Give It To Me One Last Time, Jeremie Albino (from the Easy Eye Sound release Our Time in the Sun)
Canada’s Jeremie Albino traveled to Nashville to record an album steeped in Memphis and Muscle Shoals soul. In Nashville, Albino teamed with Dan Auerbach to create an outstanding album that has a retro feel without losing its freshness.
Our Time in the Sun is solid from start to finish but really gets cooking on the proverbial side B. “Struggling With the Bottle” and “Give It To Me One Last Time”, the songs that kick off the side, make for a potent 1-2 punch. “Struggling With the Bottle” is a song that, as the title suggests, has a nasty edge. It is fueled by prickly guitars and a throw your fist in the air chorus. “It’s so crazy what a drink will do,” Albino sings, “it’ll break you down and take control of you”.
“Give It To Me One Last Time”, a classic R&B song, is about wanting to savor one last enjoyable moment in a relationship that’s clearly ending. “The kinda love we had together ain’t the kind you wanna lose,” he laments, “can we get some satisfaction before we say goodbye”.
From there the goodness only continues. “Dinner Bell” is a killer jam with a Santana vibe. “Since I’ve Been Knowing You” starts with jazzy piano but quickly transforms into an old school R&B love song. He closes the side and album with the acoustic, foot stompin’ “Hold Me Tight”.
But let’s not neglect side A. “Baby Ain’t It Cold Outside” and “Rolling Down the 405” are particular standouts. The former is all about the groove, from the bass line to the guitars that slither across the song. The latter, in all its percussive glory, has a Stephen Stills feel with some stellar horns joining the party at various points.
Our Time in the Sun is clearly about the vibe as much as the songs – a masterful album that is spirited and and soulful.
Verlaine Shot Rimbaud, Lydia Loveless (from the Bloodshot Records release Something Else)
Lydia Loveless celebrates the 10th anniversary of Somewhere Else by reimaging the album as a collection of piano ballads. The results are wonderful, shining the songs in a new light that illuminates their lyrical intensity.
Album opener “Really Wanna See You” is a prime example. Whereas the urgency of the original full band version walked the line between demanding and desperation in tone, the piano version is more confessional and infused with an air of resignation. The contrast is even more striking on “To Love Somebody”, where the original had a pop feel while the piano version is raw and pained.
“Verlaine Shot Rimbaud” is particularly stunning in the new arrangement. Harmonized vocals give it a charm even as the weight of the lyrics is brought front and center. It, along with the rest of the album, is a tremendous showcase of the depth of Loveless’ songwriting.
Houndstooth Dress, Paul Kelly (from the Cooking Vinyl release Fever Longing Still)
If you’ve ever wanted to be a fly on the wall when a band is in the studio, Paul Kelly gives you that chance with “Houndstooth Dress”, the track that opens the phenomenal Fever Longing Still. You can hear Kelly calling out the chords as the band joins in, then asking for them to increase the tempo. What follows is a bewitching rock song that mines ground similar to Randy Newman’s “You Can Leave Your Hat On”. (Hear the songwriter describe the studio experience.)
Kelly offers two sides of a failed relationship with “Love Has Made a Fool of Me” and “Taught By Experts”. He laments the situation on the former, singing, “One day you’re walking with the gods’ own swagger, the next day all you can do is stagger”. The shoe is seemingly on the other foot on the jangly “Taught By Experts” where he recasts some hard-earned lessons in taking a lover to task, “I learned a thing or two, what I learned I learned from you”.
Somewhere in the middle is “Let’s Work It Out In Bed”. As the title suggests:
Now words can jump the track
Like a rolling runaway train
But a little love can bring things back
Kelly’s penchant for storytelling shines on songs like “Northern Rivers”, which chronicles the love between two mismatched lovers. “The more I know her, the less I do,” he confesses. “All Those Smiling Faces” captures the singer looking at a family album and recalling the good times that were shared. Kelly’s eye for detail wonderfully brings the characters and scenes to life, for example:
There’s Auntie Jean and her two beaux
The one behind her is the one she chose
Coming out of the water, they’re all dripping wet
Oh, the jilted one doesn’t know it yet
Over his nearly 50 year career, established himself as one of the world’s premiere songwriters. Fever Longing Still demonstrates that Kelly has plenty more great songs left in him.
Get It Back, Melanie MacLaren (from the Tone Tree Music release Bloodlust)
In only four songs, Melanie MacLaren captivates with the depth of her songwriting. Her lyrics are dramatic and impactful, all the better when set against catchy melodies.
One need look no further than “Laika”, her take on the Soviet space dog sent into orbit on Sputnik 2 in 1957. With no way to bring her back after launching Laika into space, the mission was a death sentence. “If you’re gonna use me, just tell me so,” she sings, “if you’re gonna kill me, don’t do it slow.” She closes the song by asking “Is there no limit to what a man can do.”
The EP’s other tracks are equally impactful. “Heaven Is” is a matter-of-fact take on the preciousness and fleeting nature of life. “Heaven is a hot dog when you’re drunk as fuck,” she considers in a moment of levity. Yet the song’s true meaning comes through in lyrics like “heaven is a place I don’t think about much, but I’ll have too one day I’m aware”.
“Get It Back” chronicles a break-up in NYC, MacLaren’s sense of detail adding to the story’s impact. She sings:
I hate to break your heart but we lost our spark on the FDR
Watched it hail a cab, blackening the lanes like a tire track
And we’re never gonna get it back
The arrangements on Bloodlust are atmospheric and sublime, letting MacLaren’s songs and voice take center stage. Small touches like the subtle banjo of “Heaven Is” and the ethereal guitar of “Laika” give the songs texture and depth.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to dig into MacLaren’s earlier releases (2 EPs). If Bloodlust is any indication, there’s plenty more compelling songs to be found there.
One Too Many, Maggie Antone (from the Thirty Tigers release Rhinestoned)
Some albums just radiate fun – Maggie Antone’s debut is one of them. Her songs, whether playful or serious, are full of personality. Opener “Johnny Moonshine” is in the former category, a spirited love song in which Antone proclaims “I get buzzed just thinking about you” about someone with “a checkered past and a tattooed heart”.
Alcohol is a recurring theme, a means of dealing with times both good and bad. “One Too Many” is particularly entertaining as Antone recalls a particularly raucous night, “Jack Daniel’s took me out and Johnny walked me home; Mary Jane rolled up and she got me stoned”. The broken-hearted “Me and Jose Cuervo” finds Antone lamenting “Me and Jose Cuervo sitting on the kitchen floor wearing your souvenir sombrero; Thinking back to when you were mine.”
Her sense of humor is especially strong on “Mess With Texas”. The song offers a geography lesson with its tale of landing in Texas in search of love. “Ran out of lovers in the lover’s state and Kentucky left me blue,” she describes.
Which isn’t to say that Antone can’t be serious. The restrained acoustic “Everyone But You” finds the singer falling in love with a friend and telling everyone but the object of her affection. Closer “Meant to Meet” reflects on a failing relationship as Antone confessing, “I think we were meant to meet, not meant to be”.
Melodic and feisty, Rhinestoned is a fine introduction to Maggie Antone and her music.
Watermelon Pink, Leeroy Stagger (from the Tonic Records release 3 AM Revelations)
Leeroy Stagger’s 3 AM Revelations is, quite simply, a great rock and roll record. It has a modern rock sheen but is filled with musical callbacks to the classic rock and punk of the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Opener “Mediocrity Pill” is a percussion heavy anthem that finds Stagger getting a bit jaded with life in a small town. “I shouldn’t complain but I will, I pay my taxes,” he sings, “I suppose I could do a bit more, it’s all become such a bore”.
“Count to Ten” is a throw your fist in the air rocker that calls to mind the Replacements or Tommy Stinson’s subsequent solo outings. The chorus brilliantly captures Stagger’s ability to be both an idealist and a realist::
Here’s one for the dreaming (dreaming won’t stop)
Two for the memories (memories get lost)
Three for the bedsheets, four for the mess (bedsheets all fade in the wash)
Five for the aimless way we chase it around and around (aimless love chasing your heart, meet me at the end where the real dreams start)
At several moments on 3 AM Revelations, Stagger gloriously pays respect to his musical predecessors. “Watermelon Pink” recalls the Velvet Underground with snatches of Bruce Springsteen added for good measure. “Life’s a Drag (When You’re All Messed Up)” is a ballad with an insistent rhythm whose title, not to mention lyrical focus, calls to mind LA punk band X. Heck, he even includes a tribute to Patti Smith in the form of “St. Patricia”, singing “St. Patricia won’t you help us make it through, a little poetry in everything you do”.
Stagger closes the album with “It’s Gonna Be Alright, Someday”, a song both melancholic and hopeful, singing:
Everyone is fighting to survive
Staying late to finish the disguise
She turned around and whispers, It’s good to be alive
It’s gonna be alright
Are You Listening?, Emily Frembgen (from the Don Giovanni Records release No Hard Feelings)
New York’s Emily Frembgen’s songs and voice may have a genteel and comforting quality to them but her lyrics, well, tell a different story. Album opener “Are You Listening” opens on a seemingly optimistic note (“the world doesn’t run out of people to love you, stop thinking that it does”) but the song evolves into questions of the difficulty of finding validation and contentment. “The world doesn’t run out of people to hurt you,” she sings in a callback to the opening line.
Romantic relationships, not the happy kind, are a recurring theme. The introspective “Hard to Love” expresses self-doubt (“I’m not hard to get, I’m just hard to love”) while the country-flavored “Drink Tonight” finds the singer processing a break-up in true country form (“I was put through the ringer, dragged through the gutter… I’m gonna drink tonight”).
The more pop-oriented “Fentanyl” seemingly references the pandemic isolation (“Two years of doing nothing makes everybody crazy”). As the song progresses it’s clear that the experience has brought about more permanent change in a relationship with Frembgen stating, “And if you’re comin’ back this way, don’t bother to call”, she sings.
The lyrical rawness of No Hard Feelings is both weighty and moving. That Frembgen makes it sound so warm and inviting is a testament to her artistic talent.
A Little Green Left, Dustin Lowman (from the self-released Invulnerable)
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Dustin Lowman hosts a regular Bob Dylan songwriter show – one can hear echoes of Dylan all across Lowman’s new Invulnerable. Yet the album is also Lowman finding his own voice, telling his own stories, and showcasing his songwriting talent.
He establishes the album’s tone right from the start with “Lucky Stars”. The tale of a failed attempt at romance, his half-spoken delivery shines a light on the cleverness of his word-play. “Nine o’clock and I’m of whiskey mind,” he laments, “I made my move but it was not my time”.
He highlights his philosophical bent on “Some Stay in Harbor (Some Go to Sea)”. As the title suggests, Lowman describes the conflict between wanting to find stability and contentment while being enticed by some potential future unknown. “Yeah, I wonder how long I’m destined to be a stranger at harbor, a native at sea,” he confesses.
The sense of isolation continues on album stand-out “A Little Green Left”. He opens the song admitting, “I let my plants die when I was feeling low”. Yet the song quickly turns to the handling of a romantic relationship and the self-sabotage that occurred. The reference to “a little green left” is the concluding desire to find a sliver of hope for righting the wrongs.
The quiet, acoustic “Hangover Cure” is his version of Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down”. Lowman’s morning after solution? “Diner coffee with someone lovely; bottomless mug, limitless love”. Sounds about right.
There’s plenty of biting social commentary of “The More Separate We Get (The More Our Economy Grows), to wit:
Well, we asked for true connection, we got WiFi and cellphones
We prayed for resurrection we got dog & housecat clones
We dreamed of creature comfort and we got a lethal dose
The more separate we get, the more that our economy grows
Invulnerable is a tremendous musical statement, introducing Lowman as a lyricist and songwriter who is both thoughtful and engaging.
Cadillac Man, ZZ Ward (from the Sun Records release Mother)
ZZ Ward has a voice powerful and expressive, one that was made for classic rhythm and blues. So why not team up with storied Sun Records for a rockin’ EP? Over five tracks, she wraps her voice around everything from the from the old school R&B ballad “I Have No One” to the jumping juke-joint R&B of “My Baby Left Me”. “Put the Gun Down”, a re-working of a previous Ward release, has the most contemporary sound but still crackles with an old school R&B vibe. The title track, Ward’s ode to motherhood, heads into blues territory. A wailing guitar wrapping itself around Ward’s vocals as she sings:
‘Cause it’s twenty-four-seven commitment
It don’t matter what you’re dealing with
Like a train that speeds right through the station
Takes all of you to keep up with it
Mother is a damn good listen – here’s hoping there is more goodness on the horizon.
Monday Nights, Rebecca Haviland and Whiskey Heart (from the Five & Dime Records release Late Nights)
If there’s a thread across the music in this playlist, it’s the plethora of throwback R&B mixed with rock. New York’s Rebecca Haviland and Whiskey Heart mine that territory in tremendous fashion. In just five songs, Haviland covers a lot of ground while remaining rooted in that sound. There’s the bluesy pop of “Cry a Little” to the classic R&B ballad “Those Were the Days”. Opener “Monday Nights” brings the rock (Haviland describes it as having “an Elvis Costello meets the Stranglers vibe”) while closer “Nothing Left to Leave Behind” is a slice of catchy pop goodness.
A World So Kind, Wonderly (from the self-released Wolves)
You’d be hard-pressed to believe that Wonderly is a duo given the expanse of sound that they create. Equally impressive is the quality of their songwriting. Their songs, while all rooted in catchy pop, cover a lot of musical ground.
Most notable are their classic, often retro sounding, pop gems. Opener ““It Was Written That Way”, awash in strings and harmonies, recalls the Hollies while “No One Has a Name” calls to mind the Harry Nilsson classic “Everybody’s Talkin’”. “A World So Kind” starts off with a moody Simon and Garfunkel vibe but grows into more of a Brian Wilson symphony.
They scratch their country itch on the fun “Dancin’ with the Devil” and the pedal steel-flavored waltz “Never Go Back There Again”. The duo even reach into the Broadway realm with “My Damn Self”, which has the type of melodic expressiveness found in classic musicals.
The constant across Wolves is the alluring charm of their songwriting, brought to life with tightly nuanced arrangements. And the harmonies, well, they’re sublime.
Playboy, The Roamers (from the self-released The Roamers)
Los Angeles has a mighty fine country music scene. Case in point – The Roamers. The group of seasoned LA musicians introduce themselves with a sound that calls to mind the rocking side of Dwight Yoakam. Their album’s finer moments are perfect little pop songs served up in a country-rock package.
Album opener “Playboy” is a particular stand-out with its dance floor groove and sing-along chorus, as well as the catchy hook of “Do What You Wanna Do”. Elsewhere, they scratch a rock itch with “Room to Roam”, powered by crackling electric guitar and a hearty drum beat. “Lights Down Low” calls to mind Buddy Holly while “Where the Road Is Always Open” bristles with a Jimmy Buffett beach vibe.
Lest anyone think they don’t know old school country, they serve up the relaxed truck drivin’ “Keep On Rollin’” and the pedal steel-infused “One Side of the Bed”. Add it all up and The Roamers is one hell of a fun album.
Flying High, Jenny Don’t and the Spurs (from the Fluff and Gravy Records release Broken Hearted Blue)
Portland Oregon doesn’t usually jump to mind when one is thinking about honky-tonk but Jenny Don’t and the Spurs make the case that it should. Their brand of honky-tonk is amped up with plenty of electric guitar but the dance hall vibes are strong.
They open their latest album with the straight up rocker “Flying High” but move immediately to fill the dance floor with the upbeat country styling of “Pain in My Heart”. They keep rolling from there, from the rumbling instrumental “Sidewinder” to the truck drivin’ “You’re What I Need” to the propulsive, Bo Diddley beat of “My Baby’s Gone” to the spaghetti western feel of “Bones in the Sand”. You get the idea, Jenny Don’t and the Spurs serve up music that is feisty and bad-ass.
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.