Don’t Let Go, Fantastic Cat (from the Missing Piece Records release Cat Out of Hell)
A scream-along-at-the-top-of-your-lungs anthem about holding on to your dreams.
Nothing you can buy can save what you sold
So hold on tight to the light in your soul
Don’t look down, baby don’t let… Don’t let go
Suffer, Boy Golden (from the Six Shooter Records release Best of our Possible Lives)
A simmering chronicle of the bad actors currently running the show, and the havoc that they create. Boy Golden isn’t here to pull his punches:
I can’t take too much more of this
I’m looking for a more permanent fix
Like a deep dark hole in a ditch
Whiskey Would Help, Sophie Gault (from the Torrez Music Group release Unhinged)
Gault serves up a barnburner with this raucous ode to drinking away a broken relationship. “I thought the whiskey would help, and boy was I right.”
Dream Come True, Langhorne Slim (from the Dualtone Records release The Dreamin’ Kind)
Langhorne Slim adds another one to the pile of classics in his catalog. “To live a dream, it can be hard to do; but without a dream you can’t have a dream come true.”
If She’s Lonely, John Hollier & the Reverie (from the Thirty Tigers release Rainmaker)
A hell-yeah kind of song. It starts with restraint but quickly becomes a glorious, fist-in-the-air rocker — a romantic takedown that doesn’t quite feel like one.
The World’s Gone Wrong, Lucinda Williams (from the Highway 20 Records release World’s Gone Wrong)
Social commentary, Lucinda style.
“Come on, baby, we gotta be strong
Dark days are getting long
Looking for comfort in a song
Everybody knows the world’s gone wrong”
Cons & Clowns, Courtney Marie Andrews (from the Loose Future release Valentine)
A gentle song of empowerment, made all the more moving by Andrews’ crystalline voice.
“It’s a scary world full of cons and clowns
A lot of bad people who will tear you down
Not me, no way
I only wanna hear you play”
Funeral Singer, The Montvales (from the Free Dirt Records Path of Totality)
The Montvales step away from their rootsy origins for this rock anthem, all the while staying true to the harmonies that have always been their signature.
Ain’t Lookin’ for a Hard Time, Patrick James (from the self-released Stereo Therapy)
There are hooks, and then there are hooks — James kicks this one off with a great one. Add in a meaty rhythm section and you’ve got one hell of a rock song.
Eggs (Terme Di Saturnia), Jeremy James Meyer (from the self-released Astoria, Pt. 2)
A memory, fleeting but strong, lingers and echoes in Meyer’s melancholy folk song.
Shoot Me Straight, Joshua Ray Walker (from the East Dallas Records release Ain’t Dead Yet)
Walker lets loose with a country rave-up of the best possible kind.
I Talk About You, Donovan Woods (from the Meant Well release Squander Your Gifts)
A moving elegy for a lost friend. The tender melody and Woods’ breathy, restrained vocals give the song a genteel warmth.
Heart, Charlie Marie (from the self-released Signs)
Charlie Marie announced her return with this earnest song, a plea for humanity that’s warm and uplifting.
She’s the Only One, Maxim Ludwig (from the Big War Records release Horse Meat)
It’s amazing how artists like Ludwig fly under the radar. This is an anthemic love song that rocks, especially in the chorus, with a Springsteen “Badlands” kind of urgency.
Ruin Me, Adeem the Artist (from the self-released notes from inside)
With just an acoustic guitar, Adeem the Artist digs into a troubled relationship with lyrics so visceral, they give an already bleak tale added gravity.
Matching tattoos and cigarette scars
Nursing whiskey to out of key guitars
I could live laid up here in your arms
It’s becoming a problem for me
Jump, Sammy Kay (from the Weights and Measures release Born to Run)
Covers can be fun, but the best ones are transformative — case in point, Sammy Kay’s intoxicating take on the Van Halen classic.
Blackout Beauty, Keegan McInroe (from the self-release Neon John)
Jim Croce vibes, roadhouse style — a tale of the morning after, with vague memories of the night before.
All I Want Is You, The Greenberry Woods (from the Big Stir Records It’s All Good, Sugar)
A glorious slice of power pop — uplifting and straight to the point in two minutes and sixteen seconds. The title and brief horn intro come across like a musical wink to The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love.”
Takes a Dreamer, Ben Chapman (from the Soundly Music release Feet on Fire)
An ambling, soulful groove underpins this love song, one that doesn’t shy away from complexity of relationships — behind every dreamer is a partner who shares in the vision.
“We both got our heads
Up in these clouds
And there ain’t no point
Trying to come down”
Headlong, Ill Angel
A bit of swagger and plenty of electric guitar — what’s not to like?
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.