound. So they arrive on Sweet Unknown with a distinct sound and a highly developed sense of band identity that’s deeply … Read more
MidlakeFor The Sake Of Bethel WoodsATO Records [2022] Midlake, a band a UK reviewer described succinctly as “the Texan masters of folk-proggy-Americana, return nine years after their last album, Antiphon, which recorded six months after the departure of their previous frontman and singer/songwriter, Tim Smith. And if early listens of For the Sake of Bethel … Read more
The Weather StationHow Is It That I Should Look At The StarsFat Possum Records [2022] The Weather Station’s 2021 release, Ignorance, won widespread critical acclaim with its more expansive and percussive jazz orchestrations, and Tamara Lindeman’s heady mix of smart song-craft and lyrical reflections on the challenges of modern life, the planetary crisis, and the … Read more
Hurray For The Riff RaffLife On EarthNonesuch Records [2022] While this is Hurray for the Riff Raff’s is its debut on the Nonesuch label, it’s the 7th studio album from singer/songwriter Alynda Segarra, who currently dwells in New Orleans and also fronted the “hobo band” Dead Man Street Orchestra. My first encounter Hurray was an … Read more
Sonic YouthIn/Out/InThree Lobed Recordings [2022] Okay, my favorite time seeing Sonic Youth they were on tour opening for Neil Young & Crazy Horse in 1991, with Social Distortion opening the show. This was before Nirvana and Pearl Jam, so the closest thing to “grunge” on mainstream rock radio was NY&CH; but still, I thought it … Read more
Sarah Shook & The Disarmers NightroamerThirty Tigers [2022] North Carolina’s Sarah Shook & The Disarmers return with their third album, actually recorded just prior to the pandemic, which along with the sale of Bloodshot Records, delayed the release. Out now, in time to hit the road where the band has won their strongest notices, Shook … Read more
Dashboard ConfessionalAll The Truth That I Can TellHidden Note Records/AWAL [2022] Harlan Howard’s oft repeated description of country music as “three chords and the truth,” has been picked up by artists across the musical spectrum, from U2 and Van Morrison to punk bands who weren’t convinced that third chord was entirely necessary. In “Pain Free … Read more
Band Of HorsesThings Are GreatBMG [2022] We all know, Things Are Great is what you say, when you don’t want to tell people that you’re really going through a challenging time. It’s the more grandiose version of “I’m fine.” And like many of the songs here by Ben Bridwell and his Band of Horses, the … Read more
Joan OsborneRadio WavesWomanly Hips [2022] Although Joan Osborne has kept recording solo albums, touring, and collaborating with the likes of the Funk Brothers, Phil Lesh and other members of The Dead, she’s no doubt best remembered for her biggest hit, the quirky folk pop of “One of Us” from her debut album, Relish in 1995. … Read more
Midnight OilResistSony Music [2022] The standing joke among those of us old enough to remember is that the opening months of 2022 feel a lot like the 80’s, with new music from Elvis Costello, Tears for Fears, and now Australia’s gift to the alternative rock world, Midnight Oil. When the band returned after a long … Read more
Tears For FearsThe Tipping PointConcord Records [2022] For all the bright, dance floor potency of Tears for Fears’ 1985 smash hits “Shout” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” and the Beatlesque pop psychedelia of their 1989 follow-up, The Seeds of Love, the British duo do tend to come from a pretty dour place. It … Read more
Johnny MarrFever Dreams Pt. 1-4BMG [2022] While it’s only natural to look for echoes of The Smith’s in Johnny Marr’s solo work, he was only with that band for 6, albeit, very productive years, and in the decade that followed he cut a wide musical swatch playing in bands as diverse as Modest Mouse, The … Read more
Frank TurnerFTHCXtra Mile Recordings [2022] Frank Turner has always been a punk rocker at heart, even his “folk” albums are roiling with punk attitude and energy, or as he describes “punk adjacent.” Of course, Turner only started working as a solo act after the break-up of the hardcore punk band Million Dead, naming his first … Read more
North Mississippi AllstarsSet SailNew West Records [2022] For brothers Luther Dickinson, who played with the Black Crowes from 2007 – ’11, and Cody Dickinson, the core of the North Mississippi Allstars, making music is best when it’s a family affair. Speaking of themselves as second generation musicians, they are the sons of Memphis musician and … Read more