A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Choke Cherry Tree LP by Ben Miller Band. The catch, when any band attempts to infuse a time-honored sound and style with new energy and fresh inspiration, is that they often lose sight of all the reasons why and how that form worked in the first place. While the heart and hopes might sound enough, the results often feel as though someone has tried to weld the fins from a ’57...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Loner LP by Caroline Rose. I have to confess that, as soon as I began listening to Loner – the new full-length album by Caroline Rose – I realized that everything I thought I knew and expected from the singer was incorrect. My first contact with Rose was with the song “Yip Yip Yow” from an NPR live performance, and that was enough to get me looking around for other music...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Trinity Lane LP by Lilly Hiatt. I must confess that I slept on Lilly Hiatt and her Trinity Lane LP when the album first arrived in my office. Regrettably, there was no good reason for it; given the timing of when it arrived, the album just kept getting shuffled under one thing after another. I did not give it the attention that it deserved, and it was only very recently –...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Water Records vinyl reissue of the Album – Generic Flipper LP. In music, as is the case in chemistry, the most important element is the one that ultimately provides the catalyst which sets everything else in motion. In chemistry, for example, the right combination of sulfer, charcoal and saltpeter can still remain perfectly inert but, when a spark gets added to that mix, the results are explosive; the aforementioned chemical compound...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Stuyedeyed/Birds split 7” single, released on Greenway Records. It’s always kind of incredible how great a gamble a split 7” single release can be for the artists involved. Over the years, lots of bands have made great ones, yes, but there have been an equal or greater number of weak or soft efforts which feel lopsided because either one band or one song is far superior to the other. It’s a...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Pocket FishRmen’s The Greatest Story Ever Told LP/CD set. In the grand tradition of bands including The Big Boys, Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid and Daddy Longhead, Austin’s Pocket FishRmen were an archetype Texas punk band in that their artistic vision was a little skewed. They always seemed a little frazzled and they always – always – did things their own way. Even this compilation release is a testament to that “their own...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Tales From The Megaplex LP by Count Vaseline. It might seem difficult to understand for those who have never heard his music before, but Stefan “Count Vaseline” Murphy is the definition of “timeless, ageless hipster cool” and he proves it on his third album, Tales From The Megaplex. Throughout the album’s eight cuts (seven originals and one Ween cover), Murphy deadpans and comically monotones his way along against a backdrop of...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “Goodbye Love” LP by Dirty Fences. After taking four years to let their sound season with the help of regular touring and new releases (it’s really easy to chart the development Dirty Fences has undergone between their debut album, Too High To Kross, and their sophomore effort, Full Tramp), there’s no question in listening to “Goodbye Love” that the band has arrived and are ready to take over the world. This...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Chew LP by Muskets. As bands like Able Baker Fox, Into It. Over It., Citizen and Tiger’s Jaw have appeared (or reappeared, in some cases), discussions around the re-emergence of emo have become a discussion point, but longtime fans have been very, very careful to get on board with it, to this point. A lot of that has to do with the fact that fans know this has been a thing...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Full Circle split LP by Round Eye and Libyan Hit Squad. After I discovered Round Eye with the help of the band’s self-titled LP a couple of years ago, I was hooked. Like a fan of any band, I began singing the group’s praises to anyone who would listen; I talked about the band, I wrote about them and I listened to that first album constantly. I loved it – I...