Posts by Tim O'Neill

Friday evening on June 28th was a quintessentially beautiful summer night in the city and a nearly ideal setting for gig number five of the Drive By Truckers’ six night engagement at Brooklyn Bowl in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The deep Bowie and Pink Floyd cuts emanating from the house speakers pre-show would be […]

[rating=9.00] Philadelphia is a blue collar factory town whose inhabitants have a longstanding reputation for being a tough, hard-nosed sorta folk. So it should come as no surprise to learn the boys of Low Cut Connie call Philly home. Their brand of straightforward American rock and roll embodies the gritty, DIY ethos of the city, […]

At twenty-eight years old Jessica Lea Mayfield, is already a seasoned music biz veteran who has undergone a wealth of creative and artistic growth throughout her career. Getting started at the tender age of eight with family bluegrass outfit One Way Rider, the native Ohioan would record her first solo EP as a teenager before […]

Cross the afrofuturistic big band jazz of the Sun Ra Arkestra with the deep grooves and party mentality of Parliament Funkadelic and you get Golden Dawn Arkestra. Under the guidance of bandleader Topaz McGarrigle, known in Golden Dawn world as Zapot Mgwana, (organ, vocals, tenor sax), the avant-garde afrofunk troupe has assembled a cultish following […]

[rating=6.00] There’s no denying the 1990s were an especially great decade for guitar-centric rock music. So great, in fact, that many of today’s young, up and coming rockers are reverting back to these not so distant golden years as a source of inspiration. Windang, Australia’s Hockey Dad is one of these bands. Zack Stephenson (guitar/vocals) […]

If anyone knows how to throw a party, it’s DJ Jonathan Toubin. For over a decade the master of mixers has been on a crusade across the U.S. and around the globe with the sole intent of getting feet slippin’ and backbones dippin’ to his curated selections of classic soul and R+B 45’s. The latest […]

[rating=8.00] New York City’s music scene can be competitive to say the least. Here it seems good bands are a dime a dozen, which makes it tough even for exceptional acts to get the recognition and exposure they rightfully deserve. That being said, don’t fret if you haven’t heard up and coming indie rockers QTY […]

[rating=9.00] Grab a thirty rack of Pabst, a liter of cheap whisky, and call up the boys because “New York City’s favorite hard-workin’ rock n’ roll band” Dirty Fences is back and ready to party down. Goodbye Love, the group’s third studio album and follow-up to 2015’s Full Tramp finds the Brooklyn-based rabble rousers kicking […]

[rating=8.00] Everyone just chill out. After a thirteen-year recording hiatus indie rock guitar slingers Luna are back with their first offering of new material since 2004’s Rendezvous. Available for purchase this past Friday via Double Feature records, the full-length LP of covers – A Sentimental Education – and its accompanying EP of original instrumentals – A […]

[rating=6.00] Anyone lucky enough to bear witness to the beautiful, booze-fueled carnage that is a Waco Brothers concert can attest to frontman Jon Langford’s charismatic and ever unpredictable stage presence. Aside from giving notoriously uninhibited live performances, “bad luck Jonathan” is also an accomplished visual artist (his work appearing everywhere from the Country Music Hall […]

As the intoxicating scent of smoked meats wafted through the dining hall of NYC’s Hill Country Barbecue Market this past Friday evening and the roomful of hungry, unsuspecting patrons savored ribs and brisket, a separate crowd was forming in the basement bar just below their feet, this one craving a taste of extra greasy tunes […]

Music nerds and vinyl junkies from the greater NYC area convened in Brooklyn this past Tuesday for another installment of DJ Jonathan Toubin’s NY Night Train events and a rare East Coast appearance from OG Southern soul-man Don Bryant and his fabulous backing band the Bo-Keys. Working as staff songwriter for Hi Records out of […]

[rating=8.00] New Haven, Connecticut’s prodigal son, Mark Mulcahy, is a true artist. The front man and songwriter for college-rock pioneers Miracle Legion and Polaris (the latter best known as the band from the opening credits of nineties Nickelodeon show “The Adventures of Pete and Pete”) has compiled an impressive catalog of work including six post-Polaris/Miracle Legion […]

By the end of the eighties, New Haven, Connecticut’s Miracle Legion had assembled a cult-like fan base with the rise of independent college radio stations and alternative rock bands like The Replacements and Sonic Youth. From 1984 to 1997 the group would release a handful of albums and a number of EP’s, earning praise as seminal […]

[rating=8.00] Disenchanted rock n’ rollers desperately craving a reaffirmation of faith in contemporary music needn’t look any further than the Blackfoot Gypsies newest release from Plowboy Records, To The Top. Cram-jammed with the Gypsies’ signature amalgamation of raucous, British invasion blues, classic Americana rock, and Nashville swagger – all played with the reckless abandonment of […]

Looking out from the balcony of New York City’s Bowery Ballroom this past Wednesday evening, one couldn’t help but notice the constant stream of long gray and white hair below as the nearly capacity crowd of old school rockers, ex-hippies, and rad dads filed in for three hours of blue collar rock n’ roll from […]

[rating=7.00] Music lovers are likely more familiar with John Andrews’ backing work on drums and keys in the rhythm section of bands like Woods or Widowspeak than they are with his solo recordings under the title John Andrews and the Yawns. That may soon change, however, as the multi-instrumentalist has proven himself a more than […]

As NPR’s Bob Boilen pointed out, you really can’t talk about The Orwells without using the word “young”. Having generated a buzz surrounding their debut release, Remember When (2012), the baby faced teens made the collective decision to finish high school early and leave their homes in the suburbs of Chicago, hitting the road in […]

A New Orleans transplant by way of Michigan, Luke Winslow-King is a classically trained guitarist with a rich, bittersweet voice and a healthy admiration for the music of Woody Guthrie and Robert Johnson. This past Thursday, with the release date of his latest LP on Bloodshot Records, I’m Glad Trouble Don’t Last Always, just a week […]

[rating=8.00] Childheads worldwide can rejoice. Everyone’s favorite stoned out Southern rockers, Natural Child, are back with a fresh batch of blissful, couch-locking grooves. Okey Dokey, the band’s fourth LP, finds the foursome from Nashville picking up where they left off with 2014’s Dancin’ With Wolves in terms of laid-back atmosphere and stylings while sounding more […]