URL: https://www.josepheidmusic.com/ Singer/songwriter Joseph Eid returns this summer with a buoyant pop jam in the form of his new music video and single “Listening to Madonna,” a track that sees him embracing the lighter side of melodicism with a vitality that is all too rare these days. Eid attacks the verses aggressively, but the harmonies that he churns out beside his glistening guitar are anything but assaultive in tone. “Listening…
It seems pretty appt that one-time BR5-49 member Chuck Mead would head to the iconic Sam Phillips Recording Studios in Memphis to make his latest as few in the Americana world have come across as easily an instant classic as Mead. Even though the band first came out in the ‘90s they had an instant timelessness to their music that you’d have been forgiven for assuming they’d cropped up in…
Sometimes it takes the subtleness of a folk song to really hammer home a point. On the lead off track (“This is Life”) to their self-titled new album, the Kansas City duo Barnaby Bright deftly cover the struggles war vets face after coming home. The track leads off with sound clips from George W. Bush and Trump saber rattling, a sound collage that wouldn’t sound unusual as the intro to…
“The disciples were aboard a boat / Jesus slept alone…” croons LaTresa whilst her band the Signal dispatches a gorgeous bluegrass groove that is rich with a rare breed of American vitality in “Sea of Galilee.” This cornerstone track of their new album The Blood and the River is light and airy in its rhythmic construction, but its words deliver a walloping weightiness that will affect anyone with an ear…
Holy Beach’s opening salvo “Ships Off The Coast” signals their first full length album All That Matters Is This Matter isn’t playing around. There’s some vivid imagery in the lyrics and vocalist/songwriter John Lally gets everything he can out of the writing thanks to his lung power and dramatic phrasing alike. Though the song and album as a whole are definitely metal, but listeners will note there is little lead…
Emerging from the shadows like a thief in the night, the somber string reverberations of “Edge City” invite us into a nearly ten minute-long closing epic that brings audiences full circle to where we first began in Oliver Ray’s Out Passed Nowhere, the debut album from the acclaimed singer/songwriter due out this June everywhere that independent music is sold and streamed. In our first look at his solo work, Ray…
Wretched Cabaret is a smart inclusion for the opening spot of Legion of Saints’ new EP, Killing The Silence. The assertive backing instrumentation and charismatic lead vocals invite fans in, while the thoughtful arrangement will interested even the most jaded music aficionado. Can’t Make You Fall in Love with Me is a high-energy track that adds a bit of heavy guitar edge to a mid-oughts Billie Joe Armstrong style of…
Distant flickering lights give way to black and white images of a small, intimate club and the band that has taken its stage tonight. The bass marches forward with a hesitant hustle, the guitar follows suit in a harmonious groove. The rhythm that the drums are conjuring up frames a passionate vocal from the one and only Francine Honey, who enters the spotlight and immediately commands the attention of everyone…
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/richardlynchbnd?lang=en Gently, with a pendulous groove underpinning its immaculate melody, a guitar paints us a picture of a black and white world with kaleidoscopic colors in “Back in 1953,” one of the more patient ballads to behold in Richard Lynch’s Think I’ll Carry It On. It isn’t the lone example of the strings telling us a story of their own in this most recent release from the critically-acclaimed country…
Christopher Hill & The Stardust Crush are a band out of Seattle, Washington, with a unique take on the current state of United States politics. Rather than taking the traditional dystopian approach – this four-piece rock band combines folk, disjointed rhythms and harmonies to create a sometimes wistful, but trippy collection of songs in their seven-track album, MAABA (Making America All Better Again). ᐧ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/thestardustcrush/ Out of the gate…
On Fervent Devise, Plants are able to call back to the rock of the 1960s and 1970s. Infectious guitar lines, charismatic vocals, and shuffling drums laid down by Alex unite to make something tremendously cohesive. With just a hint of 1990s alternative included in the mix, Plants are able to make an effort wholly unique while reverent of influences preceding the act. With the swagger of 1970s-Steven Tyler or Emotional…
Does the world really need another psychobilly supergroup? Turns out, that yeah, we kind of do. The Bats, a trio made up of members from Nekromantix, The Brains, Rezurez and Stellar Corpses, churn through 20 (20!) songs on their debut, Bat Music For Bat People and the music manages to be catchy enough that hardly a moment drags here. Yes, they dig up the old genre tropes (“Graveyard Girl,” “Cemetery Man,”), but with a…
A debut single can be the hardest track that an artist will ever record, but Dane Maxwell makes it look all too easy in his rookie release, the anti-bullying ballad “Where I’m Seen.” Maxwell steps up to the microphone with an unrehearsed confidence that could become a signature element in his sound if he learns to harness all of its multilayered potential. His words dance against the silky string section…
Over the course of the past four decades, Wreckless Eric has evolved from being that quirky Stiff Records signing – who managed to brilliantly bridge the distance between labelmates The Damned and Elvis Costello, with his punk rock ethos slathered in strong poppy hooks – to being a reliably poignant songwriter turning in one album after the next filled with smartly written-stories steeped in nostalgia and keen observations. Transience is…
Like a gentle breeze rustling the branches of an old willow tree, “The Long Way Home” has a way of dispelling all of the tension that would normally sully a perfect summer afternoon, and as I recently discovered, it isn’t the only song capable of such mysticism in W.C. Beck’s third album, First Flight, a deceptively titled record that sees its composer executing one flawless ascent into the sonic heavens…
Remember to Forget is a track that ties together the jam-band sound of Umphrey’s McGee and Gov’t Mule with a more contemplative, Collective Souls meets Wallflowers sort of sounds. The instrumentation that brings fans into Find Your Way stands up to repeat plays, while the passion and range of Chris’s vocals will keep fans firmly focused into the music that is to follow on the band’s latest, Find Your Way.…
On Nah, Zāna is able to blend equal parts Jennifer Lopez and Shakira into a song of female self empowerment, all while blending in an international flair to pop music. The track is able to establish a chiaroscuro of loud / quiet in a fashion to successfully capture the attention of listeners. The backing beat is on-point, providing a formidable canvas upon which Zāna is able to add her own…
On Worry, Val Emmich is able to insert some of the most intense and touching emotional content we’ve ever heard. The taut instrumentation that begins to rise up as Emmich moves towards the chorus is similarly strong. There are just so many layers at which listeners can enjoy the track. We like how the vocals / instrumentation insistently hurtle towards chaos before Worry pivots to an entirely different sound. Emmich…
On her new single Take It Back, Lila Drew is able to blend in equal amounts of pop, R&B and EDM into a sultry, intense track that will bury itself deep into the minds and hearts of listeners. Of particular note during this song has to be the thoughtful, trap / funk / dance backing instrumentation that provides highlighting to Lila’s vocals. Another high-water mark for this cut has to…
Immediately bringing the bouncy sound of The Pretenders and The Tide Is High-era Blondie, Jeremie Albino is able to whip in his own unique flair. Charismatic vocals do more than just tell a story; they are able to add considerably to the overall; harmony of the composition. With a production that allows each element to shine alone or as a contributing part to a greater whole, Hard Time is one…