John McDonough’s songs are full of lessons learned from life, love, practicing psychotherapy, and a quarter-century of playing music in Austin, Texas. He makes his home in Chicago since 2020 and continues writing, recording, and performing with renewed vigor. The newfound vigor came ten years ago, in part, from McDonough’s decision to stop working as a practicing psychotherapist and, at long last, devote himself full-time to his art. He’s released…
Zen Juddhism (Jude Ωne Eight and collaborators) have released their new album, Return of the Juddha. The album begins with Love Will Save The Day, a fuzzy homage to the post-grunge of acts like Hole. Pammie’s vox here provide additional depth to a thoughtful instrumentation while ensuring that the resulting effort is hooky enough to garner play on college rock stations. Sing My Song has Jude Ωne Eight blend a…
“Flame Of Truth” is the new single from Chalice Collective. A beautiful, and almost spiral-like formation, Chalice Collective takes special care in making this track a spindle of light and magic. All the senses come alive, as does the old noggin’. This song gets you both thinking and grooving. Imagine being stuck inside a Light Bright (remember those!) with a whole motherboard of colors at your feet. “Flame Of Truth”…
The Roughhousers (Grey DeLisle and Eddie Clendening) have released a new song with their “Monkey Butt”. The track has Eddie laying down a set of vocals drawing inspiration from Roy Orbison, while the subject material captures the griminess of young children. There’s more than a fair share of tongue-in-cheek statements here that any parent will appreciate while being crafted in a fashion that will amuse the younger set. Coming forth…
AJ Smith’s “Better” is a resounding success as the track incorporates huge drums, insistent keys, and a set of vocals that will bury themselves deep into the minds of listeners. The subject material (concerning a previous lover) is something that anyone that has had to move on will be able to understand and appreciate. The dynamic sound of Better means that no two seconds of the song are the same;…
RM47’s “Strangers” has an emphatic beat that will get listeners out on the dance floor, while the dreamy vocals that play at the top of the track ensure that it has the legs to crossover onto pop rotation. Adding a second set of vocals to the mix provides a boost to Strangers’ momentum, allowing fans to ride out the song with as much momentum as they began it. There’s a fair…
Ananda Xenia Shakti has enjoyed a long musical career working with some of the finest performers emerging in the late 20th century. However, it sounds like she’s discovered her truest self by exploring Indian music with Love Power the Band. The five songs on the EP Love is Where You Are roar with passion, never for the sake of hearing itself roar alone, but announcing to the world what it believes and holds…
GuUs’s “Baron Saturday” is one eclectic sort of track. While at first glance it feels as if the vocals, percussion, and guitars are working toward cross-purposes, there ends up being a cohesive effort that has considerable humanity present in each interaction. With nods of bluegrass, Acadian, and traditional country and western (to say nothing about the fair helping of early R&B), GuUs has made his Baron Saturday into a musical…
The type of reggae that Hitpapa crafts on I’ll Be There is immaculate. The vocals are supremely self-sure while contributing to the overall harmonies established by the drums and clap tracks. Bits of synth lines weave their way through the track, while Emtee’s feature provides further variation to the song. There are a number of moving parts in I’ll Be There but smart production and the talent exhibited by the…
Veve C’s “BREEZE” is a strong, assertive rap track that benefits from a booming bass line and drums playing at the bottom of the track. Veve C’s bars here showcase considerable confidence in herself while having enough of a pop tinge that the song has a potential to cross over to mainstream radio. What I like most about BREEZE has to be that Veve C imprints the song with her…
Run Run Run is a sunny sort of track that works in the mold initially established by They Might Be Giants, Cake and Weezer. There’s a fair bit of college rock that Major Spark incorporates alongside the charismatic vocals. With hooks aplenty, the act is able to make one of the most honestly catchy tracks that we have heard so far this year. The music video is essential watching, as…
Neil Nathan’s “The Folly Of War” is an epic, progressive-tinged track that links together early Genesis, Queen, and just enough James Taylor to make the vocals soar. Strings are incorporated into The Folly of War to add a timeless air. The back and forth between instrumental and vocal-heavy sections provides further gravitas to the composition. The two elements are able to work together at points to weave a story about…
Sonic Rebel’s “This Vibe” (extended out by Tyler Slone) is one of those tracks that will set the mood for a night. The journey that they send fans on is nothing less than epic. Distinct sections, influences, and overall approaches taken are sufficiently different enough that one will have to play This Vibe on repeat to hear everything that has been placed within. With a driving bass beat and synths…
DICI’s “Left to Right” is a fun refreshing of the early-2000s style of Atlanta rap popularized by performers like Yung Joc and Gorilla Zoe with the lightest smattering of 50 Cent and Nelly. The confidence of DICI here is what sells the track here. With each bar, you can hear that the rapper absolutely believes in each statement he lays down. The song is able to accomplish everything that it…
Bruce Sudano’s rich and emotional track “Ode To Nightingale” will continue to provide new twists and turns even after multiple plays. The dynamic that is established here between Bruce’s voice, the robust bass line, and the twinkling of the percussion ensures that the song would hang nicely along the singer-songwriter efforts of the 1970s just as it would in modern indie-pop playlists. With each subsequent track, Sudano is able to…
The slow jam “Summer Breeze” might not have the same punch that a lot of its tracklist predecessors do in the new album Sampati from 148, but this just might be the main reason why it works so well as the closer for this debut LP from the acclaimed hip-hop duo. “Summer Breeze” brings us full circle from where we begin in the viral single “Topeka Vibe,” and while it doesn’t hit…
Most rock musicians who embrace the art of overdrive end up using distortion as something to hide behind. That isn’t the case with Vuola, and in his new record Alouv, he uses this crucial element of tonal augmentation to make his emotions even clearer to the audience. His skills are brought to the spotlight in tracks like “Vapaa Uljas Onnen Lapsi Aaamun” and “Omana Omala Ogana Odati Ojoda,” and at the…
Dici’s “Do What I Can” has a fun, laid-back sound that soars on its heartbeat-esque backing beat and keys that feel like an homage to all of that mid-oughts backpack rap. The heartfelt lyrics presented here by Dici are able to speak to anyone that has fallen in love. It is this tender take that imparts Do What I Can with an earnestness that far outpaces what other performers showcase…
Andrew Reed & The Liberation’s “Don’t Say Goodbye” immediately tattoos itself into the hearts of listeners. Whether it be on-point drums or sizzling guitar work, the band starts things off in an unparalleled way. With vocals that draw inspiration from Tom Petty, Don’t Say Goodbye is able to appease those fans of 1980s and 1990s rock as much as the song speaks to current music fans. With a production that…
The High Plains Drifters go back into the crates a bit with their latest single, “The One That Got Away”. The song draws from new wave music with expertly-sequenced synth lines and a thick, ropy bass line that fills the bottom of the track. The charismatic vocals that rest upon the top of the track are the bow that tie together these different effort. The bridge that The High Plains…