Shearwater: The Great Awakening [Album Review]
ShearwaterThe Great AwakeningPolyborus Music [2022] In the six years since that last Shearwater album, Jonathan Meiburg published a novel, formed a new band with members … Read more
Tim Heidecker: High School [Album Review]
Tim HeideckerHigh SchoolSpacebomb Records [2022] Tim Heidecker is a talented artist that over the years has been known both for his comedy and a more … Read more
The Dream Syndicate: Ultraviolet Battle Hymns And True Confessions [Album Review]
The Dream SyndicateUltraviolet Battle Hymns And True ConfessionsFire Records [2022] In many ways, Steve Wynn and his reconstituted band, The Dream Syndicate, have spent the … Read more
Andrew Bird: Inside Problems [Album Review]
Andrew BirdInside ProblemsLoma Vista Recordings [2022] In the follow-up to his fine, Headphone Approved 2019 release, My Finest Work Yet, Andrew Bird continues to deliver … Read more
John Doe: Fables In A Foreign Land [Album Review]
John DoeFables In A Foreign LandFat Possum Records [2022] Before “Folk music” was an established commercial genre and came to be associated as a specific … Read more
Mitch Mitchell’s Terrifying Experience: Appalachian Tontine [Album Review]
Mitch Mitchell’s Terrifying ExperienceAppalachian TontineThrill Kill City Music [2022] Somewhere in a Dayton, Ohio neighborhood, squalls of guitar feedback escape into the night air. Cans … Read more
Slang: Cockroach In A Ghost Town [Album Review]
SlangCockroach In A Ghost TownKill Rock Stars [2022] Slang started out as a side project for drummer Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney) and singer/guitarist Drew Grow, in … Read more
Craig Finn: A Legacy Of Rentals [Album Review]
Craig FinnA Legacy Of RentalsPositive Jams/Thirty Tigers [2022] By now, after eight albums with The Hold Steady and four solo studio albums, we’ve figured out … Read more
Weird Nightmare: Weird Nightmare [Album Review]
Weird NightmareWeird NightmareSub Pop Records [2022] Weird Nightmare is the new project from METZ guitarist and singer Alex Edkins. This self-titled debut record showcases a … Read more
The Black Keys: Dropout Boogie [Album Review]
The Black KeysDropout BoogieNonesuch Records [2022] For the last 20 years, the former Akron, Ohio duo that make up The Black Keys have been refining … Read more
Arcade Fire: WE [Album Review]
Arcade FireWEColumbia Records [2022] Nobody accuses Canadian band Arcade Fire of lacking ambition. In a brief paragraph attached to the CD-ROM version of their 6th … Read more
Pink Mountaintops: Peacock Pools [Album Review]
Pink MountaintopsPeacock PoolsATO Records [2022] Peacock Pools is the first Pink Mountaintops album in 8 years, and its creation was inspired by a wide range … Read more
Bloc Party: Alpha Games [Album Review]
Bloc PartyAlpha GamesInfectious/BMG [2022] Alpha Games is the sixth studio record from London’s Bloc Party and right from the opening track you can hear the … Read more
Curse Of Lono: People In Cars [Album Review]
Curse of LonoPeople In CarsSubmarine Cat Music [2022] The path to wrapping your head around the London band Curse of Lono and its third album, … Read more
Christian Lee Hutson: Quitters [Album Review]
Christian Lee HutsonQuittersANTI- [2022] In the songs from his ANTI-Records debut, 2020’s Beginners, modern folk/rock singer/songwriter Christian Lee Hutson wrote songs that looked back to … Read more
Yumi Zouma: Present Tense [Album Review]
Yumi ZoumaPresent TensePolyvinyl Records [2022] While Yumi Zouma is most comfortable in gentle confines of the midtempo electronic tones of classic Euro-pop sounds, the band … Read more
Ceramic Animal: Sweet Unknown [Album Review]
Ceramic AnimalSweet UnknownEasy Eye Sound [2022] Ceramic Animal, the 5-piece rock & pop band out of Doylestown, PA, had already released three independently produced albums … Read more
Midlake: For The Sake Of Bethel Woods [Album Review]
MidlakeFor The Sake Of Bethel WoodsATO Records [2022] Midlake, a band a UK reviewer described succinctly as “the Texan masters of folk-proggy-Americana, return nine years … Read more
The Weather Station: How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars [Album Review]
The Weather StationHow Is It That I Should Look At The StarsFat Possum Records [2022] The Weather Station’s 2021 release, Ignorance, won widespread critical acclaim … Read more
Hurray For The Riff Raff: Life On Earth [Album Review]
Hurray For The Riff RaffLife On EarthNonesuch Records [2022] While this is Hurray for the Riff Raff’s is its debut on the Nonesuch label, it’s … Read more
Sonic Youth: In/Out/In [Album Review]
Sonic YouthIn/Out/InThree Lobed Recordings [2022] Okay, my favorite time seeing Sonic Youth they were on tour opening for Neil Young & Crazy Horse in 1991, … Read more
Sarah Shook & The Disarmers: Nightroamer [Album Review]
Sarah Shook & The Disarmers NightroamerThirty Tigers [2022] North Carolina’s Sarah Shook & The Disarmers return with their third album, actually recorded just prior to … Read more
Dashboard Confessional: All The Truth That I Can Tell [Album Review]
Dashboard ConfessionalAll The Truth That I Can TellHidden Note Records/AWAL [2022] Harlan Howard’s oft repeated description of country music as “three chords and the truth,” … Read more
Band Of Horses: Things Are Great [Album Review]
Band Of HorsesThings Are GreatBMG [2022] We all know, Things Are Great is what you say, when you don’t want to tell people that you’re … Read more
Tears For Fears: The Tipping Point [Album Review]
Tears For FearsThe Tipping PointConcord Records [2022] For all the bright, dance floor potency of Tears for Fears’ 1985 smash hits “Shout” and “Everybody Wants … Read more