Tag: album reviews

Wild Child

Fools/Dualtone Records

Fools is a damn near-perfect album. From the way singers Kelsey Wilson and Alexander Beggins marry their vocals throughout, to the album’s ebullient yet thoughtful tonal scope, the experience can’t be beat. The rock-stomper “Meadows” is layered with a slightly unhinged piano that gives the track a delightfully off-kilter vibe; “The Cracks” has a dreamy aesthetic that calls to mind early Eisley; and the title track is a catchy piece of glitter grunge that will knock your socks off. “Bullets” is representative of the album as a whole: piano pop sensibility with shades of swaggering New Orleans jazz. The track sounds lighthearted and free until you hear lines like, “I can’t love you like I should/My heart is broke so I can’t bend.” This juxtaposition of moods and feelings keeps the listener interested and guessing at the same time on this clever, wondrous album.

Jenny & Tyler

Of This I’m Sure/Residence Music

Whether it’s the driving, swelling orchestral title track or the gorgeous ambient folk-pop update of fan favorite “Song for You,” Jenny & Tyler’s latest stirs your soul with anthemic music, lyrics that wind their way through your heart and crushing harmonies. Of This I’m Sure explores the complexities of love (“You are a Song”), heartbreak (“Where to Begin”) and loyalty (“Walk with You”), and does so with aplomb. Much of the album is charming and coy, but “When I Meet You” delivers its straightforward message by pairing lines like “When I meet you/All the colors lacking luster/They will shine” in a lullaby about the couple’s daughter. It’s touching without being sappy, and reflects the wonder that accompanies the arrival of new life, that unswerving hold it has on hope.

Bronze Radio Return

Light Me Up/DigSin Records

The latest release from this indie rock outfit is nothing short of a delight, even if the content is not always intended to be delightful. Such juxtaposition is found throughout Light Me Up and stands as one of the album’s greatest strengths. Classic pop numbers such as “Before I Get There” are strewn with thoughtful ruminations like “I do believe/That the measure of a man/Is the length he will go/From the place he began,” and while there is a solid, danceable sensibility on “Only Temporary,” it is anchored by a narrative about the crutches we use or allow ourselves to be. The ebullient title track is reminiscent of Knox Hamilton’s “Work it Out,” while “Nowhere to Be” has the kind of not-quite pop, not-quite folk feel of early Mumford & Sons. Singer and songwriter Chris Henderson casts a wide emotional and lyrical net here, giving the audience something with sonic beauty and complexity.

Julienne Dweck

Black Licorice/self-released

Four-plus years after her delightful debut album, On Paper, Dweck is finally back with a new release, and it was worth the wait. Fans will note that much of what they loved about her relationship-focused songs, occasional bits of whimsy and adventurous musical choices are still here. “If Only” has a surprising trip-hop vibe, while “Your Way to Me” is a bit of jangly, not-quite-’80s-era synth pop, complete with heavy tambourine and keys. “Under the Sea” is fun, with its jazz-tinged pop and the dreamy lyrical references that evoke Ariel. The insecurity-themed country rocker “Uncomfortable” is vintage Dweck, and she proves her prowess in creating a thought- provoking narrative in “Nearly,” a subdued track that contemplates one who got away and lingers on what might have been. The album occasionally veers into a lighter version of Regina Spektor, but Dweck’s winning way with words makes that a minor complaint.

Silversun Pickups

Better Nature/New Machine

The lines “This is not connection/It’s only an impression” from the song “Connection” are a perfect representation of Better Nature’s narrative sensibility. “Pins and Needles” and “Friendly Fires” dive into variations on the same theme, with their titles hinting at the need to feel and the danger of vulnerability. “Latchkey Kids” champions the notion of commonality, and the feeling of freedom on the album’s closing track, “The Wild Kind,” is downright palpable. Better plays in part like a kissing cousin to the Swoon record, with raw, raucous tunes filling much of the album. Fuzzy guitars are offset by Brian Aubert’s nasally vocals, and several tracks change time or tone at a moment’s notice. This is Silversun Pickups, pulling off its best rock experience.

Brooke Annibale

The Simple Fear/self-released

Annibale’s first new material since the 2013 Words in Your Eyes EP is a strong release. Centered on the power we give to the unknown, The Simple Fear examines that universal mindset with unapologetic frankness. In “Like the Dream of it,” Annibale admits that reality is often murkier than the dreams we dream. She knowingly sings about the difficulty of finding the good things that come from pain in “The Good Hurt.” But she systematically breaks down fear’s power in “Go,” with lines such as “Keeping me safe/Will only keep me from growing,” and on “Patience” she croons, “If I’ve learned anything in this life/It’s that the things that scare you the most/Are always worth the time.” A hybrid of familiar folk-pop leanings with some of the electric, borderline qualities that first appeared on Words, The Simple Fear has a warm ring to it that finds Annibale as captivating as ever.

Thunderbitch

Thunderbitch/self-released

If you think Brittany Howard is too confined as the frontwoman of Alabama Shakes, look no further than her new side project, Thunderbitch. To say she is unhinged here—and good God is it glorious—is an understatement. Guttural roars tear out of her lungs like cannon fire on many tracks, with “Closer” being a prime example, and the album is chock-full of raw, absolutely filthy rock ‘n’ roll (think Jerry Lee Lewis by way of The White Stripes). Blistering surf punk numbers like “Wild Child” set the album ablaze with frenetic energy, and even on the comparatively mid-tempo rocker “Very Best Friend,” Howard belts out the lyrics with all the force of a hurricane. Thunderbitch is a raucous ode to the proverbial life of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, complete with a love song to the ultimate rock star stage prop of years ago, “Leather Jacket.”

Atlas Genius

Inanimate Objects/Warner Music

On the heels of the band’s 2013 breakthrough debut, When It Was Now, the Australia-based duo Atlas Genius’ sophomore album is surprisingly more subdued and shows a different side of the band. Easygoing numbers like “Where I Belong” include acoustic interludes amid the warm keys and synths, while “Balladino” aptly sums up much of the album’s conflict: “We’re losing height but holding on/We’re coming in low and way too fast.” Moments of the engaging dance pop that populated the band’s debut are here, like the positively bubbly “The City We Grow,” but even danceable tracks like “The Stone Mill” are laced with despair, “And is it what we waited for?/We could never figure it out.” Keith Jeffery gives a subtle vocal performance, rarely raising his voice or letting his emotions get the better of him, but he does so without sounding numb or boring, which is no small feat.

Foals

What Went Down/Warner Music

On the Foals’ fourth album, the UK indie rockers are getting down with a darkly beautiful side, whether it’s singer Yannis Philippakis mumbling melodiously or finding catharsis in his banshee screams. Moody titles like “Lonely Hunter” define this as a heavier record than previous releases, and “Albatross” features throbbing dance beats and primal percussion throughout as the song builds to an unimaginable crescendo marked by a high-climbing guitar solo. The subdued electric guitar and keys ballad “London Thunder” is as picturesque in its descriptions of skylines as it is about the darkest night of the soul. Moments of lighter pop fare appear on “Birch Tree,” for example, but the tension between the exquisite and the excruciating gives What Went Down some serious teeth.

Darlingside

Birds Say/Thirty Tigers

Birds Say is one of the rare instances where a band completely avoids the sophomore slump, taking its prodigious talent and somehow magnifying it by 10. The string rock quintet-turned folk is at its best here, whether it’s the dizzying bluegrass—taken up a notch by the clever mandolin licks from Auyon Mukharji—with wry, whimsical lyrics (“Harrison Ford”), laying down some beautiful Americana (“White Horses”) or making the hair on your neck stand up with the exquisite melodies and four-part harmonies (“Do You Ever Live”). With little more than subtle hand claps and languid strings, the group gives the title track subdued beauty, especially when paired with lyrics such as, “Don’t know what the birds say / Don’t know what the birds / Listen to them all day / Nothing sounds like words.” Vivid imagery and forthright examinations of love are among the album’s key themes, all of which make Birds Say an unquestionable knockout of a record.

JR JR

JR JR/Warner Bros.

If you like the cut of the jib on JR JR’s (formerly Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.) last album, The Speed of Things, you’ll be inclined to like JR JR as well. It’s an extension of the musical and lyrical territories that Speed explored—meaning that much of this album feels sedated and introspective. “Break My Fall” is a contemplative number about the people who make or break our lives, while “Caroline” is a confident ode to not giving a damn what others think. Much of the album follows theses types of thought-provoking themes, and the music that accompanies the journey is pretty eclectic. “Philip the Engineer” has a lumbering pop sound, while “Gone” features shades of Paul Simon in its funky bass and overall melody. “James Dean” plays like an R&B slow jam that got tossed into a blender with an ’80s-era synth ballad, and it represents a new era for this band. It’s a nice restart.

Barrence Whitfield & The Savages

Under the Savage Sky/Bloodshot Records

So this is what punk sounds like if you mash it with rockabilly, R&B and the musical energy that made Chubby Checker a legend. From Whitfield’s unhinged vocals on the raucous “Rock and Roll Baby” to the lively, dance-inducing “The Claw,” which harkens back to the days of bands coining dance crazes like the twist, this record is an almost non-stop rock party. Rumblers like “Bad News Perfume” and “Katy Didn’t” highlight the roller coaster ride of love with lines such as “She makes me want to claw my eyes out” and “Katy tried to kill me with a clip-on tie/Katy didn’t care so why should I?” Under the Savage Sky is a high-octane, gritty album that will leave you sore in places you didn’t know you could be sore by the time you’re through dancing. Party on.

P.O.D.

The Awakening/T-Boy/UMe

P.O.D. ended its previous record, Murdered Love, with singer Sonny Sandoval dropping f-bombs and checking off a list of the many forms of baggage that Christians bring to the table. The Awakening takes up the cause by way of a concept record featuring a drug-addicted, alcoholic, home-wrecking, neglected man going through a series of mishaps before righting his life in the end. The record is simultaneously entertaining and thought-provoking, from the pummelling opener “Am I Awake?” to the punk single “Speed Demon,” it’s a trip into the dark void of a soul that has lost all hope. “Criminal Conversations” employs a slightly dreamier aspect to the rock, aided by the haunting vocals of In This Moment’s Maria Brink and “Want it All” surprises us with the appearance of keys and trumpets hinting at acid jazz. For a band that’s been around for a couple of decades, this is a fresh entry to their discography.

Joe Satriani

Shockwave Supernova/Sony

Almost 30 years in and Satch still knows how to bring the rock, the whole rock, and nothing but the rock. The title track is a spacey rocker of the air guitar variety, while “If There is No Heaven” is the sort of driving rocker that has become his trademark, complete with sky-scraping solos and an indelible melody that burrows into your brain and never leaves. “Crazy Joey” highlights Satriani’s ability to switch from a simple mid-tempo rock number to lightning-quick scale work the next, topping it off with an injection of funky, bluesy riffs, while “In My Pocket,” reminds us he hasn’t forgotten how to make a dirtier, less-produced rock song. Shockwave Supernova is his 15th studio album and it hits all the marks we’ve come to expect: soaring solos, radio-ready, hook-heavy tracks and ambient tunes that feel so otherworldly they have names like “Stars Race Across the Sky.”

Vintage Trouble

1 Hopeful Rd./Blue Note Records

With its sophomore release, this quartet proves two things: the mere idea of a sophomore slump can kiss their grits, and anyone who thinks rock is dead is dead wrong. Led by the dynamic vocals of Ty Taylor and a sound that embraces the ’50s and ’60s, this album is a treat. Whether it’s the gospel-meets-pedal-steel on “Run Like the River” or the blow-the-house-down mover “Strike Your Light,” the album burns with high-energy. Then you have bluesy numbers (“If You Loved Me”), mid-tempo love ballads (“Shows What You Know”) and straight up soul (“Before the Tear Drops”) to give the album some emotional equilibrium. Charisma and swagger flow through every inch of the record’s 42-plus minutes and it leaves us hoping that 1 Hopeful Rd. leads to another.

Noah Gundersen

Carry the Ghost/Dualtone Records

Carry the Ghost is an apt title for Noah Gundersen’s latest collection of songs: Some would give up the ghost, but he’d rather figure out why it’s there in the first place. And while this does not make for an overly pleasant record, there is beauty in the darkness. “Jealous Love” makes its point through soft rock harmonies, while “The Difference” takes an upbeat, ambient folk approach. Gundersen aims for his catharsis directly when God comes into question. He rails passionately against religion and Christians in “Show Me the Light,” and perhaps more than any other lines on the album, these words from “Empty from the Start” summarize his feelings: “Blood and bones / No Holy Ghost / Empty from the start.” Gundersen looks for solace in the here and now, wanting to love (“I Need a Woman”) and find purpose in self-expression (“Selfish Art”). Ghost may be a tough listen at times, but it’s direct from the artist’s soul.

Halie Loren

Butterfly Blue/Justin Time Records

She may be little known in the U.S., but in Japan Halie Loren is a star who consistently tops the jazz charts. Seductive and flirty in a straight-ahead jazz track one minute (“Our Love is here to Stay”), and quietly beautiful and fragile the next (“After the Fall”), Loren performs with effortless grace. Whether tossing in melodic scatting (“Yellow Bird”) or French lyrics (“I Wish You Love”), Loren also keeps you on your toes throughout. Loren’s strengths lie in her subtlety and her control—never resorting to powerhouse vocals just because she can. This is most evident on “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” where her voice hovers in a soulful moan that conveys the song’s painful, crushing feelings. Butterfly Blue is a beautiful entry point to Loren’s enormous talent.

Turnpike Troubadours

Turnpike Troubadours/Thirty Tigers

Equal parts country, bluegrass, folk and Americana, the Turnpike Troubadours’ latest is an upbeat good time. Evan Felker leads the way with swagger, whether crooning for a lover to be honest with him (“Doreen”) or waltzing through a hip-shaking roadhouse rocker about a woman whose presence is “going to wreck this town” (“The Mercury”). This record will grab you with its country melodies on tracks like “Down Here,” and the downtrodden electric guitar ballad “Fall Out of Love.” The Troubadours shed new light on the consequences be damned approach with tunes about living in the moment, drinking hard, driving fast and engaging in relationships with reckless passion—a complete recipe for rock ‘n’ roll.

Briana Marela

All Around Us/ Jagjaguwar

This is a beauty of a record. Abstract, ambient and guided by a first-rate vocalist and songwriter who makes All Around Us a stunner. Deliciously paradoxical, the album manages to sound explosive and subtle all at once, its exploration of relationships in their myriad forms is universal, while lyrically it remains starkly personal. Pop tracks like “I Don’t Belong to You” and “Surrender” are irresistibly euphoric, and “Dani” stands as the album’s greatest achievement as much for its emotional depth as for the impressive sonic palette it employs. Marela enchants with her rich, breathy vocals (get a load of her melodious intro in the first minute of “Everything is New”), and holds you in her sway from start to finish. All Around Us loses a tick of steam at the end as the album starts to sound like one neverending song, but it’s a damn beautiful song, and so this hardly qualifies as a complaint.

The Delta Saints

Bones/Loud & Proud

The Delta Saints are back with one hell of a rock ‘n’ roll album. Bones is filled to the brim with bluesy stompers, soulful howls and scratchy whispers, on this dynamic album that takes on soul, Americana, gospel and R&B.

It’s hard not to detect The White Stripes’ influence in the fuzzy rocker “Sometimes I Worry,” and “Heavy Hammer” is a raucous, dancetastic tune. Toss in the funky, hip- shaking “Zydeco,” and the moody, off-kilter guitar licks on the absolutely filthy Americana rock track “Dirt,” and there’s no resisting the magnetic pull of this record. Singer Ben Ringel is a spellbinding force of nature who makes the good times roll.

Poema

Pretty Speeches EP/Self-released

Pretty Speeches, the latest EP from Nashville-based sister duo, Poema, is breezy pop music at its best. These tracks are a perfect accompaniment for a trip down the coast on a sunny day, and at the end of this 20- minute experience, you will likely be sad that it’s over. Dreamy guitars and funky percussion augment lead singer Elle Puckett’s lush, slightly hip-hop flavored delivery on the chorus of “Go Away,” and the easygoing number “Enough Messing Around” is ready for radio. “Get to Me” pulls off a tricky marriage of Hawaiian rhythms and lounge jazz, while “Forget You in L.A.” is ’70s-era AM pop radio through and through. “Madeline,” a tale about loving someone whose heart and mind belong to someone else, ends the EP on a gorgeous, somber note—and when that last note has played, don’t be surprised to find yourself starting the EP over again.

Jason Isbell

Something More than Free/Thirty Tigers

“Are you living the life you chose? / Or are you living the life that chose you?” These two lines aptly sum up the tone of Jason Isbell’s latest release. This electrifying collection of 11 songs is loaded with palpable tension between being held captive by something (or someone) and being free, and realizing that freedom isn’t always enough if you don’t know how to handle it. “Speed Trap Town” plays like a lament after realizing you’ve broken free from a small town only to become trapped in a larger one, and while “To a Band That I Loved” starts with all the promise and excitement that initial attraction brings, heartbreak sometimes still awaits in the long run. “Children of Children” furthers the notion that life can live you, recognizing that the effect of your existence on someone else’s life can be shackling. Isbell’s scratchy, slightly twangy drawl is engaging, and the raw combination of Americana, folk, country, blues and rock is an undeniable feast for the ears, mind and heart.

Sharon Van Etten

I Don’t Want to Let You Down EP/Jagjaguwar

Over the course of four new tracks and a live version of the rarity “Tell Me,” Sharon Van Etten ambles through a series of stark emotional landscapes and paints exquisite portraits of relationships in states of bliss and disarray on her new EP. The title track is poignant with its universal refrain, and she bares her soul on “I Always Fall Apart,” admitting how she responds to crises. “Just Like Blood” is filled with telling lines like, “Shot me up like a gun/Then you run like blood,” matched with a lazy rock beat that’s slowly dying out, and when she opens “Pay My Debts” with the line, “It took me years to find true peace,” it’s hard not to pay rapt attention to the rest of the story. Van Etten is often subtle in her delivery, but whether crooning to an ambient folk melody or letting an Americana rock groove take over, she certainly doesn’t let the listener down.

Our Friend and the Spiders

It Will End Quietly/self-released

Between the heavy doses of rock which populate this album, the insanely catchy—if at times slightly off-kilter—melodies, and singer-guitarist Mathieu Morin’s soaring vocals (mash Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds together with Muse’s Matthew Bellamy and you’re not far off), make this pure fun. “Keeping on Marching” has the sort of anthemic, fist-pumping, arena rock bombast that fans of Muse can appreciate, while “The 55” is a slow boiler which explodes towards the end. “The Sight of Sin” and “Deranged” play like kissing cousins with cascading guitars and psychedelic rock perfectly mirroring the unsettling content within each track and “Bleeding the Sky” is filled with so many ominous chords you’ll think the Apocalypse has arrived. Rock music, at its core, is supposed to be a damn good time, and this is indeed that.

Jon Foreman

The Wonderlands: Sunlight EP/Word Entertainment

Foreman’s songs, whether for Switchfoot, Fiction Family or solo, are always insightful, engaging looks at the complicated nature of humanity in all its awesome beauty and staggering disarray. Sunlight, the first in a four-EP series that features one song for each hour of the day, is no different. The epic pop opener “Terminal” stares unflinchingly at the short-term nature of our existence, while the closer, “All of God’s Children,” paints a familiar Foreman-esque picture of human nature. Sonically, this album falls in between Switchfoot’s pop-oriented moments and the acoustic core of Foreman’s solo EPs, with the upbeat, anthemic “You Don’t Know How Beautiful You Are” sounding like an outtake from the Fading West sessions, while “Patron Saint of Rock and Roll” plays like a kissing cousin to “Hey Jude.” Foreman’s ability to offer hope without sugarcoating the messiness of life is as strong as ever.

Allen Stone

Radius/Capitol

Building off the strength of his self-titled debut, Stone’s unapologetic point of view and charismatic performances are back again on this delightful R&B-meets-funk-meets-soul record. Stone can croon his way through a romantic song easily (“Love”), and then bounce back with some of the social commentary he is becoming known for. Whether it’s lines like these in “The Wire”: “Who made up these rules?/Who’s a star, and who’s a tool?” or when he calls out Americans as a whole—taking a surprising shot at himself and his own heritage in “American Privilege,” Stone’s going to call a spade a spade every time. That said, he successfully balances the head with the heart on this record, never seeking to destroy, but rather to educate in a way that heals and inspires, all while trying to entertain.

Best Coast

California Nights/Harvest Records

Records about the crises, neuroses and yo-yoing within modern relationships are not supposed to be this fun, but damn it, Best Coast’s new record is just that. Chock full of crunchy guitars and alt-pop melodies that are a throwback to the ’90s (think Letters to Cleo), California Nights will make you want to dive into your next relationship with gusto, obstacles be damned. Bethany Cosentino’s dreamy vocals hold you throughout as she sings about unrequited love (“Jealousy”) or the danger of letting a location define you, as on the title track. And regardless of whether the songs are sedated guitar ballads (“Wasted Time”), punk pop anthems (“Heaven Sent”) or vaguely Cars-esque pop rock (“In My Eyes”), every moment of this record is electrifying.

Kopecky

Drug for the Modern Age/ATO Records

A “family band” no more, Kopecky is back with a slightly new name and a slightly new sound, but its penchant for making fun music hasn’t changed a bit. Drug for the Modern Age will be a sonic surprise to some longtime fans, but it’s worth checking out. The love of rock and acoustic folk-pop has morphed into electro-pop this time (check out the supreme “Die Young,” or the hook-laden ’80s-era throwback “My Love” for proof), and with synths blazing on “Better Luck Next Time” it’s easy to think this entire album is going to be a change of pace for the band. But the sexy rock single “Quarterback,” and straight-ahead danceable pop of “Vancouver” remind us that these guys are still enjoying themselves. Singers Kelsey Kopecky and Gabe Simon harmonize and play off each other throughout, and when they join forces on the seductive, synth and beat machine-led “Thrill,” their chemistry is downright electric.

SOAK

Before We Forgot How to Dream/Rough Trade Records

One of the darlings of this year’s SXSW, 19-year-old Bridie Monds-Watson—aka SOAK—is about to dazzle you. The singer-songwriter guitarist strikes deep throughout, detailing the angst, beauty, wonder and isolation of growing up as a teenager in Northern Ireland. Balancing everything from atmospheric folk rock (“Blud”) to swelling orchestral ballads (“Oh Brother”), this album flows across the subgenres of folk. Lyrically, the content runs the gamut from the restless energy of youth (“Reckless Behaviour”) to musical interludes with ponderous titles (“If Everyone is Someone—No One is Everyone”). Monds-Watson gives largely understated performances that make Before We Forgot How to Dream a magnificent examination of the fear and wonder that embodies the transition from youth to adulthood.

love+war

Ghosts, Volume One/self-released

If an EP’s sole purpose is to whet your appetite for a full-length project that’s just around the corner, then you’ll be starving for what’s next after listening to love + war’s debut EP, Ghosts, Volume One. The brainchild of singer-songwriter Coury Palermo and producer-guitarist Ron Robinson, the project entrances you for 10 solid minutes. The down-tempo electronica cover of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” is bewitching, especially with the steady throb that functions as a heartbeat throughout, and the ambient cover of the Royksopp/Robyn track “Monument” is chillingly beautiful with its echoing guitars and heavenly vocals. Pricilla Summer Coffey provides soulful vocals throughout, and marries her talents exceptionally with Palermo’s vocal presence on the gospel-meets-R&B mash-up of Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” and Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.”