On Liz Kennedy’s Hike Up Your Socks, a tremendously unique musical style issues forth. There are hints of mid-1990s alternative that play in the background alongside early 1980s rock. With a dominant set of vocals playing out over the track, fans will be able to follow the free-form storytelling mode of Kennedy. We really hear a mash-up of Karen Carpenter and Warren Zevon from Kennedy here. The musicianship of Hike…
During Love You To Death, Nya is able to make an intense effort that is part Halsey, part AWOLNATION. Imagine a set of vocals that are able to be touching and sweet while conveying some heavy emotion, linked inexorably to a fulfilling instrumentation. The collection of these two elements makes for a track that will appease individuals looking for new pop music just as it will those fans that want…
On Wrong, Luh Kel is able to express some tremendous emotions in the course of two minutes. The track is R&B-tinged in the vein of Trey Songz, Chris Brown and Sean Kingston. Listeners will be struck at the sheer range that Luh Kel is able to hit during Wrong. The backing instrumentation is fun as well; the punctual and perfect percussion is seconded through a piano line that will bring…
What A B01 does during Copper Nebulas is fantastic. There are nods here to synth-pop, vaporwave, and new wave all presented in the course of 2:30. A deep, industrial-tinged sound ties things together with a nice bow. Vocal hints present themselves at points, but are not trying to establish a narrative – these samples add a further complexity to an already dense composition. Listeners will need to strap their headphones…
Goodnight Ramona is a delightfully bouncy track that ties together Social Distortion and Elvis Costello. With vocals that are as much indie as they are Descendents-era punk, Greg Antista is able to make the song resound loudly for a considerable swath of listeners. Punchy guitars walk the edge between the Minutemen and early Goo Goo Dolls, while the drum fills present in Goodnight Ramona have to be heard to be…
Shellz is able to come forth with a rapid-fire rap flow with her latest single SLIDE. It’s nothing less than amazing that she can craft a cogent narrative while making a cut that will easily garner radio and rotartion airplay. In an era where there are a number of distinct female rappers, it’s doubly impressive that Shellz can carve out her own niche with this single. With a backing beat…
The deliberate guitar line that opens up Little Blue, the newest single from Jane N’ The Jungle, will tattoo itself deeply into the minds and hearts and listeners. It provides the perfect counterpoint for the intense, insistent set of vocals laid down here by Jane. This hard rock track links together acts as diverse as Fear Factory, Queensryche, and Insomniac-era Green Day into a furious tornado of guitars, drums, and…
On So Far No Luck, Earthquake Lights are able to blend together late-1990s alternative with jazz. The touching effort has the vocals pull double duty here, telling a story and adding mightily to the overall harmonies achieved by the guitars, bass, and piano. The production is solid enough that listeners will be able to enjoy each constituent effort just as easily as digging the entirety of the composition. Silence is…
Canadian artist Lucette has surrounded herself with some of the most talented names in modern Americana and country music – working with Dave Cobb on her 2014 debut and grabbing Sturgill Simpson to producer her latest record – but to call her music Americana or country would be a gross misstatement. Yes, there are hints of both here and there spread across Deluxe Hotel Room, but there’s also more liberal…
PRIMARY URL: https://www.safeashouses.ca/ With a gentle melody to lead the way, Safe as Houses’ tender strings forge a wicked little hook for us to cling to at the onset of their new single “Lucky Lucky,” from the album of the same name. The drums soon join them, texturizing the groove with a jazzy sway that lends its experimentalism to the otherwise black and white structure of the verses. A silky…
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/whitebeardmusic1 Whitebeard calls his new record a “Nashipeg” album, but to be frank, I hear little of either scene that the term is referencing in its leadoff single “Paris,” which could be described as a confusing hybrid of country, pop and roots rock at best if we were to examine it from a mainstream perspective. However, if we look at this song from an experimental angle, the critical perception…
One of the reasons why more and more pop fans are turning to the indie side of the dial in 2019 is that the mainstream, by and large, has lacked the heart and emotional investment that underground artists like Jon Dowling put into their work every time that they get into the studio to make new music. Dowling himself turns over one of the most erudite compositions to debut in…
With his skin tight black jeans, leather biker jacket and Little Lord Fauntleroy jet black hairstyle, Brad Marino comes off one of the long lost Ramones on the cover of Extra Credit, his debut solo record. And the look is a pretty apt, as his songs can clearly match the Ramones in terms of catchy earworms. But unlike the boys from Queens, Marino digs much deeper into the crates for…
The tautness of the guitars and drum fills that begin Intoxicated Rage’s new single Battlefield is truly a sight to behold (or behear). The deliberate pacing of the single’s first minute will get listeners all riled up, while the vocals kick in with a blend of Godsmack, System of a Down, Metallica, and Disturbed. A deep, dark abyss of sludgy metal awaits fans. The number of distinct arrangements that make…
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.…
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…