Album Reviews

In recent years Brendan Benson has focused on writing and producing other people’s records while also being central to The Raconteurs revival so it has been seven years since his last proper solo record was released. Now arrives Dear Life, an album that looks at his personal situation as a father, husband, and musician in […]

It has been a long time since Other Lives released Rituals back in 2015. A lot has changed, but what has remained the same is the band’s use of large swelling sounds and all-encompassing orchestral pop on their newest album For Their Love.  The trio of Jesse Tabish (piano, guitar, lead vocals), Jonathon Mooney (piano, […]

While a slew of millennial bands have clearly discovered groups like The Smiths, Psychedelic Furs and The Church as of late, for the most part, most simply sound like glorified cover bands that are dipping into ‘80s post punk and new wave for some form of ironic nostalgia.  It’s refreshing then to hear new music […]

Andy Frasco and The U.N. is – as the name implies – a band that is all about inclusion. From the different nationalities of the members to their different instruments and different styles, this is a band that isn’t easily pigeonholed. Perhaps there is no better example of this than Songs from the Road, which […]

Two and half years ago the review of Whitney Rose’s 2017 Rule 62 was one of this writer’s first for these pages. The Canadian-born Rose now returns, having been happily ensconced in Austin since 2015. Talent attracts a great backing cast which the classic country singer has always had from the outset. On her previous […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on And It’s Still Alright, the new solo album from Nathaniel Rateliff, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

Lucinda Williams has always been defiant, and at times downright obstinate, always outspoken. We haven’t heard a full album from Lucinda since 2015 so it stands to reason she’s got plenty to pour out, as she does here on Good Souls Better Angels. This time it’s not the typical narrative autobiographical path she’s stamped as […]

This venerable band, The Nighthawks, the pride of the D.C. area, will reach their 50th year as a band at the end of 2021 with vocalist/harmonicist Mark Wenner as its only remaining original member. Remarkably, they’ve never sounded better. Back in 1983 and 1984, they headlined the Brass Monkey Blues Festival that this writer promoted […]

Fiona Apple’s Fetch The Bolt Cutters is a triumphant and very well-timed return after an eight-year hiatus. Apple’s fifth album, an introspective, 13 song journey defies genre. Apple sings, raps, plays the piano, dogs bark, there’s a soft meow from an English model, Apple ventures farther into the avant-garde while still staying grounded. That is […]

Leave to Joe Ely to deliver the first set of songs meant directly for this health pandemic. While we have all been social distancing. Ely, echoing the sentiments of most, found a way to cope, turning to his craft, “When everything shut down, there were times for me that were absolutely maddening. I was sleeping […]

There is a painful irony to Brett Newski’s latest LP, Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down, as it arrives at a time when the globe is on mandatory lockdown; sheltered into our homes with little-to-no human interaction and screens being a constant as many of us turn to technology to keep in touch with […]

Shelby Lynne made her mark 20 years ago with I Am Shelby Lynne, the album which earned her a Best New Artist Grammy nod. This Shelby Lynne is spare, as has been her style since her 2008 Dusty Springfield tribute, Just a Little Lovin’, recorded with the late Grammy-winning producer Phil Ramone at the same Capitol Studios […]

Church House Blues is the most fully realized album of Crystal Shawanda’s split career. She began as an indigenous musician growing up on the Wikwemikong reserve on an island in Ontario, CA in a house filled with both blues and country music. She tried the latter first when moving to Nashville and had success doing […]

Leslie Mendelson’s If You Can’t Say Anything Nice …is a worthy successor to 2017’s Love and Murder, one of the best records of that year (along another on which she participated, Steve Kimock’s Satellite City). But in addition to a comparably open, confessional tenor in the material on both efforts, here there’s also an understated […]

To be clear this is not the first album from Reverend Shawn Amos, it’s just the first with his newly formed band, The Brotherhood. Oh, in case you’re wondering, Amos is the son of Wally Amos (Famous Amos cookie brand). Known primarily as a blues artist, this reincarnation is a more widely ranging collection of […]

Admittedly this writer was drawn to Irish roots rocker Ben Reel when learning that the album was produced by Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack. Then, Reel’s voice just took over – so soulful, so confident and such a perfect complement to his poetic lyrics. And, when Garry W. Tallent’s (E-Street Band) name appeared as bassist, […]

These are some trying times for the world, but Diane Gentile has lived through recent life-altering events and grown from them, fronting The Gentle Men on their newest album The White Sea. Named for the churning froth the New York City outfit sprinkles in paisley underground influences and clean pop production successfully.   During a tour […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on Local Honey, the new solo album from Gaslight Anthem front man Brian Fallon, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

New Orleans native John “Papa” Gros has been celebrating NOLA culture for three decades now, yet Central City is only his third album but one that’s bound to gain him more recognition outside of the Crescent City. This is a feel-good party album performed with some 19 musicians/singers. Of course, it’s packed with vibrant horn […]

The dawning of the twenties finds Matthew Barber holding steadily at a career crossroads. After struggling to break out during the first few years of the century, he hit gold with 2008’s Ghost Notes, establishing himself as a reliable songwriter whose honest, no-frills crooning gives his music a timeless appeal. Since then, Barber has worked relentlessly, […]