Album Reviews

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on Among the Ghosts, the new album from Memphis rockers Lucero, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

[rating=9.00] Suffice it to say, Back Roads and Abandoned Motels is the strongest Jayhawks album since their seminal classic Tomorrow the Green Grass, an album that helped establish the original template for the sound now widely referred to as Americana. That’s not a claim that can be made lightly. However, it’s praise well deserved, proof […]

[rating=8.00] It’s hard to prepare yourself for Israel Nash’s Lifted that begins with an instrumental prelude that is somewhat reminiscent of the orchestral backdrops Jack Nitzsche created for Neil Young on “Broken Arrow” and “After the Goldrush;” but that impression fades quickly. Nash’s sound is much more enormous. It’s way beyond just cinematic. It’s the […]

[rating=9.00] Called by some the “unofficial poet laureate of New York City,” Willie Nile’s twelfth studio album, Children of Paradise, easily ranks among his best. The angst and in-your-face passion strike immediately in the opening “Seeds of a Revolution,” with its infectious rock n’ roll hooks and memorable lines like – “The seed of the […]

[rating=7.00] Louisiana Lovin’ is a collaboration between Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Yvette Landry and fellow Lafayette, LA guitarist/vocalist Roddy Romero. The spark for the album grew out of an accidental recording session where Landry and Romero remade the only number one hit to come out of their city – Dale & Grace’s rendition of “I’m […]

[rating=7.00] While there has never been a shortage of great rock bands coming out of Australia, this decade has seen a major influx of Aussie rockers. The psychedelic rock scene has been most efficacious in Australia recently. From the Tame Impala in Perth to The Baudelaires and King Gizzard in Melbourne, the psychedelic movement is […]

[rating=7.00] Grammy award winner Jon Cleary recently put out a live solo album that featured deep covers of his adopted cities musical pioneers. He has ingested those influences for years and now releases his follow up of originals titled Dyna-Mite, shifting gears and incorporating the wide-ranging styles of his beloved New Orleans. The highlight of […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on Salvation, the new album from Ontario punks The Penske File, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

[rating=8.00] Releasing at least one album every year over the last decade, it’s amazing that garage rocker Ty Segall has been able to maintain a consistently high quality over his prolific catalog. For his second album of 2018, Segall has once again teamed up with White Fence, aka Tim Presley. Joy, the follow up to […]

[rating=8.00] The Allman Brothers Band’s Cream of the Crop 2003 is hopefully just the first in a series of archival releases under the Peach Picks banner. Comprised of concert recordings taken from six stops on their summer tour that year, all the selections were initially available on the Instant Live CD’s the group offered for […]