Album Reviews

[rating=7.00] Along with shortening his name, the former Israel Nash Gripka has also pared down his approach, placing due emphasis on ringing guitars and forlorn vocals to achieve maximum affect. Nash often comes across as a Neil Young soundalike, due not only to his mournful croon but also to a sense of harrowing desperation that […]

[rating=7.00] Brian Ritchey’s allegiance to southern spirituality takes many forms — swampy ballads, back porch devotionals, spirited, soulful laments and the usual pedal steel-laced homilies to home and hearth. Bordeaux surveys all these settings and more. While each of his preceding albums have taken different tacks — his eponymous debut drew comparisons to the usual […]

[rating=7.00] Timmy’s Organism are the kind of band I want to party with. They ooze glorious, sweaty sleaze and it’s not hard to picture them hanging from the rafters while beer cans careen through the air. It should come as no surprise that Timmy’s Organism hail from Detroit, as their music embodies the bygone romanticism […]

[rating=6.00] Sometimes, the best music is not always the most perfect.  Sometimes the sheer act of overcoming adversity is far bigger than a perfect mix.  Sure, the Dark Sides and Sgt. Peppers of the world have their place, but so do some things that overcome odds just to rear their heads and scream to be […]

Putting together “best of” lists at the end of every year can be tedious work for a music critic. Let’s be honest though, it’s also a lot of fun to dig through your tower of promos from the last year and recall the albums that truly made you feel something. This is a lot of fun and […]

John (Johnny Rotten) Lydon, the godfather of English punk music, brought the latest incantation of his band Public Image Ltd (PiL), to the Fonda Theater in the heart of Hollywood. The sold out show was a fitting finale to the group’s 2015 tour. Lydon was joined by PiL’s other members, Lu Edmonds on guitar, Bruce […]

[rating=9.00] Photo by Alexandra Valenti It’s hard to believe ten years have passed since Austin band Okkervil River released Black Sheep Boy. Since then they have released four albums and a few EP’s, all of which garnered praise from critics and fans alike, but even now Black Sheep Boy may stand as their greatest achievement. […]

[rating=7.00] Leave it to Light in the Attic Records to reconnect us with the mysterious soul that is Willie Thrasher, an Inuit folk singer-songwriter. Their latest reissue is Thrasher’s debut studio LP Spirit Child, released in 1981. According to history, Thrasher evolved as a musician over time, starting from playing in rock bands before fully […]

[rating=8.00] If you saw or heard the summer of 2015’s Fare Thee Well concerts, your curiosity was no doubt piqued by the provocative sounds during the set breaks. Turns out former Ryan Adams and the Cardinals and current Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Hard Working Americans, GospelbeacH guitarist Neal Casal curated the freewheeling jams, audio highlights of […]

[rating=6.00] Few artists have made such chameleon-like transformations throughout their careers with the daring consistency demonstrated by Neil Young. Dylan, Bowie and Lou Reed may have come close, but none  of them have altered their artistic intentions with as much rabid daring and determination. Whether operating under the guise of winsome folkie, rabid rocker, country […]

Kent Eugene Goolsby’s Minor Wear EP is a special morsel of Americana and songwriting prowess at its finest. 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=7.00] There is no question that bluegrass was a significant part of the Grateful Dead’s DNA, so doing bluegrass covers of a couple of songs that frequented the Dead’s repertoire makes great sense. However, the initial mistake that I made was to listen to Town Mountain’s versions side by side with the Dead versions. Where […]

[rating=8.00] Rock music of the 80’s definitely had its own unique fingerprint, with bands like The Smiths, U2, REM, Cocteau Twins and New Order dominated the modern rock charts. Meeting in junior high school, the founding members of The Ocean Blue decided to start a band influenced by those chart-toppers. Forming in 1986 in Hershey, […]

Joey Kneiser is best known as the frontman of Tennessee Americana rockers Glossary, and recently this talented singer-songwriter released a new solo album called The Wildness. 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:   Joey Kneiser’s The Wildness is out now. Check […]

[rating=9.00] Picture this: you’re hanging in a dingy barroom somewhere in the East Village – maybe it’s CBGB – in the late 70s. Outside the Bowery bums are splayed across the sidewalk and the streets are filthy. Inside, you’re surrounded by a crowd that consists of a who’s who in the downtown club community. Alex […]

[rating=8.00] Never mind that Squeeze has become the branding for any effort involving the band’s two principals, Chris Difford and Glen Tilbrook, or that the rest of the group consists mainly of hired hands. And forget the fact that since their original demise in the ‘80s — and their second dissolution in the late ‘90s […]

Sliding off the crimson and electric blue slipcase from the hardcover book in which the Beatles 1+ discs and book are enclosed is testament in itself to the scrupulous attention afforded the work of these cultural icons. But taking just a cursory look beyond the matching suits and ties that replaced their equally stylized black […]

[rating=6.00] Bay Area band Hot Buttered Rum’s new EP The Kite and the Key was recorded at Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco, CA. It is the first in a series of three consecutive EP’s that Hot Buttered Rum intends to release. The band reached out to Tim Carbone of New Jersey-based bluegrass band Railroad […]

[rating=7.00] Steven A. Clark’s debut LP starts off with the sound of someone getting into a car and putting a cassette tape in. The songs on The Lonely Roller play out like an R&B mix tape of heartbreak and loneliness. The album contains musical elements of a wide range of artists from Michael Jackson to […]

Scott Weiland is a lucky man. After success with two hit-producing bands – Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver – he currently has a hot trio behind him he calls the Wildabouts. They are solid, they rock out and they have an electric atmosphere, even if Weiland weren’t in front of them singing. On a […]