Teenage Fanclub return with their latest album, Endless Arcade, which Merge Records will release in the U.S. on April 30. The longstanding Scottish pop-rockers have gifted fans an advance taste of Endless Arcade with a video of the single version of sublime opening song, “Home.” The album version extends to seven minutes. Endless Arcade is… Continue reading Teenage Fanclub Invite Us to Their Endless Arcade
Tag: Folk Rock
Neil Young’s Archives II Box Out Nov. 20
Neil Young obviously has a staggering number of recordings stashed away going back more than half a century. He’s got so much that even though there’ve been numerous portions released over the past 15 years as part of his multi-pronged Archives project, there’s still far more in the pipeline, he’s always behind schedule and the… Continue reading Neil Young’s Archives II Box Out Nov. 20
The Humms Count Down to Vampire Hours
It’s been ten years since The Humms were a’suckin’ on your brain juice through a cactus straw with their debut album, Lemonland. That far-out freakout established the Athens band’s no-boundaries nature, playing like a weekend at an all-encompassing ‘60s rock festival where there’s hippie country tunes over here, a groovy beat combo in the other… Continue reading The Humms Count Down to Vampire Hours
Box Set Shines Light on Richard and Linda Thompson
Hard Luck Stories, an 8-CD box set of Richard and Linda Thompson’s work together from 1972 to 1982, is scheduled to be released on Sept. 11 via Universal in the UK. As is the usual standard, a load of bonus material is being included as well, including 30 previously unreleased recordings. Each of the six… Continue reading Box Set Shines Light on Richard and Linda Thompson
Smoke Fairies – Darkness Brings the Wonders Home
Smoke Fairies play the real folk blues. At first glance, that’s likely the last thing you’d expect out of these two almost stereotypically prim-and-proper looking British lasses, which is part of what makes them even cooler. Upon emerging from Chichester in southern England some 13 years ago, Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies have conjured some… Continue reading Smoke Fairies – Darkness Brings the Wonders Home
Indigo Girls Take a Long Look
From the looks of their latest promotional photo, I figured that in the wake of canceled tour dates due to COVID-19 Amy ‘n’ Emily had started a house painting/gutter cleaning/small carpentry repair business, with 30% of profits going toward the Indigenous Gay and Lesbian Communist Workers of Color Against Fracking Alliance Network, but nope, it’s… Continue reading Indigo Girls Take a Long Look
Peter Laughner – Peter Laughner
Ain’t it fun when you’re gonna die young? Tragedy has always been an integral component of the rock ‘n’ roll equation, having experienced its share of unsavory ODs and twisted collisions and hapless chaps simply boarding the wrong charter flight. It’s a magnet for gifted fuckups, and its history is littered with them. Peter Laughner,… Continue reading Peter Laughner – Peter Laughner
Smoke Fairies Emerge Out of the Darkness
One of our favorite British duos of these early years of the 21st century, Smoke Fairies drifted off the horizon for a few years after touring for their last proper studio album, 2014’s Smoke Fairies, and the subsequent Christmas-inspired release Wild Winter. “For a while we shifted our attentions elsewhere, waiting for the unfathomable desire… Continue reading Smoke Fairies Emerge Out of the Darkness
Bob Dylan’s Nashville Years Get the Boot
The latest installment (Vol. 15) of the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series comes out Nov. 1, and focuses on the years 1967-1969, a period which found Dylan recording in Nashville and stripping down his sound and lyrics after several anthemic rock-oriented albums. The three-disc collection begins with a disc of outtakes and alternate versions from the… Continue reading Bob Dylan’s Nashville Years Get the Boot
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
It’s acceptable to like Fleetwood Mac and Journey now, but Linda Ronstadt remains filed away as a ’70s schlock icon. For good reason, too. Michael Nesmith noted in song that Ronstadt mostly bridged a gap between Marie Osmond and Bonnie Raitt. Today, she seems more like the Me Decade’s take on Celine Dion – with… Continue reading Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
Gregg Allman’s First Solo Forays Re-Released
Gregg Allman’s 1973 solo album Laid Back followed some extreme ups and downs. Earlier that same year, the Allman Brothers Band’s fourth album Brothers and Sisters forecast the future for Southern rockers and jam band enthusiasts. During the same time period, Allman grieved the 1971 death of his brother and band mate Duane and the 1972 passing of bassist… Continue reading Gregg Allman’s First Solo Forays Re-Released
David Crosby: Remember My Name
David Crosby has proudly spent years admitting that he has to preemptively apologize to anyone who comes up with a story of having met him during the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. A documentary about all of those moments would be pretty great. Remember My Name is a little different, but still provides plenty of entertainment as the… Continue reading David Crosby: Remember My Name
Drivin N Cryin – Live the Love Beautiful
Drivin N Cryin are one of the most consistent bands I’ve ever followed. And yet, like each of their shows is unique, every Drivin N Cryin album has its own personality. Early on, especially during their Island Records years, this seemed to be dependent as much on whatever producer they were paired with as anything… Continue reading Drivin N Cryin – Live the Love Beautiful
Adam Klein Keeps It Close to the Ground
The first thing that strikes you about Adam Klein is his voice. On the surface, it’s nothing remarkable, but it’s one of those easygoing, naturally trustworthy voices that makes you want to listen a little closer, that makes you believe what he is saying. Then you start paying attention to his words and it dawns… Continue reading Adam Klein Keeps It Close to the Ground
White Owl Red – Existential Frontiers
San Francisco-based singer-songwriter J. Josef McManus and friends soar as White Owl Red on the McManus-led project’s new album, Existential Frontiers. As its title teases, the album tackles deep questions with music inspired by the Wild West mythos. The title track sets the pace for McManus and his supporting cast: drummer Kyle Caprista (Chuck Prophet,… Continue reading White Owl Red – Existential Frontiers
Dwayne Shivers in the Southern Breeze
On Atlanta-based Americana act Dwayne Shivers’ new album Buffered & Blest (out since March 1), folk instrumentation leaves plenty of breathing space for songwriter Micah Dalton to sprinkle in a lot more psychedelia and a little bit of soul. Lead single “My Egypt is in My Mind” falls somewhere in between an otherworldly indie rock… Continue reading Dwayne Shivers in the Southern Breeze
Blitzen Trapper
Earley Years: Blitzen Trapper’s Furr Still Fits ’Em Just Right Songwriter, guitarist and singer Eric Earley founded an experimental group, Garmonbozia, in Portland, Oregon in 2000. The group’s material shows a band grasping for its signature style; free-form psychedelic excursions characterized its output. Eventually, hints of the band’s future style emerged; Earley’s songwriting coalesced around… Continue reading Blitzen Trapper
What’s Big and Purple and Lives in the Ocean?
What’s Big and Purple and Lives in the Ocean? The Moby Grape Story By Cam Cobb [Jawbone Press] As the summer of ’67 approached, it was a time of possibilities, as Crawdaddy would attest in February 1967: “The most exciting, and most sought after (by the record companies) new group of the West Coast, is… Continue reading What’s Big and Purple and Lives in the Ocean?
Blitzen Trapper Thickens the Furr
Portland’s Blitzen Trapper came to the attention of many via their Sub Pop Records debut in 2008, Furr. A sublimely satisfying surplus of rootsy yet subtly offbeat rock ‘n’ roll and poetic lyricism, the album gave a lot of white folks a woody, and frontman Eric Earley and co. have admirably followed it up with… Continue reading Blitzen Trapper Thickens the Furr
Von Grey Put On Their Bloomers
Rocking/folksy sister trio Von Grey came along in 2011 as local teenage phenoms. Seven years later, members Kathryn (age 23), Annika (21), and Fiona (20) combine the knowledge that comes with nearly a decade as a band with coming-of-age wisdom for new EP In Bloom: Acoustic, set for release July 20. Half of the six-song EP… Continue reading Von Grey Put On Their Bloomers
What’s Going On: New Subsonics 7-Inch
We haven’t even begun to consider pulling Subsonics’ latest album Flesh Colored Paint off the turntable, yet our favorite grubby insubordinates aren’t taking a breath. Late this month, Baltimore’s Hidden Volume Records will gift us a newly pressed 7-inch of the Subsonics tearing into a pair of cool, obscure old cover songs. Side A is… Continue reading What’s Going On: New Subsonics 7-Inch
Indigo Girls Go All Symphonic and Shit
On Live With the University of Colorado Symphony Orchestra (out June 29 on Rounder), the Indigo Girls rework familiar folk tunes from throughout their career into lush and loud epics. “Power of Two,” a harmony showpiece from 1994’s Swamp Ophelia, loses none of its charm with orchestral accompaniment. Nor does 1992’s “Virginia Woolf,” 1999’s “Compromise” and other old favorites recorded live for this 22-song… Continue reading Indigo Girls Go All Symphonic and Shit
Family and Friends: A Medium-Sized Thing
Athens-based indie rock ensemble Family and Friends first got “next medium-sized thing” consideration back in 2014. They might just fulfill that promise with the June 8th release of new album Felix Culpa. While past hype hinged on the band’s dedication to folk-based sounds, they’re loaded for bear now with a collection of songs that sound more… Continue reading Family and Friends: A Medium-Sized Thing
Hop Along
Dance Like No One’s Watching: Hop Along Finds Time to Paint Outside the Lines Hop Along’s new album is chock full of surprises. Bark Your Head Off, Dog’s opening track is the most polished, textured thing the quartet has done. The album also makes liberal use of strings in a near-classical fashion that recalls Steve… Continue reading Hop Along
Cicada Rhythm are Going Places
Despite being rightly identified as two of the Athens area’s most talented young champions of Americana, Cicada Rhythm’s Andrea DeMarcus and Dave Kirslis serve up more than amped-up country songs on Everywhere I Go, out April 27th on New West Records. That’s not to say that Southern roots music isn’t represented heavily. There are clear nods to folk-rock… Continue reading Cicada Rhythm are Going Places
Chris Hillman – Bidin’ My Time
As anticipated as this new album was, it comes off a bit limp. Which is a shame as it is potentially a great little CD. Chris Hillman is one of the most well respected American musicians, having effortlessly appeared in all the right places at all the right times. Bidin’ My Time is a solid… Continue reading Chris Hillman – Bidin’ My Time
Pony League Ditch Punk for Southern Folk-Rock
Atlanta’s Pony League is some of the guys from one of the most fun punk bands in recent memory, North Trolls, casting the best kind of silliness aside to explore folk-rock songwriting from a distinctly Southern point of view. New album A Picture of Your Family’s title track and other slowed-down numbers explore the type of regional… Continue reading Pony League Ditch Punk for Southern Folk-Rock
Delbert McClinton
Self-Made Man: Give It Up for Delbert McClinton The term Americana hadn’t been coined when Delbert McClinton started making music. His brand of music has always drawn from blues, hillbilly, country, and rock ‘n’ roll, all filtered through a Texas sensibility. McClinton came up in a music scene that gave rise to legends like Doug… Continue reading Delbert McClinton