Kevin Morby: Sundowner [Album Review]
Kevin MorbySundownerDead Oceans [2020] Kevin Morby knows isolation and he is probably one of the best at using it as a tool to create thought provoking and engaging music. Much…
Tom Petty: Wildflowers & All The Rest [Album Review]
Tom PettyWildflowers & All The RestWarner Records [2020] As the story has been told, in 1994 when Tom Petty released his second solo record, Wildflowers, he and producer Rick Rubin…
Laura Jane Grace: Stay Alive [Album Review]
Laura Jane Grace Stay AlivePolyvinyl Records [2020] If 2020 had gone as planned, Laura Jane Grace expected to have recorded a new album with Against Me! by now, maybe spend…
Osees: Levitation Sessions [Album Review]
OseesLevitation SessionsThe Reverberation Appreciation Society [2020] 2020 will be remembered for all kinds of depressing events including the halt of live music shows. Not only is touring the lifeblood for…
Travis: 10 Songs [Album Review]
Travis 10 SongsBMG [2020] Scottish quartet, Travis, while often credited for breaking ground for bands like Coldplay and Keane, has always been a bigger deal in the UK than here…
METZ: Atlas Vending [Album Review]
METZAtlas VendingSub Pop Records [2020] Time flies when you are getting pounded by an arsenal of brutal post punk that over the last eight years METZ has delivered album after…
Throwing Muses: Sun Racket [Album Review]
Throwing Muses Sun RacketFire Records [2020] When Kristen Hersh finds a certain metallic tonality on her electric guitar and settles into a steady driving groove with Throwing Muses’ rhythm section…
Alright: I’m Doing This To Myself [Album Review]
AlrightI’m Doing This To MyselfSelf Aware Records [2020] Alright is a fuzzed out indie band from Charlotte, North Carolina that is led by the energetic guitar and voice of Sarah…
Sufjan Stevens: The Ascension [Album Review]
Sufjan Stevens The AscensionAsthmatic Kitty Records [2020] By now, fans of Sufjan Stevens have learned to approach each new project with an open mind. On his most successful effort to…
Frankie And The Witch Fingers: Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters… [Album Review]
Frankie And The Witch Fingers Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters . . .The Reverberation Appreciation Society / Greenway Records [2020] Who: I count Frankie and the Witch Fingers as having…
Lydia Loveless: Daughter [Album Review]
Lydia Loveless DaughterHoney, You’re Gonna Be Late Records [2020] In the nearly four years since Lydia Loveless’ last album, Real, the country rock singer/songwriter has divorced her bass player husband,…
IDLES: Ultra Mono [Album Review]
IDLESUltra MonoPartisan Records [2020] One listen to the UK’s IDLES and you can’t deny the fierceness that surrounds their music. The band has a big attitude, plenty of opinions, and…
Fleet Foxes: Shore [Album Review]
Fleet Foxes ShoreANTI- [2020] There are a handful of songs in the middle of this fourth album from Fleet Foxes that feel very much in sync with early expectations created…
Bob Mould: Blue Hearts [Album Review]
Bob Mould Blue HeartsMerge Records [2020] Bob Mould was raging against the machine a full decade before Rage Against the Machine was a band. Early albums with the Minneapolis-based punk…
Tobin Sprout: Empty Horses [Album Review]
Tobin SproutEmpty HorsesFire Records [2020] Tobin Sprout will always be the member from Guided By Voices that consistently changed the pace of the albums and wrote many, what I would…
Semisonic: You’re Not Alone EP [Album Review]
Semisonic You’re Not AlonePleasuresonic Recordings [2020] Google the Minnesota power/pop trio Semisonic and the first listing will always be their big hit single for 1998, “Closing Time.” Of course, I…
The Texas Gentlemen: Floor It!!! [Album Review]
The Texas Gentlemen Floor It!!!New West Records [2020] The first time I listened to The Texas Gentlemen’s newest release, Floor It!!!, I had a flashback to the summer of 1979….
Osees: Protean Threat [Album Review]
OseesProtean ThreatCastle Face Records [2020] Who: OCS, The Ohsees, The Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, Oh Sees, and Osees. Whatever they want to call themselves hail from San Francisco, California…
Bill Callahan: Gold Record [Album Review]
Bill CallahanGold RecordDrag City Records [2020] If there is one thing that shines some light during this pandemic year is that Bill Callahan has quickly returned with another batch of…
Rose City Band: Summerlong [Album Review]
Rose City BandSummerlongThrill Jockey Records [2020] Summerlong is the sophomore record from Ripley Johnson’s Rose City Band. Already a staple in the psychedelic world as leader of Wooden Shjips and…
Lo Tom: LP2 [Album Review]
Lo Tom LP2Self-Released [2020] Lo Tom’s 2017 eponymously-titled debut proved an unexpected delight. In an age of political and emotional dysfunction, it just felt so good to hear these long-time…
The Flaming Lips: American Head [Album Review]
The Flaming Lips American HeadWarner Records [2020] Described as a reflection on singer Wayne Coyne’s youthful upbringing in Oklahoma City, The Flaming Lips’ 16th album, American Head steps away from…
Neal Morse: Sola Gratia [Album Review]
Neal MorseSola GratiaInside Out Music [2020] If the idea of religion as subject matter for progressive rock seems a little ridiculous at first then I completely understand. I do. But…
Bent Arcana: Bent Arcana [Album Review]
Bent Arcana Bent ArcanaCastle Face Records [2020] Who: John Dwyer’s Bent Arcana was quite a surprise. To call them a supergroup doesn’t feel quite right but the players are on…
DMA’S: The Glow [Album Review]
DMA’S The GlowInfectious Music [2020] In the half a dozen years that DMA’s have been together, they’ve proven to not only be productive, with an EP and now three full…
Sweeping Promises: Hunger For A Way Out [Album Review]
Sweeping PromisesHunger For A Way OutFeel It Records [2020] Sometimes simplicity is the key to great music and what you actually don’t hear can sometimes be the highlight. That is…
Knot: Knot [Album Review]
KnotKnotExploding In Sound Records [2020] I will totally admit that I was saddened in 2015 when I heard the news that Boston’s Krill had called it quits. The band produced…
Kllo: Maybe We Could [Album Review]
Kllo Maybe We CouldGhostly International [2020] These cousins from Melbourne Australia, Kllo (rhymes with “flow”) return with a follow-up to their 2017 electro-pop debut, Breakthrough. As described in their bio,…
Moby: All Visible Objects [Album Review]
Moby All Visible ObjectsLittle Idiot/Mute Records [2020] The fact that we’re talking about the 17th album by Moby says a lot. Few artists have the distinction of taking a music…
Bully: SUGAREGG [Album Review]
BullySUGAREGGSub Pop Records [2020] There is a lot to be said about restarts. That is what Bully’s third record, SUGAREGG, feels like as founder Alicia Bognanno admits that finding the…