I was just listening to some Lydia Loveless albums with friends on the 4th of July, agreeing how incredible she is and wondering when she was ever going to put out another album, as it’s been four years since Real came out. The answer came just a couple weeks later, with the announcement of the… Continue reading Lydia Loveless Returns, Daughter in Tow
Tag: Ohio
Erstwhile Atlanta Drummer Mason Brazelle Gone at 53
He’d not been an active participant in the local Atlanta music scene for many years, having moved on to a successful career in alternative rock radio in other cities, but Mason Brazelle forged many long-lasting friendships during his time drumming for assorted Atlanta bands throughout the 1990s and into the early ’00s. This was greatly… Continue reading Erstwhile Atlanta Drummer Mason Brazelle Gone at 53
The Black Keys Say, “Let’s Rock”!
The Black Keys are one of those bands, like My Morning Jacket, Midlake and loads of others, that I championed early on and then quickly abandoned all interest in as their spark fizzled out, or they went all jam-band on us, or got bloated, or lost their charm, or whatever. It happens a lot. In… Continue reading The Black Keys Say, “Let’s Rock”!
DEVO: The Brand/DEVO: Unmasked
DEVO: The Brand DEVO: Unmasked By Devo [Rocket 88] “We joked that we were like the Flintstones meets the Jetsons.” When considered for a moment this merger would be both visual and ideological. How could such disparate groups of people, or families, coexist? Also, what would it look like? An idea of the answer is… Continue reading DEVO: The Brand/DEVO: Unmasked
Chrissie Hynde: A Musical Biography
Chrissie Hynde: A Musical Biography By Adam Sobsey [University of Texas Press] When Chrissie Hynde published her 2015 autobiography Reckless: My Life as a Pretender, the reviews indicated that it was not as revealing or comprehensive as many would have liked. This journalist, originally excited upon learning of its publication, did not seek it out… Continue reading Chrissie Hynde: A Musical Biography
Citizen – As You Please
Citizen has to be one of the most overrated bands that kids that don’t know anything about music love to gush about and wax faux-intellectual over. With their latest release we get more insufferable, drizzling-shit, bubblegum-pop disguised as something deep and meaningful that some pathetic dweebs are sure to hang themselves over. The songs on… Continue reading Citizen – As You Please
The Arthur Buck Starts Here
Not to be confused with Buck McCoy, nor the current owner of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United, Arthur Buck is the name of a newly established musical collaboration between ex-Georgians Joseph Arthur and Peter Buck. The pair met up late last year in Buck’s current hideout in Baja, Mexico. An improvisational eight-hour jam session… Continue reading The Arthur Buck Starts Here
Erika Wennerstrom Takes Bastard Breather
Erika Wennerstrom, the guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for one of our favorite bands – Heartless Bastards – is taking a break from that Cincinnati outfit to deliver her debut solo album. Sweet Unknown will be released March 23rd via Partisan Records. Inspired in part by a hallucinogenic Ayahuasca retreat a “deeply unhappy” Wennerstrom undertook in… Continue reading Erika Wennerstrom Takes Bastard Breather
The Breeders Have Got Some Nerve
When we last saw the Breeders, they were taking a victory lap commemorating the 20th anniversary of their platinum Last Splash LP. That “classic” lineup has reconvened for All Nerve, the first new Breeders album in ten years, due on March 2. Note this is not the original lineup – many have forgotten that the… Continue reading The Breeders Have Got Some Nerve
GBV to Release One Album This Year
There’s a new Guided by Voices album coming out soon. Yeah, that’s newsworthy, isn’t it? There’s always a fucking GBV album coming out soon. They release something about every month or two, don’t they? Not so for 2018, they insist. Space Gun, to be issued March 23rd on Rockathon Records, will be it for the… Continue reading GBV to Release One Album This Year
Lydia Loveless Doc, Live EP En Route
A feature-length DVD documentary on Lydia Loveless, along with an accompanying live EP, are heading to retailers on November 24th. From filmmaker Gorman Bechard (Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements), who calls Loveless “the future of rock and roll,” Who Is Lydia Loveless? follows her and her band during the recording of her… Continue reading Lydia Loveless Doc, Live EP En Route
Devo
He/She/It’s Still Devo: Gerald Casale Still Has a Rhyme That Comes With a Riddle Ohio in the 1960s and ‘70s would probably have been THE definition of mainstream America. Largely blue collar with a speed of life not as hip as Los Angeles or as hectic as New York, one can only imagine any pollster… Continue reading Devo
Lydia Loveless
Lydia Loveless: Don’t Tell Her to Turn it Down, ‘Cuz it Ain’t Loud Enough! There’s a lot to love about Lydia Loveless. For God’s sake, just listen to her (if you haven’t already), and you’ll figure that out. At the moment, I sorta love the fact that she immersed herself in the poetry of Paul… Continue reading Lydia Loveless
The Waitresses
Waitresses Unwrapped! Guitarist & Songwriter Chris Butler Dishes on the Band’s Origins, Heyday, Downfall and Legacy Though they only truly existed a few brief years, recording two albums, an EP and a scattering of singles before disintegrating, I’ve always considered the Waitresses one of the great bands of the early new wave era. They had… Continue reading The Waitresses
Lydia Loveless – Indestructible Machine
I’m not sure if Lydia Loveless is talking about a tough-ass pickup truck, her guitar or her heart when she calls her new album Indestructible Machine. Any could apply. Given the tone of these nine songs balled up into a punchy 38 minutes, though, the logical guess would be the body’s largest muscle, which the… Continue reading Lydia Loveless – Indestructible Machine
Times New Viking – Dancer Equired
Times New Viking seems intent on avoiding a long-term lease in the lo-fi ghetto. The primary talking point for Dancer Equired, their fifth full-length, is that the trio finally deigned to enter a proper recording studio. Trust me, the sonic shift is overplayed – and that’s good news, because there’s precious little in the band’s… Continue reading Times New Viking – Dancer Equired
Jessica Lea Mayfield
In Defense of Jessica Lea Mayfield: She’s Not Depressed Just because someone makes depressing music doesn’t mean they’re unhappy. Case in point: Jessica Lea Mayfield. Mayfield’s murky, dark pop that’s drenched in blues and twang has the press buzzing – and they’re all talking about how cynical and moody she must be. At only 21,… Continue reading Jessica Lea Mayfield