MUSIC REVIEWS

Creeping out of the silence with a hesitant sonic slither, “Circle of Sixes” is waiting for anyone brave enough to enter its groove-packed gateway into Darren Michael Boyd’s virgin instrumental LP Lifting the Curse, and in the next four minutes that follow, the track will set the stage for everything …

Brooklyn does it again. There truly must be something in that water in that town – another singer/songwriter has delivered a hit. Dave Yim, who performs under the name Mount Hudson, has released the just under-four-minute folk/pop rock song “Lakeside Water”. This song is  just a thrill. URL: https://www.mounthudson.com/ “Lakeside …

Chugging guitars come flanked with discordant bass and drum flurries in “IMO JSYK BTW.” A J Mascis-flavored fuzz finds its way into the mix of a walloping “That Song” much as the squeaky-clean aesthetics of a post-post-punk riff rock dominate the comprisal of “All In The Past.” Terry Ohms is …

When You Coming Home, the debut album from Ruark, doesn’t take very long to get us started with a righteous rhythm at all; in its opening title cut, we don’t have to wait for the wallop of gentle harmonies to come oozing out of the speakers at all – it …

A ghostly piano harmony follows every word Thomas Charlie Pedersen sings to us in the balladic “Green Plateau,” but as strong an impression as this song makes, it doesn’t dwarf the ensuing emotion we’ll soon embrace in the guitar-driven “The World is Not Your Oyster,” the tune that immediately follows …

“I need you / Like a bullet to the brain, just to see if I’m alive / I need you / Like an arrow to the heart, just to feel something inside” croons a seductive Morgan Mallory in his stunning new single “Bullet,” released this past January 23rd, with every …

2019 was a really awesome year for independent rock groups, with acts throughout the American and British underground making an impact worth writing home about. Stateside, New York/Florida-transplants Kings County issued a debut album that got a noteworthy reaction from critics and fans largely on the strength of star-caliber songs …

Exotic, surreal and subtly a driving force behind every stitch of audio that we’ll hear in the five minutes “Friend of Mine (Elton’s Epic),” the new single from Rob Alexander, will play, the piano keys that stretch their melodies out through our speakers in this second cut from Alexander’s Being Myself record …

“If you’re gonna run with the big dogs, you gotta get off of the porch” announce Flat River Band as the title track of their new album Every Dog Has Its Day starts to play. Blunt and free from the predictably enigmatic content that has become all too common among mainstream country …

Surreal and soft as silk in “The Flame (featuring Kerry Ironside),” robust and yet gentle in “Planet 8 (featuring Sharon Court),” the string play in Andy Michaels’ new album Incendiary Heart is a cornerstone of the record’s charisma, but don’t get me wrong – it’s but one component in the multifaceted splendor …