Ridgefield Park, New Jersey native (and current Nashville resident) Bobby Messano steps up to the front of the line with his newest release on Marty Scott’s JEM Recordings, Welcome To…
Album Reviews
This seems to be my week – another band with that roots-rock/American sound that I love. Lines West are a fairly new collective, hailing from Bridgeport, Connecticut – and this…
Australian-born, Los Angeles-residing Mia Dyson is a new name for me; a singer-songwriter who upon, first listen, sings like Bonnie Raitt and/or Stevie Nicks being backed by Elvis Costello’s…
I Meant It To Be Sweet is the sophomore release from Tommy Wallach, a Brooklyn-based published author-turned-singer-songwriter. His first completed novel to be published, We All Looked Up, will be…
There’s a set of lyrics on the new Sarah Jaffe record, out with much anticipation next month, that sums up the whole over-produced and uneven affair. ”Most people tell you…
Salvation is the first new album in four years (second full-length) from Brooklyn-based Wakey! Wakey! Led by lead singer Michael Grubbs (once a regular on CW Networks’ “One Tree Hill”),…
Here’s why pop’s premiere parodist has recorded the last album we’ll ever need.
With a name that knowingly evokes the Beatles and the pinnacle of pop songwriting, The Paul & John set expectations sky-high for their debut album. In Inner Sunset, the fruit of a…
Major life changes can yield a host of outcomes, depending on the person. Some might hideaway, others may celebrate. Still others, like Eric Frisch, put their feelings and observations to…
This self-proclaimed “Music Ninja” from Los Angeles delivers an interesting set of 7 songs with this, her eleventh release in two years (!). Strikingly, it’s her use of machinery and…
Let’s face it, ”Weird Al” Yankovic albums are impervious to typical reviews — you either appreciate his song and style parodies, or there’s something wrong with you. (”He who is…
Birmingham, Alabama’s Dead Fingers return with their sophomoric effort, Big Black Dog. The husband and wife duo of Kate and Taylor Hollingsworth are back after two years since their debut…
Acme Power Transmission is the first solo release from Calla’s frontman Aurelio Valle; done over a several year period, this effort is one of transition and shifting musical moods and…
Full disclosure: I am not writing about Keith Alan Mitchell because he hails from my native Ohio, even though I love giving a fellow Ohioan some ink. In fact, Mitchell…
Relics is the fourth release from nouveau synth-pop trip Faded Paper Figures, who have been doing their thing on record since 2008, when they released their debut album. Of equal…
Pleasing rock-pop is how I would describe this debut album from Los Angeles’ Dream Alive. Before The Dawn has structure, good production, melodies, harmonies and even if it is a…
This is not a typical album review; this is special. Grace Griffith is a Washington D.C.-based singer; a performer in the folk tradition – specifically Irish folk – and vocal…
It makes me feel good to know that there is this whole new crop of musicians from the mid-West releasing quality music. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing many of…
I said that if the “taster” single, “Everybody Sometimes” was an indication of how this album would go, then Glenn Tilbrook’s Happy Ending was bound to be as much of…
Falimy, the 9th album from Portland, Oregon’s Rachel Taylor Brown is awash in melody, almost a study in classic mid-’60’s songwriting: structural shifts, key changes, orchestration and most of all,…
Matt Townsend is something of a conundrum. On one hand, his lyrics indicate a world-weary, vulnerable old-timer. His voice projects across the generations, so much so that any listener would…
There have been, in recent memory, a few albums that have been late bloomers – recorded by bands that gave birth to other bands who went on to great successes. …
Paul Weller is another of those artists where the line between “critic” and “fan” is easily/completely blurred. You have to understand, I’ve been a student of Weller’s since I first…
TRNZPRNT (pronounced as “transparent”) are New York/New Jersey area hard rock veterans of several bands, now having joined together to form this heavy-ish rock unit in the vein of…
A five piece band from Harlow, Essex in the U.K., Morning Parade unleash their second album, Pure Adulterated Joy, with an eye on invading the American consciousness. Having previously visited…
I have to admit, I wasn’t keen on Mould’s last album, 2012’s Silver Age; at the time, I felt it was far too much of him ripping off Bob Mould…
LOVE IT. Grooves, warmth, melody, seductive vocals – this second album from Brooklyn’s Flutronix, the flute-wielding duo of Nathalie Joachim and Allison Loggins-Hull is a home run. Produced by Flutronix…
For so many, R.E.M. was one of the most important bands to come along since The Beatles; they helped redefine and reshape the musical landscape, starting in the early ’80’s…
Dramatic, almost theatrical and yet musically broad with a tremendous production – this is Diamonds, the debut full-length album from Johnnyswim, a husband-and-wife duo. The vocals of Amanda Sudano-Ramirez range…
What do you get when you combine an up-and-coming Brazilian singer/songwriter with the mastermind producer behind Blonde on Blonde and The Sound of Silence? An album that represents the best…