Maxshh “Song For Dad” (2020)
..Rather than try to record what he’d conceived of as his far-reaching “super-incubated encyclopedia of everything,” he returned, instead, to one of his earliest listening roots: pop/rock music, songs formulated and stylized to leave a first impression of “nice” rather than “challenging.”... Read More
Rookie “I Can’t Have You But I Want You” (2020)
It’s just a moment, lasting but a second or two. The verse has come to a clipped end, the band pauses, as if taking a deep inhale on the precipice of something big, and then…the chorus blasts in! I really love that moment... Read More
Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul “Superfly Terraplane” (2019)
Little Steven, very much contrary to his most identifiable nickname, has always done everything big. Music, activism, television, radio, education…Never mind that old gray beard in the famous Dos Equis beer campaign, I’d be willing to say that Steven Van Zandt is, in fact, “The Most Interesting Man In The World.”... Read More
Marcus King Band “Where I’m Headed”
Occasionally I come upon a new artist whose musical capacity – let’s say, whose musical beauty – is almost literally staggering, so as to challenge finding a proper description or appreciation. I felt this way a few years ago when I first discovered a heretofore unknown 20-year-old named Marcus King.... Read More
Tony Molina “Walk Away” (2014)
In about the time it takes to peruse this piece you could listen to San Francisco hardcore micro-song master Tony Molina’s entire 2014 album, “Dissed And Dismissed.” It contains 12 tracks and runs a total of 11 and a half minutes. Yes, you read that right..... Read More
Chris Shiflett “Sticks & Stones” (2017)
Chris Shiflett has, for around 20 years, been the guitarist in two different bands, with two vastly different levels of notoriety: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, the greatest punk rock cover band ever (seriously, they are), and another one you’re more likely to have heard of, the Foo Fighters. Most recently, he’s set off... Read More
Tedeschi Trucks Band “I’m Gonna Be There” (2019)
What the Tedeschi Trucks Band can create is something truly rare: pure joy... Read More
The Sheepdogs “The Way It Is” (2012)
Many of the longest and closest friendships of my life derive directly from the softball teams I played on in my just-post-college years, particularly the legendary Polera’s Demolition Crew, winners of back-to-back (and belly-to-belly) league championships and continuous crusher of our arch-rival, Ted’s Auto Body. So I’m dedicating this post – for reasons that will... Read More
Hozier “Nina Cried Power” (2018)
“It’s not the waking, it’s the rising” With that softly delivered line, Hozier begins one of the hardest-hitting songs I’ve heard in a very long time. “It’s a song about protest songs,” he says, “It’s a thank you note to the spirit of protest.” Hozier vaulted from obscurity to international acclaim with the roof-raising, anthemic...... Read More
Greta Van Fleet “When The Curtain Falls” (2018)
If you even remotely keep tabs on what’s doing in the current music scene, by now you’ve probably heard of the band Greta Van Fleet, who are either the saviors of rock and roll or its sure sign of ruination. Little in the middle seems possible. With the release of their first full-length album this...... Read More