While old-schoolers bemoan the demise of the long-player in the iTunes era, Magnetic Island go back to the future on their debut EP, Out at Sea.
The debut from Tel Aviv guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Yair Yona attempts to bridge the vast span between atmospheric indie instrumentalism and Delta blues slide guitar, and while the result is undoubtedly original, it often comes to rest somewhere in the inter-genre no-man’s land reserved for smooth jazz and elevator music.
With their second full-length album, Distortionist, the Murdocks harness the raw power of grunge, the energy of punk and the hooks of indie pop while still remaining accessible enough for the modern mainstream.
John Prine is one of those songwriters that makes songwriting seem easy; his words never forced and his wit never ending. Couple that with the simplicity with which he writes and I think most musicians would find his songs easily adaptable and ripe to be covered.
No one can accuse Kristian Hoffman of playing it safe. Rather than aping the trends of current pop music, Hoffman draws his influences from 60’s rock and pop, theater and even vaudeville on Fop. Hoffman imagines himself a modern-day David Bowie and spends large portions of the album trying to live up to that self-billing. At times it works – such as in the glam rock of “Mediocre Dream” – at times, not.
Public Domain (Spire Artists) is the follow-up to Charlie Hunter’s first such album, 2000’s Solo 8-String Guitar, now long out of print on disc from Contra Punto Records (though still available as a download). As indicated by its title, this new work consists of largely familiar tunes, all of which have been around long enough for their copyrights to expire (as stipulated by law, after seventy years). In doing justice to the material in his own imitable fashion, however, Hunter insures the songs will retain their indelible mark on contemporary culture.
Kelley Stoltz has put together a snappy collection of 50’s-60’s dreamy garage-pop with his most recent effort To Dreamers. Echo vocals, glimmering tambourines, a dash of feedback and random horns all come and go like the breeze as Kelley sings about “getting the girl” and “all of our stars aligning”. The retro vibe is obvious, but this album was certainly produced in the digital age with clear sound and at times too many instruments/sounds trying to make a mark like on “Keeping the Flame”.
A fierce trio that plays power punk music with a DIY gritty edge, Screaming Females has produced a complete and exciting record with their newest release Castle Talk. The group has a knack for producing catchy riffs and choruses before scuffing them up with enough tempo changes and feedback so the proceedings never become too sweet.
A decade has passed since the Jigsaw Seen’s last full-length album of original material, the Grammy-nominated Zenith. Since then, the band has released a number of singles, EPs, and a covers album, but Bananas Foster is the first proper follow-up. Anytime a band takes that long to release an album, it had better be ambitious and it had better be good. In this case, it is both.
Though the landscape of rock music has changed drastically since Helmet’s founding in 1989, Helmet has never worried about what music is popular. With Seeing Eye Dog, Page Hamilton and company offer their most experimental set yet, but it is still undeniably Helmet.
