Shawn Donohue, Author at Glide Magazine

Archie Powell & The Exports: Great Ideas in Action

Shawn Donohue May 21, 2012 No Comments

You may not have heard of Archie Powell & The Exports before, but this Chicago group has just put out one of the catchiest rock and roll albums of 2012 with their second release Great Ideas In Action. Building on an infectious run of upbeat drums and guitars that call to mind The Replacements and early Elvis Costello the band exudes in tales that flirt with the equal dangers of “Crazy Pills” and “Shooting Sprees”.

Torche: Harmonicraft

Shawn Donohue April 30, 2012 No Comments

Harmonicraft isn’t paint by numbers hard rock, but it also isn’t breathing life into arena rock at the moment.

North Mississippi Allstars: Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY 4/7/12

Shawn Donohue April 26, 2012 No Comments

The North Mississippi All-Stars seemed right at home during the second night of their two show stay at Brooklyn Bowl. While Williamsburg is a far cry from Hernando, the love of southern fried electric delta blues is universal, noted by the varying ages and races of the fans in attendance.

Galactic: Carnivale Electricos

Shawn Donohue April 17, 2012 No Comments

Carnivale Electricos straight through represents one of the group’s famous Lundi Day concerts, playing the jambalaya funk til sun up. Galactic are already ambassadors to the town, but now they add one more staple to their collection and in doing so show the rest of the world just how vital New Orleans is to the sound of life.

Herzog: Cartoon Violence

Shawn Donohue April 13, 2012 No Comments

Herzog are a new band (much like Surfer Blood) that swims in the same waters of late 90’s indie guitar rock made popular by Modest Mouse and Built To Spill. The guitars are layered and textured at times reaching arena ready levels while the grooves always seem incredibly bouncy. The lyrics are secondary and at times buried to deep but focus on heartbreak or distance without ever becoming bitter.

Alabama Shakes: Boys & Girls

Shawn Donohue April 10, 2012 No Comments

The emotional rock and roll comes back to close things as “Be Mine” and “On Your Way” both burn in the vein of a textured, rich Southern style. Boys & Girls is a song focused effort from Alabama Shakes, showing off their talent as writers excellently; those searching for blissful blues/soul/rock in 2012 need look no further.

Screaming Females: Ugly

Shawn Donohue April 4, 2012 No Comments

The New Brunswick, NJ punk/power trio Screaming Females have continually produced some of the most kick ass music in this country over the last few years, now they release their newest effort that keeps the bar high, Ugly. The disk has a lot in common with the band’s 2010 Castle Talk but also steers a bit darker, especially when it comes to the lyrics/vocal theatrics from front female, Marissa Paternoster.

Lee Ranaldo: Between The Times and Tides

Shawn Donohue March 29, 2012 No Comments

Playing with a dynamic group of musicians that includes Nels Cline, John Medeski, Alan Licht and SY drummer Steve Shelley (as well as others) has Lee Ranaldo focusing on song oriented offerings that are tight yet far from restrictive.

Craig Finn: Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY 3.8.12

Shawn Donohue March 14, 2012 No Comments

Craig Finn’s first solo tour made its stop in the singer/songwriter’s home town of Brooklyn on Thursday night, but with the troubadour having played multiple shows in the area, tonight’s attendance seemed sparse throughout the Music Hall.

Howlin Rain: The Russian Wilds

Shawn Donohue March 7, 2012 No Comments

On “Phantom In The Valley” lead singer/guitarist/song-writer Ethan Miller sings about “Dusty notes of music/at the far end of the world!” but you don’t need to travel all that way to find Howlin’ Rain’s inspiration. Just head into your parents basement and dust off the milk-crates that host your big brothers mid 70’s “classic” rock albums from a time gone by. This is a big meaty album, a return to arena rock pomp and excess; knowing that in advance will clue people into the pluses and minuses fairly early of Howlin’ Rain’s newest release The Russian Wilds.

Shawn Donohue

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