Brent Cash returns with a new album called “The New High” and its a rich melodic piece of pop. Album review coming Monday!
The Kickstand Band “Stay Inside” Music Video is here, one of my favorite summer tunes, just in time for winter.
The Genuine Fakes really love Guns N’ Roses, Can’t you tell?
Indie-Rock trio from Saginaw, Michigan produced by Andy Reed, so you know it will sound great. The opener “Everybody” is a catchy longer rocker, those 5 minutes rush right by. These tunes are long but good. Fans of Weezer will love this too. Get it now!
Nice throwback to the grungey-pop of ’90s with this band from Milan Italy. Unfortunately “Lust For Life” can’t compare to the Iggy Pop classic. Skip to “Mess In My Head” and “Maybe I’m Not Sober” for fuzz guitar bliss.
The brilliant pairing of John Dunbar and Sal Maida (Milk & Cookies) with drummer Sal Nunziato. I love this amazingly tight single and B-side that is a preview of the upcoming LP “A New Set Of Downs” Get it now!
For The Jigsaw Seen, this career-spanning retrospective encompasses tracks originally released over their entire career that was previously unavailable. Out of the gate is the fuzz guitar version of Sinatra’s “The Best Is Yet To Come,” sure to please. The catchy gem “Celebrity Interview” has a great riff in the chorus, and the dense instrumentation on a cover of the Bee Gees “Melody Fair” make these songs stick in your head.
While not everything is a gem, there are enough unique melodies here, from the psyche-pop of “When You’re Pretty” to the twisted guitar lead on Henry Mancini’s “Baby Elephant Walk” to make this a “must hear” collection. Highly Recommended.
Amazon | KoolKat Musik
Despite the colorful name (after a vintage amp), this band is the songwriting duo Billy Zimmer (Brown Eyed Susans) and Tammy Glover (Sparks). No surprise here, the songwriting is excellent and the openers “Carolina” and “Uncoupling” have a mellow start but build to pop perfection with great chords.
“Killing Time” is comparable to a next-generation Fleetwood Mac song, and “No One Believes Her” has a great classic rock energy. It takes a bit more patience for the four-minute-plus songs like “Fade To White” and “It’s OK” but they are infused with a sincerity and thoughtfulness many other artists lack. Check these guys out and you won’t regret it.
Nine years ago I reviewed Owen Sartori’s debut Another Beautiful Day In The Cube, and completely missed his follow up. Luckily, Owen has kept busy working as a music producer – and his sophomore LP still holds all the emotion and catchiness of his earlier work. After a moody instrumental intro, we get the Jellyfish-like “Cool” full of pop culture references and a great hook in the chorus.
The dramatic ballads “Banking On It” and “All Of This Rain” recall Ben Folds (without the keyboards) with plenty of punch. Another gem shines out with “Digging On You” as the joyful melody sticks in your head. The more aggressive rockers like the title track and “Let It Go” feel a bit forced here, but overall this a neat little album that deserves to be heard.
Amazon | CD Baby
Another band coming back is John Holk & The Sequins. It’s rare that a country artist finds a review here, but Holk’s brand of country jangle pop and power pop keeps me coming back. “Walkin Talkin” is an irresistible opener with its fast tempo and harmonies. “First Man Fall” is a sweet ballad with guitar effects rounding out the atmosphere. The title track and “She Don’t Remember” are pure pop midtempo charmers that sound like a different band altogether. “See” gets absolutely psychedelic with Isabel Mervak’s vocal harmonies floating above the fuzz guitars.
But eventually, the country sound creeps back on “Firelight” and the honky tonk “Another Glass of Wine.” Like Wilco or The Jayhawks, Holk shows lots of range, and the band can effortlessly cross between the genres. While this can be jarring for some, the music is consistently excellent and it makes the variety work. Highly Recommended.
Sadler Vaden is mostly known as the guitarist for Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit and Drivin’ N Cryin’ but this LP is sure to put his own name on the map. Vaden’s music is a trove of anthems that recall the late 70’s Zeppelin and 80’s heyday of Southern-rock. The brilliant riffs and soaring harmonies of “You Can’t Have it All” and “Get You High,” will hook you immediately.
Influences of Tom Petty, the Black Crowes and Neil Young permeate most of the album, as “Nobody Gives a Damn About Songs Anymore” has a rich jangle and expert delivery. The production is also very polished on the album’s first half, as it continues on to the more acoustic led second half, you get little treats like the Eagles-like chorus on “Into The Woods” or the slide guitar solo on “Broken Home.” Highly Recommended.
Amazon | Kool Kat Musik
Keegan is a true international band with a British singer, German guitarist, French bass player and Austrian drummer – based in the multicultural surroundings of Cologne, Germany. Famous Last Words gives us a very straight on rock album, with a heavier rhythm guitar than expected, “Cross” has a decent hook, falling somewhere in between REM’s “Monster” era and Extreme’s metal pop tendencies.
Unfortunately this band fails to break past the conventional, and with 16 tracks could’ve used an edit. However at the mid-point there are some good power pop tunes shown in “End Of The Century,” “Poison”, “Tongue Tied” and the solid “Go Down In Flames.”