Archive: 2024

Phantogram was one of many performers at last weekend’s (Feb 23/24) Innings Festival at Tempe Beach Park in Tempe, Arizona. The psych-pop duo made their daytime set feel like a late-night extravaganza with a striking eleven-song set. Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter were cool enough to give photographer Becca Greenberg, who was on assignment for […]

News that Power Trip will reform for this year’s No Values festival (which features an absurdly stacked lineup) can’t help but be met with mixed feelings for many longtime fans of the band. While, on the one hand, it’s great they have decided to keep their music alive and persevere despite Riley Gale’s death, it […]

It’s been a long time coming, roughly eight years or so since the electrifying rock and roll duo commanded any stage in Boston. This past Friday night on February 23rd at Royale, The Kills finally returned in support of their new album ‘God Games’ and delivered a frenetic and mesmerizing performance full of genuine rock […]

The Allman Brothers Band’s Enlightened Rogues (released February 1979) is the result of the seminal Southern band’s reunion following their tawdry, fractious break-up of 1976. Produced by Tom Dowd, who had also provided studio supervision for Idlewild South, At Fillmore East, and Eat A Peach, the modified 1979 lineup of Brothers hews close to the blues-rock roots upon which they […]

Released over a half-century ago, Jefferson Airplane’s first live album, Bless Its Pointed Little Head, (released February 1969) offers a stark contrast to its studio predecessor Crown of Creation. The latter release of 1968 carried more folk overtones than the psychedelic expedition it followed, After Bathing At Baxter’s, though hardly so many as the effort preceding that LP, Surrealistic Pillow. […]

Molly Horses is a four-piece noise-punk band formed in 2023 in Los Angeles, CA. Combining elements of post-punk, krautrock, and Albini-esque noise rock, Molly Horses released their first self-recorded single “Beatty” in December of 2023. Members Harry James and Cormac Brown (members of FonFon Ru) Tim Wright (Founding member of Wilderness) and Malcolm Watts utilize their production and engineering backgrounds […]

N8! is a Harlem Born and Bred God MC. He is One half of the NYC duo Mankind and the founding member of the New Rap Order Collective. With a booming voice and criminally smooth rhyme schemes, N8! is not another rapper to skim by. “Destroy and Rebuild” has the emcee crafting intricate flows over a warping instrumental […]

There’s no shortage of nepo babies in the music world, many of whom lack the creative talent of their famous parents and deliver mediocrity at best. Lukas Nelson is the opposite. The son of Willie Nelson could have easily adopted a persona similar to his father and, with a voice that is close enough, had […]

Far from sounding dated, the content comprising this edition of Bear’s Sonic Journals vividly and accurately captures a moment in time worth revisiting. Notwithstanding its title as homage to the groundbreaking organization devoted to folk music, such a retreat is not just a nostalgic end in itself, but a self-renewing means of rediscovering the profundity of community. […]

It is hard to tell if being excited about Fridays will ever be outgrown. As a child, we would sprint through the school week so we could get to our Gamecubes and recreational sports games and now as an adult, we power through the workweek to make it to bars, dinners, or hopefully, just go […]

Gary Clark Jr. is a truly prodigious talent. His ambitious, eclectic solo albums don’t do justice to his multiple distinctions, but his concert recordings certainly do (Live and Live in North America 2016). In much the same way, so does this clip from the 2023 Crossroads Guitar Festival: in a solo rendering of “You Saved Me,” from […]

If there’s anyone who’s earned the right to do whatever the hell he wants with his music, it’s Mick Mars. He’s renowned for his years handling axe duties with Mötley Crüe, who burst from the Sunset Strip in the early ‘80s, dropping classics like Shout at the Devil and Dr. Feelgood. They were the band […]

In 2022, legendary soul singer Lee Fields released Sentimental Fool. The stunning album earned the storied singer another celebrated feather in his cap and continued his victorious run of releases with the equally legendary Daptone Records. The album felt like a victory lap for an artist who has dedicated every free moment to creating music. […]

For the casual “I love ‘80s music” fan Modern English will always be associated with the endearing earworm “I Melt With You.” And yes, it’s a timeless song, but for those who take even a shallow dig into the band’s catalog, they will find a post-punk/new wave band whose music is on par with almost […]

Bonny Light Horseman–the trio of Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman–have signed to Jagjaguwar and have released their debut single for the label, the cathartic and resonant “When I Was Younger.” The band also announced a headlining U.S. tour, including two nights at NYC’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, as well as summer festival […]

The Pernice Brothers return with Who Will You Believe on April 5 via New West Records. The 12-song set is their first in five years and was produced by Joe Pernice. The album includes contributions from longtime bandmates, Bob Pernice, Patrick Berkery, Laura Stein, Liam Jaeger, Michael McKenzie and Joshua Karp, lush string and horn arrangements, the […]

Considering what Wu-Tang Clan has grown into and continues to represent, the sheer size of their legacy is intimidating. Diving through the Clan’s discography is enough of a roller coaster and that’s not to mention the solo albums each member released throughout the 90’s. Wu-Tang has one of most legendary runs of solo releases, a […]

Time is a very confusing concept. It is something that can be wasted but never saved, it can fly by or it can slow down to a crawl. Whichever way you flip it, the clock is ticking and the sand in the hourglass is falling like the first snow of winter. For Glitterer, the solo […]

Fans of the Allman-Betts Band or Duane Betts & Palmetto Hotel are likely familiar with songwriter Stoll Vaughan who has penned lyrics for their recorded output. Yet Vaughan’s resume extends far beyond just those endeavors. A protégé of John Mellencamp, this is Vaughan’s fifth album This effort, Dream in Color, finds Vaughan back in his […]