Alone

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Spencer Burton’s North Wind LP. Since going solo in 2010 with Grey Kingdom (his project following the first lapse in Attack In Black’s activity), there’s no question that Spencer Burton has successfully developed an excellent and unique authoritative voice both as a singer and songwriter – but the greatest surprises have come his turns toward folk and country music. While 2021’s fantastic Coyote album established a new peak in Burton’s development, North...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Free Rein To Passions LP by The Dirty Nil. How fantastic is it that, in some instances, a band doesn’t have to change themselves or their sound very much (if at all), they just have to write a new batch of songs and be brave enough to just be themselves with the understanding that fans will be able to pick up on it and appreciate that music and that heart for...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Otherness LP by Alexisonfire. The cool thing that Alexisonfire has always done (and this is not a claim that many bands can make) is that they have always challenged their audience without making it look intentional. When the band’s first album appeared in 2002, for example, the idea that three bands (Condemning Salem, Helicon Blue and Plan 9) could converge and intermingle punk, metal and emo DNA into one unit and...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Drew Thomson Foundation’s self-titled debut album. “What is the secret to making a pop record in the twenty-first century?” Such was the root of a conversation I had with my daughter last week, but it all began with talking about how much music has changed in what could be perceived as a very short period of time. Since it has bearing on the dialogue, it’s worth pointing out that it was...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the You’re Not Alone 2LP by Andrew W.K. An epiphany: since first appearing on the pop music radar in 2001 with the release of his debut album, I Get Wet, Andrew Wilkes-Krier has chased the idea and image of a perfect party as well as producing a genuinely kinetic soundtrack for such an event with little thematic deviation (obvious exception being the piano-focused, instrumental album which appeared in 2009, 55 Cadillac) –...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Undivided Heart & Soul LP by JD McPherson. The beauty of JD McPherson’s new album is that calling it a “classic” or “fantastic new album” is definitely apt and accurate, but neither phrase affords the album the distinction it deserves. From note one, Undivided Heart & Soul employs a directory of time-honored songwriting and performance staples which have historically spun yards of platinum for those who have used them previously. At...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into a vinyl copy of Distortland by The Dandy Warhols. It might seem silly to entertain the idea that The Dandy Warhols could be suffering from a mid-life crisis but, listening to Distortland, that appears to be the case. The emotional state of the band is particularly evident in listening to the vinyl pressing of the album as the five-per-side running of it gently divides the running into two separate movements which lead...

  Artist: Dandy Warhols Album: Distortland Label: Dine Alone It’s unlikely that there is any band in rock right now more underrated than the Dandy Warhols. A lot of that has historically had to do with the fact that the band has seemed to go out of its way to throw fans a series of elegant braking balls to confuse and frustrate them; since Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia (a.k.a. “the breakthrough”) came out in 2000, Courtney Taylor-Taylor and company...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Global Chakra Rhythms LP by JEFF The Brotherhood. It may have taken an unfortunate, poor experience with Warner Brothers to get JEFF The Brotherhood to start pushing the possibilities of what they could do with their music (the label didn’t really love the music and shelved a couple of the band’s releases during their tenure together) but, now that Global Chakra Rhythms is out and has presented a new image and...