MUSIC REVIEWS

Stunning but straightforwardly delivered verses adorn a dark neon melody as we become entranced by a bassline just waiting to come alive beneath the surface of the mix. There’s a slight tension in the air as Hourstone laces the beats with Amanda Kang’s velvety vocal, yet the tempo of the music …

In the annals of modern musical experimentation, few acts capture the imagination quite like Streaking In Tongues. Hailing from the serene landscapes of Marquette, Michigan, this dynamic father-son duo, comprised of Ronnie and Elliott Ferguson, has once again seized the spotlight with their latest sonic masterpiece, “Einstein’s Napkin.” And let …

I began listening to Alex Wellkers’ Fly Away with trepidation. I feared that the European background and his familiarity with English as a second, possibly third, language might make it a difficult slog. Those fears were needless. Wellkers’ eleven tracks for the album cut across cultural lines. He has mastered English well …

Lee Shupp’s Rise Up has an exhortative quality befitting the album title. The eight energetic performances he’s written for this collection have varying textures while engaging listeners with gut-level immediacy. These are songs about flesh and blood life lived, not ideas or cliches, and he crouches them in everyday language that his …

In the vast landscape of indie folk music, B.D. Gottfried has carved out a niche all his own, and his latest offering, Ghosts & Girls serves as a testament to his artistic evolution and storytelling prowess. Produced and co-written with the Juno award-winning Siegfried Meier and mastered by the esteemed …

Old Man Jack is back in the headlines this spring with a deliciously rock-flavored blues jam in “Stone Cold,” and if you haven’t heard their music before, this song is a terrific way of getting introduced to their sound. Perhaps their most diversely-appointed composition so far, “Stone Cold” flexes a …

Pop music’s greatest hybrid features are becoming quite common in rock music these days, if not a new standard in the genre’s alternative scene, but there are still a handful of singer/songwriters around ready to answer prayers for old guard purities this spring. One of them is none other than …

Indie rock is an identity and one that has to be portrayed with a demeanor more indicative of humility than exaggerated confidence. While I don’t know that it’s fair to say that Champ de Mars are chasing their version of this identity solely to be true to form in their …

The new wave of Americana influences in pop started not too long ago and has only gotten stronger in the last few years, and in 2024 it’s bringing forth an era in provocative alternative folk music that a lot of us simply didn’t see coming. Phoenix duo Dorsten’s cerebral folk …

Greye’s new eleven-track release VII is a peak moment for this Florida four-piece. They’ve consistently churned out top-shelf material for more than ten years and show no signs of slowing down. VII finds their particular brand of Southern Rock 2.0 in fine fettle thanks to a varied instrumental attack, skillful songwriting, irrepressible energy, and …