Album Reviews

[rating=8.00] This isn’t your daddy’s bluegrass anymore. But in the hands of the oddly named Brothers Comatose, it is just as potent. After solidifying their reputation through constant touring and two stellar previous releases, the Brothers Comatose’s latest effort City Painted Gold offers a case study in tightly tailored musicianship and the kind of close-knit […]

[rating=7.00] In the fall of 2014, a variety of musicians, actors, and comedians came together onstage at Los Angeles’ Fonda Theater to celebrate the life and music of George Harrison. Under the direction of George’s son, Dhani, the evening provided an intimate and celebratory occasion for reverence and an opportunity to bring to life Dhani’s […]

[rating=8.00] In true singer/songwriter fashion, Pete Yorn made his public debut at the famed Cafe Largo, launching pad for many a budding musical novice. Given that apprenticeship, it was little wonder that Columbia Records thought well enough of him to offer him a recording contract, and that soon after, his music found its way into […]

[rating=6.00] Lucius have long been a buzzed about band that seem to be popping up everywhere over the last couple of years, whether backing up Roger Waters and Mavis Staples on stage at Newport Folk Fest or teaming up with Wilco, all the while amassing a steady following. The faces of the group are lead […]

[rating=7.00] The success of Wild Feathers’ 2013 self titled debut has clearly had a resonating effect on its bold and confident follow-up, the somewhat tepidly dubbed Lonely Is A Lifetime. But while the title might seem like a misnomer, the reckless jubilation and abandonment that accompanies nearly ever track on the album clearly speaks for […]

[rating=8.00] The languorous ripples in Lady Bird Lake hide an undetectable lysergic compound that has turned the Violet Crown city into a lush and fertile culture for psychedelic music to flourish. Roky Erickson, The 13th Floor Elevators, Shiva’s Headband, and other 60’s psych bands germinated Austin’s psychedelic seeds decades ago. While many other analagous bands […]

[rating=8.00] Escondido’s first album, The Ghost of Escondido, made for an auspicious entrance when they self-released it in 2013, establishing a high bar that a less talented duo might have found hard to overcome. Jessica Maros’ soaring, seductive vocals, framed by the sturdy accompaniment of partner Tyler James, suggested some darker designs hinted at in […]

In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle reviews the solo debut from the Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon, Painkillers, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution:    [youtube id=”SxVgt_2Bqcc” width=”630″ height=”350″]

[rating=8.00] Visually, you can’t help but notice the eerie resemblance of Struts’ frontman Luke Spiller to the late king of Queen, Freddie Mercury or even a young Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. On the band’s U.S. debut Everybody Wants, Spiller’s delivery is all his own and the solid musicianship of guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliot […]

[rating=8.00] If you can get through “End of the Rope”, the first song on Brett Harris’ sophomore album Up in the Air without beaming and feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, you probably have no soul. It comes at you full blast with a toe-tapping beat and sunny guitars and keys. And it is just […]

[rating=7.00] In the ever expanding world of indie psych rock, Quilt stands out. Anna Fox Rochinski’s sultry, smoky voice is haunting and pierces through her band’s trippy, fluid arrangements, lulling you into their colorful, fully bloomed world. Plaza, the band’s third album, hones in on this sound, but also doesn’t limit them to it. That […]

Protomartyr’s February 27th show at Dallas’ fairly new, DIY-influenced club, RBC, proved to be quite the step back in time. Unobtrusively tucked away behind snazzier, trendier, and more well-attended Deep Ellum eateries, RBC greets its’ patrons with a series of shrugs; the perpetually stoned ID checker barely taking a glance at your license, the diminutive and […]

[rating=7.00] After a dozen albums or so, you’d think that the Waco Brothers would have earned more respect. On the other hand, being the essential insurgents that they are, respect isn’t necessarily their highest priority. Happily then, the ironically titled Going Down In History. In finds the band still doing what they’ve always done best, that is, […]

[rating=7.00] At this point in Katy Goodman’s career it seems fairer to refer to her as ‘founding member of La Sera’ rather than ‘former Vivian Girls bassist.’ Having already released three critically acclaimed albums over the past five years, her newest album Music For Listening To Music To will exceed the output of her previous […]

[rating=7.00] If you were already a fan of Cotton Jones, then you are familiar with Michael Nau’s soft, lovely voice. Part Beatles, part Nilsson, with a little smoke and the gentlest touch, Nau’s vocals are a treasure. And while he typically makes up half of the Cotton Jones duo (with his wife Whitney McGraw), his […]

In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle reviews the new reissue on Saddle Creek Records of the 2012 debut album from rising indie rockers Hop Along, Get Disowned, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution:    [youtube id=”JCZKC6x9zlU” width=”630″ height=”350″]

[rating=8.00] Fans of The North Mississippi Allstars and perhaps even casual attendees of their shows may quickly recognize more than a few of the songs on Luther Dickinson’s musicological endeavor Blues & Ballads. But “Bang Bang Lulu” and “Shake (Yo Mama)” sound markedly different in the understated form in which they appear on A Folksinger’s […]

[rating=6.00] You wouldn’t expect to find a band like BUHU hailing from Austin Texas, a place where plaintive melodies and laid-back trappings are apparent as well as implied. So to find this trio offering up their rambunctious rhythms and quirky constructs on Relationshapes seems wholly out of sync with the place they currently call home. […]

[rating=4.00] It’s hard to imagine a band more divisive than Animal Collective, a wonky group of guys who straddle the line between stunt and seriousness. But no matter what you think of them, they really don’t sound like anyone else, and even if the way they do sound is not for you, it is difficult […]

[rating=7.00] Washed out is such a common aesthetic these days, it has practically become its own genre, and within that genre Wild Nothing have always stood out. With their latest record Life of Pause, they get a little more specific, though, keeping what was beautiful about their sound and giving it some new life and […]