Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Apr 24 Vol. II

THE LOUDER STUFF

EARLY MOODS – A Sinner's Past
Sounds like a cross between Saint Vitus and Count Raven. BTW “Early Moods” can be anagrammed as “Doom Slayer”, which is probably a more appropriate name for these guys. (7)

GUN – Hombres
Nobody plays anthemic, melodic hard rock like this anymore. A very strong album, right up there with “Taking On The World” and “Gallus”, with Dante Gizzi’s transition from bassist to lead vocalist/frontman a great success story. (8)

HEAVY TEMPLE – Garden Of Heathens
This fucking rocks (or, rather, RAWKS) in a High On Fire/Yob sort of way, plus I’d listen to a band with a frontwoman named High Priestess Nighthawk any day. (8)

WHOM GODS DESTROY – Insanium
This is basically a new version of Sons of Apollo and the fantastic Croatian guy replacing Soto on vocals is the only real surprise here, other than that it’s the Dreamy Theatery stuff you’d expect. But my question is, how come every single fucking band that copies Dream Theater has a better singer than Dream Theater? (7)


THE OTHER STUFF

CINDY LEE – Diamond Jubilee
This one has been getting 9+ reviews from virtually every music critic in the solar system but I assume that’s because they were teenagers in 2000 and they got all nostalgic when Cindy Lee, in a genius zero-budget marketing move, decided to only make the album available on GeoCities. But really, 128 minutes of low-fi late 90’s indie pop influenced by 60’s girl groups? My attention span is too short for that. (7)

ENGLISH TEACHER – This Could Be Texas
Some people call it post-punk but it’s really just some very cool music that’s a bit all over the place, I haven’t enjoyed an album like this coming out of the UK since, I dunno, Wolf Alice’s “Blue Weekend”? Which is a pretty good point of reference BTW, along with Black Country New Road. (8)

SHABAKA HUTCHINGS – Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace
WTF is wrong with you man, you used to be fun. People could actually dance to your jazz, and now you’re doing this cosmic hippy shit? (5)

WILLIE NILE – Live at Daryl’s House Club
Bruce Springsteen without the budget, Lou Reed without the high art, Bob Dylan gone power pop, I love this guy. (8)

AARON LEE TASJAN – Stellar Evolution
Maybe you know Tasjan as an Americana artist but his versatility is well documented (he even played guitar in the 21st century version of the New York Dolls) and this is a fantastic glam pop album. (8)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – My Black Country: The Songs Of Alice Randall
Tribute album to trailblazing African American female country songwriter, a companion release to her autobiography with the same title. Rhiannon Giddens, Adia Victoria, Sunny War, Valerie June and others pay their respects. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Apr 24

BEYONCE – Cowboy Carter
The previous album was Beyonce’s club music album, this one is supposedly her country album but it’s not: Instead, Beyonce just uses country imagery and signifiers as a springboard to make a statement about black women artists in a white man’s world. None of this would matter without decent songs, but “Cowboy Carter” has some great ones. I really enjoyed this. (8)

SCOTT H. BIRAM – The One & Only Scott H. Biram
A true road warrior honing his craft in sleazy honkytonks all over Texas, Biram mixes southern rock, outlaw country, blues and punk and kicks some serious ass. “Sinner’s Dinner” even sounds like prime Steppenwolf, and I love fuckin’ Steppenwolf. (8)

BLACK KEYS – Ohio Players
Probably their best album since 2011’s “El Camino”, certainly the most fun. (8)

CEDRIC BURNSIDE – Hill Country Love
The “Mississippi Country Hill Blues” subgenre, made popular in juke joints across the South by the likes of Cedric’s grandpa R.L., in all its joyous glory. If you thought blues was sad music, check this out and bring some moonshine and fried chicken to the party. (8)

COFFIN STORM – Arcana Rising
A bunch of Norwegian underground metal lifers including Apollyon and Fenriz play some riff-tastic epic doom, like Candlemass with Hellhammer’s attitude. (8)

SHERYL CROW – Evolution
Her previous album was supposed to be her last one but I’m glad it wasn’t, Crow remains one of the best songwriters out there and this album once again proves that her radio-friendly heartland rock with huge pop hooks is up there in the Pantheon with the likes of Tom Petty. (8)

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO – Echo Dancing
Legendary septuagenarian Texan revisits 14 tracks from his long solo career and bands he played in like Buick McKane and The True Believers. Given his ease in moving between diverse genres from punk to country, it’s not entirely surprising that a lot of these reinterpretations sound nothing like the originals and might even remind one of Suicide in places. (8)

PHOSPHORESCENT – Revelator
Competent country rock by a guy who obviously knows what he’s doing even when he’s singing about not knowing what he’s doing. (8)

THE SECRET SISTERS – Mind, Man, Medicine
Americana duo from Muscle Shoals, Alabama knit their close harmonies once again on a wonderful little album that will appeal to fans of everyone from the Everly Brothers to Phoebe Bridgers. (8)

SARAH SHOOK & THE DISARMERS – Revelations
File under “cowpunk with pop ambitions” next to Lydia Loveless. (7)

VAMPIRE WEEKEND – Only God Was Above Us
I always liked bands coming out of NYC but that ended sometime in 90’s with people like Cibo Matto and Soul Coughing, the 00’s New York scene always seemed a bit too preppy/upper class for my tastes (with the notable exception of hard-drinking working class classic rockers The Hold Steady, of course). Vampire Weekend are among the survivors of that scene and on this album the intelligent pop (slightly) dominates over the preppiness. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Mar 24 Vol. II

THE LOUDER STUFF

THE BLACK CROWES – Happiness Bastards
The Black Crowes return in full “Exile On Main St.” cosplay, and it rules. (8)

EXHORDER – Defectum Omnium
Underrated NOLA thrashers who are at least partially responsible for Pantera becoming Pantera, widen their scope – “Year Of The Goat” starts as old-school Norwegian black metal, “Stolen Hope” and “Your Six” sound like early Soundgarden, and so on. The “Pantera groove” is still there though. (7)

JUDAS PRIEST – Invincible Shield
A follow-up to 2018’s excellent “Firepower”, “Invincible Shield” is another fantastic Priest album with Halford in top form, killer guitars, and songwriting that quite honestly is up there with all their classics. (8)

VLTIMAS – Epic
It’s the combination of David Vincent’s totally over-the-top vocals and Blasphemer’s trademark dissonant riffs that makes this black/death metal supergroup so much fun, you just can’t help pretending to be evil when you hear something like “Mephisto Manifesto”. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

THE HANGING STARS – On A Golden Shore
Is it still “Americana” when played by Englishmen? Anyhow I like these Londoners, they have the whole Gram Parsons/Byrds/Burritos thing down pat already so now they’re expanding their palette to include more contemporary, poppier influences (think Sheryl Crow?). (7)

JULIA HOLTER – Something In The Room She Moves
Every time Holter releases a new album I stream it immediately, and every time I fail to get it: She sits somewhere between avant-garde, jazz, and pop, and if she would only allow her pop melodies to shine instead of hiding them under all the distracting stuff she’d be much closer to my tastes. (6)

JOHN LURIE – Painting With John
Music from the weird, funny and wonderful TV series which is certainly not about painting. My only complaint: It does not include the hilarious “Flea’s Walk” from the episode where the RHCP bassist visits his friend John. (8)

LOREENA McKENNITT – The Road Back Home
Live album focusing on McKennitt’s roots in the Celtic folk music tradition. Some of the songs you know from her studio albums, some are recorded by her for the first time. Beautiful. (8)

THE MESSTHETICS & JAMES BRANDON LEWIS – The Messthetics Αnd James Brandon Lewis
An excellent album occupying a strange place between jazz-fusion and post-rock, this one features a guitar shredder, a tenor saxophonist, and the rhythm section from Fugazi. Wrap your head around that. (8)

KACEY MUSGRAVES – Deeper Well
Expectations are always high from people who have previously topped the List and Musgraves does not disappoint, moving with ease between Fleetwood Mac soft rock, delicate country folk, and Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter poetry. (8)

ROSALI – Bite Down
A very strong country-rock record with a Neil Young/Crazy Horse flavor. Not to be confused with Rosalia. (8)  

MARRY WATERSON & ADRIAN CROWLEY – Cuckoo Storm
A very strange but delightful little album that defies labeling and categorization. You can call it folk I guess (Waterson comes from a family considered folk royalty in England) but it’s much more than that, venturing into jazz and even Scott Walker weirdo territory at times. (8)

WAXAHATCHEE – Tigers Blood
One for the Year-End lists, this is probably Katie Crutchfield’s strongest album – more indie rock than Americana. (8)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Mar 24

THE LOUDER STUFF

BRUCE DICKINSON – The Mandrake Project
If I would describe this album with one word Ι’d call it “safe”, despite Dickinson usually being the risk-taker in the Iron Maiden universe. (7)

BEN FROST – Scope Neglect
Avant-garde electronica musician goes metal, sort of – this is an attempt to deconstruct/reconstruct metal by building cinematic soundscapes around djenty guitars. If you think you could get through 40 minutes of Autechre remixing Meshuggah riffs without getting a headache, then go ahead. (6)

MANNEQUIN PUSSY – I Got Heaven
First half of the record is slightly grungy 90’s-flavored indie rock, sometimes reminiscent of Hole. Second half of the record they go hardcore. The whole thing, despite it being a break-up record, is pure joy. (8)

MEGA COLOSSUS – Showdown
Heavy metal the way it’s meant to be, old-school like back in 1981 when everyone from Iron Maiden/Riot/Exciter to Y&T/Styx/Boston was labeled “metal”, no subgenre bullshit. These guys are obviously having a blast and so will you. (8)

MINISTRY – Hopiumforthemasses
If they had broken up in 1997 you wouldn’t have missed anything important and that’s the case with this album as well – the kind of competent but formulaic industrial metal record we’ve come to expect from Al Jourgensen, full of samples and raging against the machine. The main thrills are provided by guest vocalists like Jello Biafra and Eugene Hutz. (7)

NORTH SEA ECHOES – Really Good Terrible Things
Matheos & Alder go ambient. It’s supposed to be something entirely different from Fates Warning but really, if you speed the songs up just a bit and add a metal rhythm section and a distortion pedal, these are Fates Warning songs. That’s a good thing, of course. (8)

PISSED JEANS – Half Divorced
This sounds just like something released on Amphetamine Reptile Records ca. 1990 by Jesus Lizard, Surgery, Cows or some shit, excellent. (8)

SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM – Of The Last Human Being
Wow, never thought I’d hear from these guys again but this album sounds like they never went away, an uber-weird prog metal cabaret amalgam of King Crimson, Mr. Bungle, Primus, and Kurt Weill. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

THE BEVIS FROND – Focus On Nature
Nick Saloman has described his band better than any music critic ever will: “A Hendrix/Wipers/Byrds sound but with a distinctly British feel”. This is probably the best album from a 70-year-old guitar hero you’ll get this year. (8)

AZIZA BRAHIM – Mawja
West Saharan singer and activist’s fifth album is a triumph that will make the WOMAD crowd delirious with joy. (8)

FIRE! – Testament
This is jazz for people who prefer rock to jazz, and they’ve got Steve Albini on the console to prove it. (8)

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF – The Past Is Still Alive
This is a HUGE step forward for Alynda Segarra, where they finally nail it with a killer collection of songs that will most likely sit on top of the heap of 2024’s best Americana albums. (9)

CORB LUND – El Viejo
Canadian country guy makes good use of his formal jazz training by incorporating the occasional Django-like gypsy jazz/swing element into his humorous tales of cowboys, outlaws, and gamblers. Good fun! (8)

NADINE SHAH – Filthy Underneath
Everyone knows the “tortured artist” cliché, but in Shah’s case losing her mother, getting a divorce, attempting suicide, and entering rehab since her previous album has actually led to the creation of a masterpiece, a brave album that will appeal to fans of PJ Harvey and Depeche Mode alike. (9)

SHEER MAG – Playing Favorites
Can something be indie rock and arena rock at the same time? Sheer Mag seem to pull it off by finding the right balance between Thin Lizzy riffs, Big Star jangle, and Minor Threat ethos. (8)  

SHEHERAZAAD – Qasr EP
Stunning debut for this young artist, with influences ranging from Indian-classical to flamenco and jazz. “Produced by Arooj Aftab” should’ve been a dead giveaway. (8)

YARD ACT – Where’s My Utopia
On the first album they were compared to The Fall, second time around they go beyond the “post-punk” label and sound like a hook-filled combination of Arctic Monkeys and Gang of Four. (8) 

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Feb 24

THE LOUDER STUFF

BOKASSA – All Out Of Dreams
Lars Ulrich apparently likes them a lot but that’s probably because their drummer does not keep time with the precision and accuracy of a high-quality Swiss watch, if you know what I mean. In any case if you like your stoner metal punked up, or if you’re into their compatriots Kvelertak, you’re going to enjoy this. (7)

BRIGHT & BLACK – The Album
Members of Opeth, Meshuggah, Watain, Entombed AD, and Apocalyptica compose for classical orchestra and it sounds like the soundtrack to the kind of movie that features dwarfs, wizards, and a pet dragon. (7)

IHSAHN – Ihsahn
Essentially two albums, a metal one and a classical one. The metal album is fantastic, the closest he’s ever come to the Emperor vibe but more mature. The classical one is alright I guess, but he probably bit off more than he can chew. (9 metal, 7 classical)

LUCIFER – Lucifer V
It’s been a slow, steady development from nice but slightly generic vintage heavy rock to something packing a real punch, but Johanna Sadonis has finally arrived there. Fans of her husband’s post-Entombed bands will certainly enjoy this. (8)

THE OBSESSED – Gilded Sorrow
He might be a paranoid conspiracy theory nutjob on crystal meth but his riffs are still the best you can get west of Iommi. (8)

SLOWER – Slower
What happens when you slow down Slayer songs to doom tempos and downtune them? The “world’s slowest Slayer tribute band” (Slower, get it?) try it out on five classics and it works spectacularly well (“War Ensemble” lasts 11 minutes when sludged down this way). And just in case you thought it’s just a bunch of kids having fun, the band is led by Fu Manchu’s guitarist and features members of Kyuss, Kylesa and others, so it’s actually a bunch of old bastards having fun. (11)

CHELSEA WOLFE – She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She
So good it might turn me into a full-time goth in my old age. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

BLACKBERRY SMOKE – Be Right Here
Strong new album by the best southern rock band of the 21st century, more Allmans than Skynyrd. (8)

LAURA JANE GRACE – Hole in My Head
Her best set of folk-punk songs outside of Against Me! but they would have sounded even better by her proper band – Grace here plays everything (including drums) except for bass, and it shows. (8)

GRANDADDY – Blu Wav
One of those country-flavored indie albums that end up on year-end “best of” lists, and it is quite nice in a “My Morning Jacket on Vicodin” sort of way. (8)

BRITTANY HOWARD – What Now
You’ll see this one on multiple “year’s best” lists come December, and it is a good album, but certainly not the year’s best – at her finest Howard channels Prince, but there are a few middling tracks of unspectacular R&B here as well. I’m still giving it an 8 because apparently the music critic police will take me out back and shoot me in the knees if I dare give it a 7. (8)

PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS – Band On the Run (50th Anniversary Edition)
I’m not worthy to talk about this album. (10)

NEW MODEL ARMY – Unbroken
Their 1986-1990 three-album run is as good as any three-album run can get and they’ve never been able to reach those heights again, not that anyone could reasonably expect them to. But 40 years after their debut they can still come up with a strong piece of work in their unique style combing post-punk with folk rock. (8)

TY SEGALL – Three Bells
From the 15 albums this guy has released in 15 years this one’s closer to the genre-agnostic "Freedom's Goblin", and that one was his masterpiece. Anything goes here too, in terms of influences: T-Rex, Funkadelic, QOTSA, Love… (8)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Looking for the Magic: American Power Pop in the Seventies
My latest theory (probably not very original) is that “power pop” is not really a genre, and that there’s only “power pop” songs, not “power pop” artists. This 3-CD compilation provides further proof by bringing together a bunch of people who have no right to be bunched together under a “genre”: Jonathan Richman and Blue Oyster Cult? Television and Bread??? Even MC5 and the Ramones get the “power pop” tag here along with the usual suspects (Todd Rundgren, Big Star, Raspberries, Cheap Trick, The Cars, Badfinger, The Knack) and a whole bunch of unknowns and coulda/shouldabeens, but overall a really fun listen. (11)

Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Jan 24

THE LOUDER STUFF

ALKALINE TRIO – Blood, Hair, And Eyeballs
Pop-punk veterans keep doing what they do. (7)

DOGMA – Dogma
A blatant attempt to capitalize on Ghost’s success, it gets the sound and the visuals right but totally misses out on the humor and the subtle subversion. (6)

GREEN DAY – Saviors
Their most political album since “American Idiot”, and among their top-5 (probably #4). That’s quite a feat for a band that has been going on since 1987 on their 14th outing. (8)

ESCUELA GRIND – DDEEAATTHHMMEETTAALL
4-song EP tribute to one of their favorite genres, and they absolutely nail it. Katerina Economou is not intimidated by Barney Greenway’s guest slot, and that tells you something. (8)

HEALTH – Rat Wars
Dancefloor-friendly industrial with NIN as the most obvious reference point but not enough hooks. (6)

GREG PUCIATO – FC5N (EP)
Ηe’s turning into Mike Patton, with all these different projects and all of them good. 5 tracks here, most of them previously available as bonus tracks, it’s high-quality modern heavy rock. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

RYAN DAVIS & THE ROADHOUSE BAND – Dancing On The Edge
Literate southern gentleman with a sound often utilizing Americana/country-ish signifiers (e.g. pedal steel guitars, Joan Shelley guesting) but a dense lyric sheet of weird poetry and oddball humor that, as a songwriter, positions him closer to someone like Craig Finn. (8)

JOHNNY DOWD – Is Heaven Real? How Would I Know
Legendary country music weirdo on 19th album, which sounds like all things Memphis combined. His voice is a bit off, but that’s actually part of the charm of this record. (8)

GLASS BEACH – Plastic Death
“OK Computer” as done by Yes. (8)

THE SMILE – Wall Of Eyes
Radiohead spin-off sounds quite a bit like a cross between 1999 Radiohead and 2015 Radiohead so, with all due respect to Tom Skinner, I really don’t understand why it’s not a Radiohead album. (8)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – She’s Got the Power! Female Power Pop, Punk & Garage
Is Blondie “power pop”? Lydia Loveless? Girlschool??? Is “power pop” even a genre? And if it is, do “power pop” artists exist or only “power pop” songs? I dunno but this is an extremely fun, joyous compilation of adrenaline-fueled party tunes. (11)