Album Reviews

[rating=7.00] Lew Card makes an impressive third outing with the invitingly titled Follow Me Down, an album immersed in tradition and a kind of backwoods sway. It’s a knowing approach, one that’s gleaned from the many years of lending his talents to various bands in his native Austin. It’s paid off in other ways as […]

Ty Segall is one of the most active rock and rollers in the scene today, and maybe even one of the few prominent musicians who is actually a rock and roller. Whether touring incessantly or recording new music under his own name or with his numerous side projects, Ty Segall is a guitar-shredding force to be […]

[rating=8.00] Close your eyes, sink back into a woven hammock, and let pure indie musical bliss wash over you. Bird Dog’s debut EP, Misty Shrub, combines the best aspects of their Los Angeles hometown. It’s comfortable yet driven; breezy and down to earth. It’s indie folk that won’t leave you wallowing in a puddle of […]

In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle looks back on his favorite albums of 2015 in his six-panel comic book form with a brief commentary on each one. Click on the image for full resolution:  Part 1: Part 2:

[rating=8.00] Anyone who’s ever caught them in concert will attest to the fact that an Avett Brothers show is one of the most exhilarating experiences one will ever encounter. The energy, enthusiasm and spontaneity the band offers its audiences are not only contagious, but an experience that resonates long after those live last notes fade […]

[rating=7.00] Bob Schneider’s never been a fan of the tried and true. The Texas songwriter’s music has often defied convention and expanded the parameters as far as what’s expected from the typical singer/songwriter. Consequently, his latest album isn’t an album in the strictest sense but more a series of EPs released at different intervals over […]

Jon Latham is an up-and-coming Americana singer-songwriter based out of Nashville and he recently released his debut album Real Bad News. In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle reviews the album in his six-panel comic book form. Click on the image for full resolution: Give a listen to Jon Latham’s song “Waitressing Sucks” and seek […]

[rating=8.00] Rarely do we laud metal music with brilliant songwriting. That praise is typically reserved for more stripped down genres such as folk, country, or rock. Metal’s epithets typically include adjectives like powerful, intense, chaotic, or energetic. The discography of Baroness, including the newly released Purple album, however, shirks this preconception. Baroness are masters of […]

[rating=7.00] The cult following of indie rock band Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s will be the group who will most deeply appreciate their new release titled The Bride on the Boxcar – A Decade of Margot Rarities 2004-2014. Made up of never-before-released demos, rare cuts, and new versions of familiar tunes, it is […]

[rating=8.00] There aren’t too many artists genuinely committed to old school soul these days, what with the proliferation of rap, hip-hop and various mutations that deviate from the form. That makes Ladies & Gentlemen… Nigel Hall an auspicious debut for any number of reasons, not the least of which is found in the fact that Hall […]

[rating=7.00] Stylistically, London based Piney Gir (pronounced like “gear”) albums range from electronica to alt-country and many times a combination of both. For her sixth album, Piney has found a new sound for herself with mR hYDE’S wILD rIDE, one that combines American pop and indie music with English folk and beat pop from the […]

Southern rockers the Drive-By Truckers recently released an epic 3-LP live album called It’s Great To Be Alive! In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle reviews the album in his six-panel comic book form. Click on the image for full resolution:   [youtube id=”n6b8jJaCUf4″ width=”630″ height=”350″]  

[rating=9.00] Tusk, Fleetwood Mac’s 1979 opus was a daring experiment, one that defied commercial possibilities while expanding the band’s musical parameters into areas that were otherwise unimaginable. It was especially daring considering the fact that the band had just come off two LPs that had broken them wide open in the States, Fleetwood Mac and […]

[rating=7.00] Billy Talbot’s back story is fairly well known. At the age of 17 he moved to L.A. and then cast his fate with drummer Ralph Molina and guitarist Danny Whitten. After a series of false starts and unfortunate names, they eventually morphed into a band called the Rockets. After releasing one album on the […]

[rating=8.00] The Flaming Lips are justifiably famous for any number of reasons — their eclectic aural imagery, leader Wayne Coyne’s floating bubble that carries him over the crowds during their concerts, their oblique lyrics and oddly inspired references, a host of critical kudos and five Grammy nods to boot. And yet, ask any outsider for […]

[rating=8.00] The Motor City rock sound ignited by the Stooges and MC5 is still alive and well as evidenced by the latest release from Detroit post-punkers, Protomartyr. Their third album, The Agent Intellect, descends into your psyche like a black cloud of angst, accompanied with sardonic quips and thinly-veiled rage.   The mood of the album […]

[rating=7.00] For an album titled Stonerism, certain expectations might include spaced-out, fuzzy grooves. And those expectations would be right on, man. Chicago rockers Strange Faces deliver that and so much more on their debut record with its telling name. The lo-fi pop garage rock they’ve created is frenetic, but polished in that kind of intentionally […]

Georgia’s self-proclaimed “Glamericana” band Tedo Stone have a new album out called Marshes. In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle reviews the album in his six-panel comic book form. Click on the image for full resolution:  

[rating=6.00] Jerry Joseph has gone unheralded far too long as a true hero of the heartland, even though his work, both solo and in cahoots with his sometimes band Jackmorons and various earlier ensembles, has produced an impressive body of work, some thirty albums in all, that have spanned the greater part of the past […]

[rating=7.00] Cass McCombs has been busier than ever over the last decade and especially so within the past few years, releasing two albums in 2011 and a double LP in 2013. Needless to say, the sheer volume of songwriting that has gone into his impressive body of work from 2003 to 2014 has yielded a […]