A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Same Old Line LP by The Spyrals. Ever wondered how much differently a record could possibly turn out when you consider the elements which went into it, reader? It might sound like a silly question, but really think about it; factor in a band’s region of origin, the tastes and sensibilities of the group’s members, the talents they have as well as the impression that they wish to leave, and the...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Jaime Wyatt’s Neon Cross LP. After having watched all the sonic and stylistic directions in which the artists on New West’s roster have gone, it feels more than a little reassuring to see that at least some artists are signed to a country music label because they want to make country music – and not necessarily just make music which happens to have a couple of C&W inflections in hand as that...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Young Culture’s self-titled album. It might have just been a matter of taking a while to finally start missing it, or maybe I just needed enough time for the memory of the “Disney-fication” of the last wave of bands to fade, but listening to Young Culture’s self-titled album has caused me to remember that I really did like and had missed pop-punk. To reiterate, that’s pop-punk – not melodic hardcore (which I...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Wildflowers & All The Rest 3LP reissue by Tom Petty. Author Rae Carson once wrote that, “Some people, the best ones, are motivated more by the chance to prove themselves than by a command to serve. It is the work itself that calls them onward, especially if they believe they are the only ones who can do it.” In effect, some people do their best work – any kind of work...
The Full Counts The fact of the matter (as inconvenient as it may be) is that not every record is a work of genius and not every band is made up of earthbound gods; sometimes the band is a job for those in it, and the music they make simply makes the bandmembers and their fans happy. That claim is not made as an indictment of those aforementioned bands, the music they’ve made or their fans – it’s just a...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Floor It! 2LP by the Texas Gentlemen. It’s funny to think about how much the Texas Gentlemen have changed since first appearing with the release of Texas Jelly in 2018. Just two years ago, the Texas Gents arrived sporting the tightest sound but it was coupled with a design which let the album’s shape develop as it played. The end results turned out to be a mercurial work of art which...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Naked Giants’ The Shadow LP. While it’s not terribly uncommon for a band to make great creative changes in their sound and style unexpectedly throughout their career, the knowledge that such events can happen still doesn’t exactly explain the arc that Naked Giants have taken which ultimately brought the band to The Shadow – the group’s second full-length album for New West Records (third for the label). When the band started (in...
Run the JewelsRTJ4 4XLP Deluxe Edition + Instrumentalsphoto: turntablelab.com Is there any hope left for the youth? In a year filled with turmoil, the stakes have never been higher. If there ever was a time to educate ourselves it’s now. But, what’s the song of the summer? WAP. Meanwhile, Run the Jewels have released the smartest album of the year and it’s not getting anywhere near the attention it should. There was a period in the mid-2000s where I almost...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Crash Test Kid LP by Sammy Brue. After releasing a debut album which, while obviously ambitious, ultimately yielded results which were “just okay” followed by an EP that revealed a greater-than-average Blind Melon influence, Sammy Brue clearly upped his dose of Fuckitol, just cut loose and bravely elected to just have fun when it came to making Crash Test Kid. Through the eleven cuts on his sophomore LP, Brue lets each...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Ghosts of West Virginia LP by Steve Earle and The Dukes. I confess that – for a variety of reasons, many of which are not rooted in rational or critical thinking – I have never really given Steve Earle a whole lot of my time. Some of that has to do with the politics and soapboxes, but suffice it to say that it has just never happened; I’ve never walked up...