Finn’s Motel: Fireworks Or Lightning [Album Review]
Finn’s Motel Fireworks Or LightningVictory Over Gravity [2021] One of the pleasures of advanced age is being around long enough to experience the development of a musician or artist over…
Teenage Fanclub: Endless Arcade [Album Review]
Teenage Fanclub Endless ArcadeMerge Records [2021] In 1991, when Scottish band Teenage Fanclub first broke in No. America with their third album, Bandwagonesque, their sound was brimming with electric guitars…
Guided By Voices: Earth Man Blues [Album Review]
Guided By VoicesEarth Man BluesGBV Inc. [2021] The 33rd Guided By Voices album, Earth Man Blues, is one of the most in sync records that members Pollard, Gillard, Bare Jr.,…
Manchester Orchestra: The Million Masks Of God [Album Review]
Manchester Orchestra The Million Masks of GodLoma Vista Recordings [2021] The sixth album from Atlanta alt/rock quartet Manchester Orchestra feels like the culmination of their 15 years as recording artists,…
Cast: Vigesimus [Album Review]
CastVigesimusProgressive Promotions Records [2021] Sometimes a band just nails it right off the rip. Fully-formed debut albums are a rarity to be sure. So what to make of a band…
Spread Joy: Spread Joy [Album Review]
Spread JoySpread JoyFeel It Records [2021] Chicago’s Spread Joy are an intensely tight post punk band that gives everything they got on their 14 minute debut in exciting and short…
Proper Nouns: Feel Free [Album Review]
Proper Nouns Feel FreePhone Booth Records [2021] Feel Free is the debut Baltimore’s Proper Nouns, a power pop three-piece led by singer/songwriter and guitarist Spencer Compton. Joined by Jon Birkholz…
Todd Snider: The Agnostic Church Of Hope And Wonder [Album Review]
Todd Snider The Agnostic Church of Hope and WonderAimless Records [2021] Here in the pandemic that defined 2020 and this first half of ’21, while most of us have been…
Dinosaur Jr.: Sweep It Into Space [Album Review]
Dinosaur Jr. Sweep It Into SpaceJagjaguwar [2021] In a case of being in the wrong place at the right time, alternative rock power trio Dinosaur Jr. had their best-selling, major…
CIVIC: Future Forecast [Album Review]
CIVICFuture ForecastFlightless Records [2021] Melbourne and Flightless Records have been one of the main reasons psych music has risen above ground the last several years but don’t pigeon hole the…
Keith Kenny: Lifetime Ago Motel [Album Review]
Keith Kenny Lifetime Ago MoteliNtuRecords [2021] New Jersey indie recording artist Keith Kenny’s fifth album is a testament to the persistence and innovation required to thrive as a singer/songwriter in…
Ryley Walker: Course In Fable [Album Review]
Ryley WalkerCourse In FableHusky Pants Records [2021] Ryley Walker has walked an interesting musical path since his last solo release of Deafman Glance in 2018 but more importantly he is…
Spirit Of The Beehive: ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH [Album Review]
Spirit Of The BeehiveENTERTAINMENT, DEATHSaddle Creek Records [2021] The saying always goes that change is good. If you are a believer in that moto then the new Spirit Of The…
The Choir: Deep Cuts [Album Review]
The Choir Deep CutsGalaxy21 Music [2021] Originally formed in the 80’s, The Choir’s long creative partnership between singer and guitarist Derri Daugherty and drummer and lyricist Steve Hindalong continues to…
Hooveriii: Water For The Frogs [Album Review]
HooveriiiWater For The FrogsThe Reverberation Appreciation Society [2021] At this point in 2021, if your band hails from Australia, Los Angeles or Austin it won’t surprise anyone if your specialty…
Mt. Mountain: Centre [Album Review]
Mt. MountainCentreFuzz Club Records [2021] Australian five-piece Mt. Mountain’s fourth album, Centre, is a sprawling, psychedelic rocker that rides the edge of quiet waves right before they crash. That anticipation…
Bill Mallonee & The Big Sky Ramblers: A Clamoring Of Ghosts [Album Review]
Bill Mallonee & The Big Sky Ramblers A Clamoring Of GhostsSelf-Released [2021] Bill Mallonee knows all the words, and he’s not afraid to use them. After 10 years of…
Cheap Trick: In Another World [Album Review]
Cheap Trick In Another WorldBMG [2021] When guitarist Rick Nielsen formed Cheap Trick in Rockford, IL back in 1973, it seems more than doubtful that he could have imagined that…
The Natvral: Tethers [Album Review]
The Natvral TethersKanine Records [2021] As the leader of NYC indiepop band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Kip Berman & Co. leaned into noisy pop of My Bloody…
Dry Cleaning: New Long Leg [Album Review]
Dry CleaningNew Long Leg4AD [2021] New Long Leg is London-based band Dry Cleaning’s debut album and it easily was one of the most anticipated releases of 2021 after their pair…
Smirk: LP [Album Review]
SmirkLPDrunken Sailor/Feel It Records [2021] Smirk is the solo project of Nick Vicario (Public Eye, Crisis Man, Autistic Youth), and while you’ll hear similarities to some of his past more…
Floatie: Voyage Out [Album Review]
FloatieVoyage OutExploding In Sound Records [2021] There is something special about Floatie’s math rock that brings you closer to your speakers and that is what makes the Chicago-based band’s debut,…
Josh Caterer: The Hideout Sessions [Album Review]
Josh Caterer The Hideout SessionsPravda Records [2021] Back in October, Smoking Popes’ vocalist and main songwriter Josh Caterer put together a new band, with John San Juan (of the Hushdrops)…
TUNS: Duly Noted [Album Review]
TUNSDuly NotedMurderecords [2021] There is nothing better than a killer power pop record and TUNS sophomore album, Duly Noted, may just be one of the best ones you might hear…
JPL: Sapiens – Chapitre 2/3 – Deus Ex Machina [Album Review]
JPLSapiens – Chapitre 2/3: Deus ex MachinaQuadrifonic Records [2021] Coming in hot after last year’s Album Of The Year designation, JPL has unleashed part two of his Sapiens space rock…
Ghost Of Vroom: Ghost Of Vroom 1 [Album Review]
Ghost Of Vroom Ghost Of Vroom 1Mod y Vi Records [2021] The story goes something like this: after making 3 critically acclaimed albums in the 90’s with Soul Coughing, a…
Triptides: Alter Echoes [Album Review]
TriptidesAlter EchoesAlive Natural Sound Records [2021] The current streaming generation, for the most part, does not seem to really like listening to one album all the way through let alone…
Peter Case: The Midnight Broadcast [Album Review]
Peter Case The Midnight BroadcastBandaloop Music [2021] Singer/songwriter Peter Case’s first brush with mainstream rock star level fame came when his band the Plimsoul’s appeared in the 1983 cult classic…
Too Much Joy: Mistakes Were Made [Album Review]
Too Much Joy Mistakes Were MadePeople Suck Music [2021] Along with the quick arrival of life saving vaccines, you can count the return to recording by the late 80’s/early 90’s…
Jay Gonzalez: Back To The Hive [Album Review]
Jay Gonzalez Back To The HiveMiddlebrow Records [2021] Athens, GA musician Jay Gonzalez joined Drive-By Truckers in 2008, filling in for Spooner Oldham on keyboards, and eventually sharing lead guitar…