Posts by John Moore

In the early ‘80s through the late ‘90s, the British label Creation Records helped usher in a slew of new music genres thanks to their signings – from shoegaze (My Bloody Valentine, Jesus And Mary Chain, Ride) to Brit Pop (Oasis, Super Furry Animals) and just about every rock subgenre in between. One of their […]

Mike Campbell might just be the most humble musician in rock music. As guitarist for Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, he has co-written some of the most iconic American rock songs of his generation (“American Girl,” “Running Down A Dream,” “Refugee,” “Here Comes My Girl”). He served in one of Bob Dylan’s backing bands, he […]

With Skin, his most intimate album yet, Nashville-based Sean McConnell mines his own demons, struggles, and insecurities for material. The result is sometimes dour, often emotional, but always genuine, as he deftly blends soul-baring lyrics with a moody but beautiful folk-rock soundtrack. Along with his own career as a musician, McConnell has made a name […]

The Devil Makes Three has never been accused of making light, vapid music. Across seven albums, the Santa Cruz-based trio has melded Blues, folk, Americana, and even influences of punk with often deeply personal, occasionally dark lyrics for a deeply satisfying gothic folk sound. Like Johnny Cash fronting The Cramps, the band has cleaved out […]

Oh! The Ocean, the sixth LP by The Wombats, was inspired by a shitty morning, a brilliant beach view and an almost drug-like spiritual awakening.  “There was this revelation that I had been living a life caught up in my own head, or in some kind of racing helmet or with blinkers on,” said frontman/guitarist […]

Two decades into their run, Seattle-based Americana band Massy Ferguson can’t be accused of writing the same album over and over again. On You Can’t Tell Me I’m Not What I Used To Be, their seventh record, the band that has built a loyal fan base around their ability to deftly walk that line between […]

The members of Horsebath may all be born and bred Canadians, but their record collection is clearly crammed with musicians well south of the border. Their 10-song debut, Another Farewell, is slathered in Cosmic Country, Tex Mex and Americana, bringing to mind everyone from Gram Parsons to Doug Sahm. But they also manage to sneak […]

With six albums out in the span of just over a decade, Liverpool’s post-New Wave acolytes Circa Waves are clearly on a prolific streak. Their last effort, 2023’s Never Going Under, was still finding new fans across the globe as they prepped to release Death & Love Pt. 1. Part of the reason for the […]

Seven years after their last record, The Davenports – a revolving line-up band anchored by Scott Klass – is finally back with new music, having self-recorded the latest batch of songs in Klass’s own house. The result is a mix between some of the brilliant lo-fi bedroom tapes of the 1990s and a more polished […]

Thanks to MTV’s Unplugged series, there was about a decade-long run where acoustic albums were en vogue. Arguably, Nirvana’s Unplugged is the crowning achievement of the movement (with Arrested Development’s entry also up there), but there were a slew of also-rans that, while interesting at times, were not as memorable (who knew 30 Seconds To Mars and […]

Coming four years after her last record, Forever is Lilly Hiatt’s strongest blend yet of alt-rock guitars with Americana sensibilities. You can hear it in the chugging chords on the album opener “Hidden Day,” a stellar driving song that foreshadows what’s to come. Forever is an ambitiously experimental record that’s still anchored by Hiatt’s strong, […]

The seemingly enigmatic marriage between country and punk was first consecrated in the late ‘70s and early’80s with bands like Rosie and the Screamers and The Gun Club, where more adventurous groups started picking elements from the seemingly disparate genres and finding common ground with each making for a hybrid that is still around today. […]

The title of Ethan Samuel Brown’s latest, Small Actors, is not simply a tossed-out album moniker. Rather, it serves as a blueprint of sorts for the characters that take the stage in various acts throughout the 10-track LP. From a narrator who questions their own patriotism in “Am I American?” to a cynical character walking […]

The LA punk scene in the early 80s was wild. You had bands like X, Black Flag, the Germs, and The Screamers all essentially helping to create their own regional flavor of punk, a genre that was just in its infancy. But the bands and fans were also open-minded enough to latch onto a group […]

Despite the power of nostalgic thinking and sudden discovery of Gen Z (likely courtesy of TikTok), not all music from the ‘80s was great. For every Cure and Pixies album that has rightfully gone on to achieve near-universal classic status, there was a Starship or Chris de Burgh record that reminded you cocaine was almost […]

It’s been more than a decade since Gavin Friday – former front man for The Virgin Prunes – last put out a solo album, but with Ecce Homo he picks up right where he left off 13 years ago.  Friday developed a template of rebelling against the expected and custom norms all the way back […]

Richmond, Virginia has a storied history of producing bands from a slew of disparate genres, from metal and punk groups like Lamb Of God, Municipal Waste, and Gwar to alt-country bands like Sparklehorse and Cracker. So, it’s not surprising that the scene would churn out an eclectic indie rock band like Illiterate Light. Comprised of […]

Johnny Delaware describes his latest record as a nomadic affair.  “I recorded it in studios in Mexico and the United States and in hotel rooms all across Latin America, and if you listen closely, you can hear bits and pieces of all those places and the people I met along the way. They’re all a […]

Randy Newman is so influential that his songwriting style has become shorthand for smart and searingly witty. The albums Good Old Boys and Sail Away are two of the best themed records to come out of the early 1970s. And in an entirely separate career, sometimes concurrently, Newman has scored 30 movies going back five […]

The Danish band Iceage is known for their inventive, if at times quirky, take on punk and post-punk. Across four solid albums, the band has offered a powerful take on the genre with layered instruments and a substantial sound. So, it’s a little unexpected to hear how intimate the songs are on singer/lyricist Elias Rønnenfelt’s […]