Zuffalo is able to blend together sixties rock, psychedelic, and modern jam bands in a fashion that will draw in a wide swath of listeners. The dynamic between the guitars and drums pushes each to a higher plateau, while the single’s charismatic vocals look to Dylan and the Dead for inspiration. The production is immaculate, allowing each element of the act to shine alone or sparkle as part of a…
A howling vocal harmony lays its sharp hooks into us as we descend into the grooving guitars of “Girl from Caroline,” the third track in a set of eleven that together form So Much Beyond Us, Brooks Forsyth’s new full-length studio album and official follow-up to 2016’s On the Lam and Lonesome. Forsyth turns in his most endearing collection of ballads and roots rockers yet in this LP, which is…
On Can’t Let You Go, Raff Pylon is able to make a track that links together R&B and pop music with a set of guitars that build off of Santana’s late-1990s output. With sweeping synths included at points, Can’t Let You Go is an effort that has enough to it to keep fans happy over multiple plays. Raff’s vocals are able to do more than tell a story – they…
On Tethered, Thoughts is able to exude charisma while crafting a funky, guitar and drum-led track. The track will require fans play the cut multiple times before hearing everything that has been placed within. The dynamic established between the male and female vocals, as well as the collected vocals and the backing instrumentation, makes for something deep, dense, and miles beyond what currently populates terrestrial radio. Thoughts are able to…
On I Am Zuck, Chapell is able to create an alluring track that will have listeners contemplating the lyrical content while grooving to the shuffling beat laid down here. An intense blend of drums, synths, and strings unite to make something that is not-quite goth, industrial, or alternative rock. Fans of Voltaire or Gogol Bordello will find something to appreciate here, as will fans of Greg Palast or Jello Biafra.…
Pouring with a hazy goldenrod coloration and a fair amount of whitish head, this Hazy Double IPA from Ecliptic and Firestone Walker is incredibly well-balanced. The beer is able to take up equal parts from traditional West Coast India Pale Ale and modern juicy IPA styles. This means there are solid notes of pine resin, tropical fruits, and wheat elements that gradually come into focus as one continues along with…
Light Up is a bouncy track that calls back to the late-oughts R&B / pop of performers like Akon and Sean Kingston. The ability of Demola to contribute mightily to both Light Up’s narrative content as well as the harmonies of the single is nothing less than amazing. With an assertive beat and a momentum that rises at all the right points, Light Up is one of those singles that…
URL: http://www.goldlightmusic.com/ Independent artists Gold Light and Snakemusk join forces to deliver a stunner of a debut album together in Shadows In The Shallows, which fuses emotional Americana with elements of raw garage rock, country swing and bittersweet folk music inside of nine decadently arranged tracks. Songs like the sensational lead single “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,” acoustic “Nobody’s Baby” and vocal-driven “Heart of Black” engage us with their…
Calm and collected, the vocals that begin The Brothers Union’s new single “Silhouettes” are the touchstone that guides one through the composition. Twinkling guitar work is the yin to the vocal yang; these elements are make to make something that will stick around long after the song ceases to play. Listeners will sing along with Silhouettes after the effort’s first spin. The Brothers Union are able to build off of…
On Comrade II, All This Huxley is able to create a touching piece of indie rock that marries contemplative instrumentation with charismatic vocals. The progression of their latest single (the lead-off for July’s new album) will keep listeners on the edges of their seats. The rising tempo that the band establishes through Comrade II opens up into something beautiful, with the backing guitars, bass, and drums feeding into a wholly…
Megg Farrell readily admits it’s a crooked line that brought her to the sound she has now. She grew up a kid in New York jamming to indie rock and Riot Grrrl bands like Sleater-Kinney. A little later, camping and rafting through the South turned her on to Bluegrass and introduced her to the finger-picking style. Back in the Northeast, she started a band playing venues up and down the…
It’s hard to believe that Change of Pace, Andy Frasco’s latest LP comes on the heels of a break up and a realization that his cocaine-fueled lifestyle may need a little adjustment. From the opening funk-drenched title track and throughout most of the other 10 songs here, Frasco and his band have the same party vibe that has quickly attracted audiences across the globe over the past few years. But…
Midnight Shine dispatch a respectable cover of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” in their latest single, and while it’s not that different from the original in terms of aesthetic and style, it’s still a gripping listen from an adept band of players. In their version of “Heart of Gold,” Midnight Shine incorporate elements of their own Cree culture into the song, including but not limited to translating verses in the…
It’s been nearly 20 years since the Italian four-piece Peawees turned in their fantastically succinct argument that stellar garage and punk rock doesn’t belong to the ‘60s and ‘70s; Dead End City was a near-perfect expression of frenetic joy, anger, optimism and cynicism all trojan horsed in a dozen tracks. Originally released in 2001 on a small indie label in the Netherlands, it was tragically overlooked by just about most…
Skipping like a stone across a pristine lake, a gentle percussion creates a sensuous environment for Labán to unleash his signature serenade in the all-new single “Para Ti,” from the upcoming album Todos Somos Dueños de Aquí. We swing to an affectionate beat while a guitar and bass join forces to paint a vivid picture for us with nothing more than their decadent melodies, and while the strings are as…
On Bottle It Up, Legion of Saints is able to create an intense instrumentation that immediately draws listeners in. With nuanced vocals providing considerable depth to this single, the act is able to make a bold step forward. With nods to Bloc Party and Maroon 5, Legion of Saints makes something that could just as easily work on rock radio rotation as well as the most jaded technical music fans.…
On Wires, Alejandra O’Leary is able to call back to the mid-1990s alternative sound of The Breeders and early Flaming Lips to make something interesting and eminently radio rotation-friendly. O’Leary’s vocals are able to simultaneously further the narrative of the track while working well with the guitars and drums. With just a hint of fuzz uniting these elements, Wires is able to keep listeners on the edges of their seats…
Mainstream Country music has gotten some bad press over the past few years because… well, it’s bad, sometimes dreadful. For the most part, it relies on clichés and unimaginative recycled themes and lyrics that appeal to the broadest, most unimaginative audiences out there. But then there’s those musicians that live in the shadows of Mainstream Country music – the authentic Americana bands, the Bluegrass groups that don’t give a shit…
URL: http://jeffreyhalford.com/ Americana gets a much-needed makeover in the all-new effort from Jeffrey Halford & the Healers, West Towards South. Recorded in San Francisco and Mill Valley, California, West Towards South features a bittersweet Californian catharsis that blankets the Heartland harmonies and balladic blues elegies and lends a supple surrealism to tracks like “The Ballad of Ambrose and Cyrus,” “A Town Called Slow,” “Sea of Cortez” and “Three-Quarter Moon.” Textures within the string…
Given today’s current sensitivities around, well, just about everything, it’s hard to image even a third of the movies profiled in Mike McPadden’s fantastically entertaining encyclopedia of teen comedies, Teen Movie Hell, ever being made. But for those who grew up in the ‘80s trying to catch a glimpse of nudity via scrambled cable movies on channels you didn’t subscribe to, or their slightly more watered down cinematic siblings on…