The Pretty Reckless, Death By Rock and Roll

I miss good old fashion rock. Thank goodness for The Pretty Reckless. At one time they were tagged as the next 'big' thing in rock. Then, the band was upended by the deaths of two people close to them. Drugs, booze, and depression then followed for lead singer and co-songwriter Taylor Momsen. Writing and recording new songs helped bring Momsen out from her darkness and earlier this year Momsen and the band returned, and in a BIG way, with their fourth album Death By Rock and Roll. 

'Freedom found me when I first heard the Beatles sing. Music surrounding me. Church bells start to ring. I stole my Daddy's vinyl. And burned that needle out. Jimi, Janis and Morrison. A garden full of sound.'  

Paying homage to the bands and music that influenced and impacted Momsen, she said in an interview that she really poured herself into this album in the most literal way possible-physically, mentally, blood, sweat, and tears. Listening to The Death by Rock and Roll you can tell that this is the case.  The album, as Classic Rock Mag wrote, 'is proof that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' And this is a band that is stronger and better than ever. This one fantastic, super-charged album.

This Circus Life, The Vast and Endless Sea

For some, life's road traveled can be more winding and unimaginable than others. For a few it can boarder on the truly far-fetched. This is definitely the case for This Circus Life's Charlie Mear, if his life's story is believed to be true. Regardless, Mear is an image rich writer and storyteller.

On The Vast and Endless Sea, the second album by This Circus Life, Mear and this English Band don't so much tell stories as capture moments of reflection of life's big and little...moments. And they are image rich and emotionally full. With song-structures and musical arrangements that remind me of The Leisure Society and Crowded House, The Vast and Endless Sea is pure listening enjoyment.

Pearl Charles, Magic Mirror

I will acknowledge that I'm a pushover for music that has a '70's soft-rock vibe and ethos to it. Add a strong female singer with vocal leanings towards a Christine McVie or Karen Carpenter and it's just about over. I'm sold. The problem is that so often the new music that fits in this lane lacks originality or heart. It just seems to copy and mimic what has already been. So in the end, I am left feeling disappointed after my initial enthusiasm. This is not the case with Pearl Charles.

Charles came onto my radar a few years ago with her 2018 debut album, Sleepless Dreamer. It was an intriguing album and while it did not make it onto my favorites list for that year, I have come back to it a number of time. Now Charles is back with her follow up, Magic Mirror, and I have to say that this a significant leap forward for her in terms of songwriting, musical arrangements, and production. Most important, on it, Charles has nailed just the right that balance between the past and the present demonstrating that 'the old can still sound new and refreshing.' As The Revue wrote, 'Charles is a 21st century rarity - a modern artist creating timeless music.' 

The Weather Station, Ignorance

If you have never familiarized yourself with Tamara Lindeman, who records under the name The Weather Station, you should. Over the past ten years, Lindeman has established herself as being an exceptional singer-songwriter. But what has been truly exciting to hear and experience is the evolution of Lindeman's sound. From the fingerpicking folk songs on her early albums to the 'sonically adventurous and rhythmically dense (NRP) songs on Ignorance, it's been 'a breathtaking sonic shift' (Record Collector).  

Lyrically speaking, Lindeman's writing has never been stronger. On Ignorance, Lendeman's fifth album, she is consumed 'with and bewildered by a compulsion to care.' (NPR). Lindeman sings "There are many things you may ask of me, but don't ask me for indifference. Don't come to me for distance." It is all in response to the album's title. As Lendeman has explained in interviews, there are so many people who refused to hear each other and refuse to understand. "People destroying things before they know them, people not wanting to know, people pushing and wrecking and breaking, and unable to see. Not seeing. Not wanting to see."There's a lot of ignorance in the world and it's all over the record to." She says that the album is in part about the process of moving through denial into understanding.

From the opener 'Robber' to 'Subdivisions', which closes it out, Ignorance is an impressive album and one that I was glad to have experienced. 

Typhoon, Sympathetic Magic

One of the most haunting and mesmerizing songs that I have ever heard is Typhoon’s Summer Home. Since I first heard it back in 2011, I have been a fan of the art and artistry of this Portland, OR band. Lead by Kyle Morton, this very large at times band (11 members) has released some remarkable albums over the years. Now, this past week without any prior notice, the band released their fifth album, Sympathetic Magic. 

 

This is a much more gentle and intimate album than their last album, Offerings. And that’s just about right, right now. As Morton wrote on the band’s website, ‘Back to basics. Compelled to isolation by the global pandemic, I wrote most of these songs in the summer of 2020 while quietly sitting in the backyard, contemplating the strangeness of life….. As the title suggests, the songs have to do with that specifically human magic - the symbolic world that we co-create and inhabit just by being a person among other people, through our countless, complex, and beautifully, painfully ordinary interactions.’

 

I got lost in this album and I suspect that you will too. Sympathetic Magic is another outstanding and memorable album by a very special band.

Lice, What Ails Our People Is Clear

Every once in a while, an album comes along that defies my understanding of what music can and should be. Lice’s Wasteland: What Ails Our People Is Clear is one of these albums.

 

As DIY Magazine wrote, Lice’s debut albums feels like their ‘conscious uncoupling from the contemporary musical landscape. A conceptual commentary on the band’s perceived banality of the ‘satirical guitar music boom’, they lampoon the cliche across 11 barnstorming tracks. But for all the bridge burning, there is still a touch of the familiar. Deeply rooted in modern left field sensibilities, they combine their unique brand of artistic experimentation with the grounding influence of their peers. The result is a collection of biting, esoteric hymns that readily combine the earthly and the cosmic.’

 

This is an album not to be missed, but come ready to be challenged.

Matthew Sweet, Catspaw

Matthew Sweet’s third album, Girlfriend, is one of my favorite albums. It was release way back in 1991. Thirty years on, on his 15th studio album, Catspaw, Sweet revisits the guitar-driven, alternative-rock sound, with power-pop hooks that that made Girlfriend a classic. What is new is Sweet, for the first time, plays the lead guitar. In fact, he plays every instrument on every song except drums. 

This new taking control of every facet of his music, including mixing and production, has breathed new life and energy into Sweet’s songwriting and music. It’s an absolute joy to hear. From beginning to end, Sweet not only delivers one of his best albums, but one that feels as fresh and relevant today as he did back when.

I Don't Know How But They Found Me, Razzmatazz

In a year that has weighted us all down, I have been thankful for the a the number of fun, upbeat, pop and rock albums that have been released to lift us up. We can all use some shimmer, shine, and dance beats! And for me, aging myself just a bit, dance beats with a 1980's aesthetic. And just when I thought that I heard the last of them, along comes Razzmatazz. 

On their debut album, I Don't Know How But They Found Me, iDKHOW for short, Dallon Weekes and Ryan Seaman provided the perfect counter balance to the world outside my window. These two are musicians 'who see the world of rock as a playground of joy and endless creative colour, determined to mould fresh sonic shapes out of the tried and tested raw materials of drums, guitars, and synthesisers.' (Kerrang). On Razzmatazz, they do so with a confidence and freedom that elevates their craft to a very special place. 

Lime Cordiale, 14 Steps To A Better

What a FUN album! Australian brothers, Oliver and Louis Leimbach, along with their bandmates are back with another gem of an album. With their sound that blends 'summery vibes and harmonies and bouncing melodies' (Billboard), Lime Cordiale's catchy sing-along-songs are second to none. Listening to this album will put a smile on your face and bounce in all 14 of your steps...to a better you. This is one of those albums that we all could use a bit more of this year. 

The Haar, The Haar: Irish Traditional Songs

The story goes that Irish folk and traditional percussionist Cormac Byrne and fiddler Adam Summerhayes were on holiday in Inis Oírr when they walked into a pub and were silenced along with everyone else as Molly Donnery began to sing unaccompanied. Fast forward some time and the three meet up in a studio along with accordionist Murray Grainer to record some Irish traditional songs. The four made no plans in advance of entering the studio. As they explained, they just let the music create itself. 

What resulted was the creation of a truly stunning collection of songs captured on their first and only takes. As Folk Radio wrote about The Haar, it's 'a very evocative record, bringing senses of the pain and futility of war and the salt of the ocean, as well as the beauty of the land and the strength of human relationships through its works and music. We need more music like this; spontaneous, alive and affecting, The Haar will take you on a journey and have you appreciating the purest of life's pleasures. Wonderful stuff.' Wonderful indeed!

DEFTONES, OHMS

As Sputnik Music Wrote about Ohms, it's a wrecking ball from the moment it arrives. It's 'abrasive, destructive, and alluringly beautify - but most of all, there's a profound purpose and longing behind every punch thrown.'  Frankly, I cannot think of another album that not only throws a punch as well as Ohms, but lands it so perfectly placed.  With its 'snarled atmospheric layers and soaring choruses', the Deftones have deliver one of their best albums in nearly twenty years. It is astonishingly good and one of the strongest contenders for album of the year. 

Widowspeak, Plum

Molly Hamilton and Robert Earl, the duo behind Widowspeak, have crafted an album that their record label best described as feeling comfortable and lived-in: humble in structure, heavy on mood. This all gives Plum a restless yet breezy feel that I just love.

At its core, Plum was a way for Hamilton to summarize ideas that were helpful for her in coming to terms with things that she could not have control over, the ‘existential angst that she was sitting with a lot’.  “From songs such as the title track, which illustrates the passing of time through the metaphor of bruised fruit, it’s clear that Hamilton spent a lot of time thinking about that very existential angst. The tracks “Money” and “Breadwinner” discuss earning a living even when we might not want to.” (Under The Radar)

Hamilton says that the songs on Plum reference life cycles of plants and fruit decay—these really simple symbols that are everywhere, that everybody understands. She said that she has been drawn to simpler things in the last couple of years..."Maybe it’s because everything feels really chaotic.”

Everything may feel chaotic for Hamilton, but it is the way that she and Earl have managed to tame and reframe them within this set of songs that makes Plum so good.

Foot, The Balance of Nature Shifted

Channeling that hard-rocking early nineties Seattle sound and vibe of bands like Alice In Chains, Foot drives the nine songs on The Balance of Nature Shifting with the petal to the floor. This Melbourne, Australian band are loud, heavy, angular, melodic, and thrilling. It's an unyielding album that must be cranked up and heard.

Ulver, Flowers Of Evil

I was unfamiliar with Ulver during their early, dark metal years. I first discovered them with their 2017 release, The Assassination of Julius Caesar. It was one of my favorite albums of that year and continues to be a regular listen for me. Now on their 25^th anniversary, they have released Flowers Of Evil. 

With influences of Depeche Mode and New Order, the band has officially moved as far away from their earlier music and sound as possible. Yet, they have managed to maintain the dark and doom undercurrent that has always defined their sound and storytelling.

As Allmusic exclaimed, 'The music on Flowers of Evil traverses with jarring effectiveness both past and future. Its songs explore grief, hysteria, madness, vulnerability, and romance as inseparable and indelible aspects of the human spirt, resulting in a masterwork of the familiar and the disorienting.

It all makes for thrilling listen.

Creeper, Sex, Death & The Infinite Void

WOW. WOA?! WOW! That was my reaction listing to Creeper's amazingly original, inventive, and over-the-top sophomore  album Sex, Death & The Infinite Void. Since then, I have been trying to figure out just how to describe this one. Then I read Kerrang!'s perfect review; "If the coquettish camp of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is your idea of a good time, or you’ve enjoyed the morbid-idiosyncrasies of a John Waters movie, the lovingly-crafted universe evoked by Sex, Death & The Infinite Void might just feel like home. Imbued with endless passion, colour and a carnival of glorious sound, it’s a musical marvel." A marvel indeed.

Oddisee, Odd Cure

Oddisee, aka Amir Mohamed, arrived home from touring in Thailand as the Covid-19 pandemic was hitting the US in March. While in self-isolating, he began writing and recording new music. Like many of us, he also spent time checking in with his family. Unlike most of us, he recorded a number of those conversations. Four months later, he has dropped a surprise EP that weaves six new hip-hop, jazz-soul tinged songs that came out of that period of time with some of those recorded conversations. 

Oddisee has always explored socials issues and judgements that cause inequalities in our society in his music. In this this time of Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter, Oddisee's music has never been more relevant. On Odd Cure, the interwoven family conversations bring a new dimension and relevancy to his art. It also brings a level humanity that I have not heard on another album so far this year. While I have been a big fan of everything that Oddisee has done to date, Odd Cure is something special.

Eric Hutchinson, Class of 98

In the press lease for Class of 98, Eric Hutchinson explains that sometime last year, he came to a strange realization: he kept daydreaming about high school. It had been over 20 years since the singer-songwriter had graduated, yet the adolescent dreams, hopes, fears, anxieties and emotions he faced as a kid began flooding back. Suddenly, he felt transported back into his teenage self and those years filled with the kind of alienation and private angst that is recognizable to most anyone who’s ever been 16. Now, years later, he has chronicled those adolescence years. Wrapping them in ’90s inspired alt-rock-pop music from bands like Fountains Of Wayne and Weezer, Hutchinson has crafted or one of the most memorable albums of the year.

A.A. Williams, Forever Blue

The first time I listened to A.A. Williams' Forever Blue, it happened to be on a cloudy, rain soaked filled day. It provided the perfect backdrop for listening to this dark and striking album. Williams, who is a classically trained cellist and pianist, started playing the guitar after becoming hooked on alt-metal. It was the beginning of her exploration into fusing elements of classical, post-rock, and metal into something uniquely her own. On Forever Blue, that fusion with its moments of quiet and explosiveness, creates the perfect mood for Williams' 'rumination on feels of isolation, autonomy, and the anxieties surrounding love and lost.' (The Line of Best Fit). It all makes for a spine-tingling album that grabs you, draws you in, and won't let you go. 

Roos Jonker & Dean Tippet

These are not my words, but they encapsulate how I felt listening to Roos Jonker and Dean Tippet's new album. "While the world as we know it is changing rapidly, some things remain happily the same. This untitled, brand new album by the Amsterdam-based singer-songwriter Roos Jonker, featuring her good friend singer-songwriter Dean Tippet, is a good example of old-fashioned crafts that will survive whatever happens. Jonker sounds as if she was touched by an angel, sounding as if she is right there in your room, sitting and singing right next to you, while you daydream away or read a book – you can almost touch her breath and see her soul."  Sonar Kollektiv

The Dead Tongues, Transmigration Blues

In a recent interview, Ryan Gustafson aka The Dead Tongues was asked which elements of nature he spends the most time with and how it impacts his work. Gustafson said that living in a

cabin pretty deep into the Blue Ridge Mountains he’s immersed in nature. 

He said, “It’s stunning and dynamic with big sunsets, old growth trees and wild storms, bears and coyote packs, but the more time I spend out here, the more apparent the subtle changes in environment become. It’s always in transition and conversation. I feel like my music and writing is entirely affected by the environment I’m in and trying to understand my experience within it. Sometimes that comes out in story, imagery or just a sound. Without a doubt there’s a magic and spirit out here I’m reaching out to.” And this is the essence Transmigration Blues. Simply one of the best albums of the year.