Foregone Conclusion, Zach Schmidt (from the Boss Dawg Records release Raise a Banner)
Zach Schmidt has been waiting awhile for the release of his sophomore full length album. Not Chinese Democracy long, but long enough. Schmidt recorded the album, backed by producer Sadler Vadan and the 400 Unit (yes, that one), then saw the album through several label discussions and a global pandemic before releasing it on his own Boss Dawg label this spring. Was it worth the wait? Most decidedly so.
At its core, Raise a Banner teems with a strong midwestern Americana sensibility (no doubt reflective of Schmidt’s Pittsburgh roots). The songs are both rocking and relaxed.
In the former category are opener “Foregone Conclusion”, with a special guest guitar player, and the rugged ‘I Can’t Dance”, a song about longing for someone apparently lost. “I can’t dance around the truth if I ain’t got you,” sings Schmidt as the 400 Unit add their own musical insistence to the track. The tense “Concrete Dreams” calls to mind Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits with its guitar-driven melody.
The relaxed category includes the ambling “You’re Still On My Mind”, a song of lost love that gloriously recalls Glen Campbell. “I’ve learned to live without you but you’re still on my mind,” laments Schmidt. “Burn Out Easy” has a laid-back Alabama shuffle as Schmidt both bemoans and asks for forgiveness for decisions motivated by a restless mind.
Raise a Banner may be long overdue, but it is amply rewarding now that it’s here.
Missing Person, Del Amitri (from the Cooking Vinyl Records release Fatal Mistakes)
Scotland’s Del Amitri make a welcome return with their first album in nearly 20 years. They fittingly kick things off with gently uplifting “You Can’t Go Back”, a song about rekindling a relationship and celebrating how it has persisted over time. “That thing between us that we knew was something special and it seems it still is,” sings Justin Currie.
Currie has always had a knack for infectious melodies and Fatal Mistakes adds to that reputation. “It’s Feelings” is a prime example. The song ambles along with a catchy melody and a great acoustic guitar hook, not to mention a soaring chorus that drips with harmonies. The lyrics, about accepting the bad that comes with the good, combine simplicity with meaning:
All the sickness, all the bruises
All the shit that no one chooses
Bring it on in its disguises
I’ll take the knockouts with the prizes
“Second Staircase” and “Missing Person” are similar showcases for Currie’s lyrical intelligence and sharp wordplay. “Second Staircase” is a song of heartbreak, with the singer describing “there is a second staircase leading from a chamber of my heart” before revealing “I blocked the second staircase behind some old junk we never use… ’cause behind the second staircase is life without you.”
“Missing Person” is the band’s ode to drinking and dive bars, but more importantly about mistakes and regret.
I am lipsticked like a tart
In the cherry red of Cotes-du-Rhone
Prodding at the little fire of my phone
The lights behind the bar
Twinkle like they’ve always known
Only desperate little men ever drink alone
Currie can be acerbic and cynical, as songs like “Close Your Eyes and Think of England” and “Losing the Will to Die” somewhat paradoxically demonstrate. The former laments social and political shortcomings while the latter offers a somewhat sardonic glimmer of hope. “But yesterday I felt a funny thing, maybe you know why,” sings Currie, “I’m losing the will, I’m losing the will to die.”
Fatal Mistakes is a welcome – and overdue – return for a band with a knack for pop that’s smart, catchy, and done just right.
Nobody’s Stopping You Now, Lake Street Dive (from the Nonesuch Records release Obviously)
Lake Street Dive are back with another magical pop collection, one that is filled with catchy melodies and infused with a smooth jazz vibe. Think 1980’s style pop with polished production that occasionally recalls Steely Dan.
The band’s lyrics are equally well-crafted. Album opener “Hypotheticals” is about the promise of young love. Price confesses “I’ve been playing out a lot of hypotheticals in my mind, I’ve been writing your name down next to mine”. “Anymore” is a moving ballad about a disintegrating relationship, finds her declaring:
We used to share the tears
Still, the lion’s share were mine
But I’ve run out over time
And I’m not taking yours
I’m not taking yours anymore
New-ish member Akie Bermiss adds some fine R&B vocals alongside Rachael Price’s powerhouse voice on the slick funk of “Same Old News” while the regal “Nobody’s Stopping You Now”, Price’s letter to her teenage self, is as timeless as it is empowering.
Obviously is the sound of a band on a creative roll, or rather, groove.
Song for a Hard Year, The Pines at Night (from the self-released Song for a Hard Year)
Leave it to Matthew Ryan to put the past 18 months into perspective. “Song for a Hard Year”, released under the nom de plume The Pines at Night, is a somber and angry reflection on our extended period of social and political unrest and suffering and loss that has resulted from the global pandemic. The song begins introspectively, with Ryan confessing “I had to hide, it got so dark outside” before turning his attention outward to lambaste politicians and imbeciles contributing to this period of turmoil.
Despite the air of resignation that permeates “Song For a Hard Year”, there is a glimmer of fight, a sentiment that becomes stronger on “Swim Like You’re on Fire”. Against a gentle rolling piano, Ryan implores, “I know you’re hurt, I know you’re tired but you’ve gotta swim like you’re on fire.”
Green Lights, Bonnie Raitt with NRBQ (from the True North Records release Party for Joey: Sweet Relief – A Tribute to Joey Spampinato)
Ask many a musician what artists’s energy, both live and in song, they most envy and the answer will most undoubtedly be NRBQ. Joey Spampinato has been an anchor of the band’s sound, literally and figuratively, as the band’s bassist and co-founder. Some recent health issues have sparked some of Spampinato’s many admirers to rally to his side, sharing versions of classic NRBQ songs to raise funds for the musician’s health care (via the Sweet Relief organization).
Talk about a line-up. The collection includes rock legends including Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos, and Keith Richards to some of Americana’s finest like Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale, and Robbie Fulks. Renowned songwriter and long-time band guitarist Al Anderson kicks things off with the good timin’ “You Can’t Hide” before giving way to Deer Tick and The Minus Five, two bands who carry on NRBQ’s tradition of musicianship and irreverence.
At the other end of the spectrum are ballads, from the sweetness of She & Him’s “How Can I Make You Love Me” and closing with the man himself, alongside his wife Kami Lyle, performing the love song “First Crush”.
Joey: Sweet Relief – A Tribute to Joey Spampinato is a fitting celebration of the man and his band’s musical legacy.
Strangers in Our Town, Jesse Terry (from the Wander Recordings release When We Wander)
When We Wander is a wonderfully crafted collection, one that recalls the classic 1970’s and 1980’s acoustic singer-songwriters. Terry’s writing is filled with airy melodies that are accompanied by thoughtful lyrics.
But don’t let the relaxed feel of his music fool you, Jesse has some serious things on his mind. He admits as much on the introspective “Ghost Stories.”
I’ve got some ghost stories I’d love to tell
Don’t wanna scare you away, so I’ve kept them to myself
Distant shadows I’ve never explained It’s easier to ride these rusty rails
Tip my hat like some righteous saint
“In Spite of You” confronts heartbreak with a touching honesty. The song finds Terry reflecting on a past love, the quiet melody doing little to mask the acerbity of the lyrics. “The sermons that you sold me all were fakes,” he proclaims before adding, “in spite of you, I’m finding my way.”
He contemplates life’s small challenges on “Little Fires”, with a chorus that reveals the toll that they take.
There’s little fires outside my window
Little fires out of the corner of my eyes
Little fires beneath the surface
I can’t put out these little fires
Yet before someone think that the album is all about disappointment and heartbreak, there are some moments that glisten with optimism. “Strangers In Our Town” is a wonderful bit of escapism about ignoring the world and savoring a moment with a loved one. “So honey let down your hair and put your hand in mine,” he sings as he builds towards the chorus of “baby come on out, let’s be strangers in our town.”
“Hanging the Stars” continues the theme of pursuing happiness, in this case as a touring musician. Terry not so subtly sings about “ten nights more” accompanied by “ten rooms with deadbolt doors” but makes a songwriter confession that “maybe it’s enough if you can change one heart in this world.” It’s a point well-taken and, in the case of When We Wander, proof that it can be done with songs that are authentic and thoughtful.
Tell Somebody, Jeffrey Dean Foster (from the self-released EP I’m Starting to Bleed)
Jeffrey Dean Foster’s latest EP is power pop with a pointed edge. The musical hooks are there, for sure, but the lyrics confront the social injustice and unrest that continues to roil the country.
Opener “I’m Starting To Bleed” may be somewhat musically relaxed but Foster doesn’t pull his lyrical punches. The song starts with tranquil visions of summer, complete with ice cream and a radio playing Earth, Wind, and Fire. It quickly transforms into a sobering reflection on American society. “Good news was hard to find and bad news it just flies,” he sings, “I’m starting to bleed, mama I can’t breathe.”
“When Was the Last Time” is about self-reflection. “When was the last time you saw your reflection,” he asks, “when was the last time you pulled back the shade?” Later, on “Headin’ Home”, he counsels “clean your room, clean your mind” as an insistent electric guitar and drums propel the song forward.
Foster lightens the mood mid-EP with the jubilant “Tell Somebody”, a gem about finding love. “Tell somebody you love them today,” he proclaims. In the midst of difficult times it is a sentiment worth celebrating.
Where No One Know My Name, Rod Picott (from the self-released Wood, Steel, Dust & Dreams)
Rod Picott and Slaid Cleaves have quite the history. The two singer-songwriters met in grade school in Maine, an encounter that sparked a life-long friendship and songwriting collaboration. And quite the collaboration it has been. Picott celebrates their shared history with a limited edition, 26-song collection of songs the two have authored over the years.
Individually and together, Picott and Cleaves brilliantly chronicle the blue collar life. These are tales of calloused hands, working hard but often just scraping by. It ain’t for lack of trying, as the characters Picott and Cleaves create don’t lack ambition and dreams. They share the stories with honesty and empathy.
Although most of these songs have appeared on previous Picott (and Cleaves) albums, Picott re-recorded them with a crack group of Nashville players, from Will Kimbrough on guitar to Lex Price on bass. Together they deliver a tremendous celebration of one of folk and Americana’s great collaborations.
Just Hanging On, Peter Case (from the Bandaloop Records release The Midnight Broadcast)
On his latest album, Peter Case takes us on a wonderful tour of American music, from folk to country to blues that comes across like archival field recordings.
The collection features several folk songs from the public domain, including “Stewball” and “Captain Stormalong”, as well as back to back acoustic blues from Mance Linscomb (“Charlie James”) and Memphis Minnie (“Bumble Bee”).
Case reaches even deep into the archives for “Dinah”, a 1920’s jazz-based piano classic recorded by everyone from Django Reinhardt to Thelonious Monk before getting more “contemporary” with a pair of Dylan tunes, “Early Roman Kings” and “This Wheels on Fire”.
But if you ask me what my favorite tune is on the album, I’d say Case’s own “Just Hanging On”. Originally recorded with just an acoustic guitar for his 2007 release Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John, this new arrangement makes a piano the musical centerpiece. It is gently accompanied by acoustic guitar and vocal harmonies with beautiful results.
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.