Album Reviews

The first new Social Distortion record in fifteen years almost never came to be, as midway through recording, Mike Ness was diagnosed with tonsillar cancer. After chemotherapy, his recovery prompted the completion of Born To Kill, an incredibly solid rock/punk album considering all the circumstances surrounding it.  Produced by Dave Sardy and featuring bandmates Jonny Wickersham – guitar, […]

For the past ten years, Josiah Leming has been releasing music under the moniker Josiah and the Bonnevilles, steadily sloughing off the mortal coils of the pristinely produced pop/rock that marked his early work following his appearance on the seventh season of American Idol. What he has bequeathed to himself and his listeners is a […]

There are very few pressures in life as intense as a debut album. Sure, art isn’t the end-all be-all of life, but when that life revolves around an artistic output, your first introduction into the recorded world could make or break any promise shown for an artist. This sentiment, though, has been explored in countless […]

Despite being labeled as such from the start of their career, Animal Collective have never been “pop,” at least in any conventional sense. The amorphous gathering of forward-thinking multi-hyphenates has done more to resist being boxed in than has, employing fantastical experimentation that results in a transportive, otherworldly cacophony of bliss and horror. Even as […]

On her latest effort, Villain Era, India Ramey digs deep into the past for influences and lands on an inspired mix of Wanda Jackson and Johnny Cash. To be fair, you’d be hard-pressed to find a cooler mix than the Queen of Rockabilly and the Man in Black for inspiration.  The album opener, “We Ride […]

Toadies’ eighth studio album continues the band’s throwback alt-rock sound and stays true to the raw, aggressive roots of their early work. The Charmer was one of the last albums produced by the late Steve Albini, with whom the band had always wanted to work. As is typical with Albini albums, The Charmer has a […]

It’s probably no accident that Weird Nightmare is releasing its sophomore album, Hoopla, on May 1st via Sub Pop. If ever there was a record primed and ready to inhabit the experiences of a carefree summer (ideally the one after your senior year of high school), it’s this one. Even if your summer is full […]

Recently, rock music has seen its fair share of band members launching into wildly successful solo careers. Wednesday’s MJ Lenderman has become a beloved folk-rock figure, Geese’s Cameron Winter’s 2024 debut paraded his vocal acrobatics straight into the hearts of critics and fans alike, and King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard drummer, CAVS, is building […]

The octogenarian roots master and national treasure, Taj Mahal, is still going strong. He has a 22-date tour planned for the Spring and Summer, backed by his three-decade collaborators, The Phantom Blues Band (PBB). Surprisingly, they have a ‘new’ record to tour behind. Most of us thought this partnership reached its peak with the back-to-back […]

Hiss Golden Messenger’s I’m People is the aural equivalent of comfort food. It’s warm, goes down easy, is simple at the core, and hits many of the right spots. The title alone suggests a universality, the common rhythms of life, the pendulum of emotions, and connection. As you likely know, Hiss Golden Messenger is the […]

If you are an ardent follower of Blue Note, you’ll recognize New Orleans-based vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa from Joshua Redman’s 2023 where are we, his first vocal album. She is not your typical jazz vocalist who swings and takes the stage with a commanding voice. She is intimate, subtle, and one who inhabits each lyric of […]

From the smoky quality of Patsy Cline’s vocals to Willie Nelson’s weathered, honest delivery, there is an authenticity to some voices in country music that simply can’t be faked. Though not nearly a household name (yet), the timbre of Emily Nenni’s twang is just as infectiously powerful. Across more than a dozen tracks on her […]

Ringo Starr approaches his 86th birthday in July indisputably at the top of his game. Underrated as a musician whose vocal expression, like his drumming, has always catered to the direct rather than the expansive, Starr nevertheless has been recording reliably and touring steadily ever since reigniting his career in the late 1980s. In 2025, […]

The seven-piece psych-rock outfit Evolfo returns with the most relaxed, mind-expanding album of their career, Of Love. The Ridgewood, Queens-based players sifted through hundreds of hours of jams developed in their new studio to piece together the thirteen swirling tracks presented here.  The group, Ben Adams – Guitar, Synthesizer, Vocals, Matthew Gibbs – Guitar, Vocals, […]

Peter Case At McCabes – My Life To Live is not the usual career retrospective of a veteran artist. Granted, the former leader of the Plimsouls spans his canon here, but in doing so over the course of the seventy-one-plus duration of this twenty-two cut sequence, he plays, sings, and speaks with a tangible sense […]

As a longtime member of the Jesus and Mary Chain, Mark Crozer is no stranger to dreamy goth rock, and through several solo records and other projects, he’s explored everything from guitar pop to indie rock. But his latest solo effort, Homecoming – which delves into deeply personal issues of loss and grief – is […]

Graceland Way, the newest release from harpist-singer-songwriter Mikaela Davis, finds the artist luxuriating in the Los Angeles sunshine, delivering a modern Laurel Canyon pop-rock style, influenced by the famous location’s late 70’s heyday.     Working with longtime collaborators bassist Dan Horne and guitarist John Lee Shannon, the trio co-produced the album, with Davis and Shannon co-writing. […]

Coming on twenty into their run as one of Austin’s most consistently inventive rock bands, White Denim’s 13 feels less like a reset and more like a snapshot of everything they’ve learned how to do and how comfortably they can shift between those ideas. The band has always pulled from a wide range of influences, […]

A lot has happened in folk music since The Milk Carton Kids first debuted their unique, simplistic brand of it over a decade ago. The duo of Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan has experienced just as much change throughout their storied career as a singular entity providing ethereal acoustic folk to the masses. Massive soundtrack […]

Five years ago, Michael Cavanagh, long-time percussion expert for psych-rock powerhouse King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, made his solo debut under the CAVS moniker with a self-titled effort. The ten-song drums-only effort was an exercise in the drummer’s ability to capture a listener’s attention with exclusively drum patterns, resulting in a groovy, atmospheric effort […]