THE BLACK CROWES A POUND OF FEATHERS SILVER ARROW RECORDS Since reforming in 2019, The Black Crowes have remained in constant motion through numerous tours, a recent string of remastered boxsets (including last year’s reissue of Amorica and Live [...]
RUSH GRACE UNDER PRESSURE (SUPER DELUXE EDITION) UMe/MERCURY/ANTHEM When Grace Under Pressure first landed in 1984, it captured Rush at a moment of profound transition. The band was navigating new technology, shifting cultural anxieties, and the [...]
GOLD LEADER GOLD LEADER COLOR RED Hailing from Denver, Gold Leader has dropped their impressive debut, eponymous record. Gold Leader is a collection of instrumental songs that teeters between funk and jazz, giving the band a modern and freshly [...]
DRIVING MRS. SATAN LATE EVER AFTER LIBURIA RECORDS If you think that covering the songs of others is easy by just picking up your instruments and microphones, than you are quite mistaken. Sure you can do that, but then you are just a cover [...]
BRIGITTE CALLS ME BABY IRREVERSIBLE ATO RECORDS Navigating a second album is tricky business, especially when your first release and follow-up tour were received with such acclaim that you’re being tipped as the next big indie band. Such is the [...]
SPENCER HOFFMAN CHERRY PICKER ANXIETY BLANKET RECORDS Being a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles will always draw comparisons with the early to mid-70s, when the so-called golden age of California Sound ruled, well, the airwaves then. In the [...]
CAT CLYDE MUD BLOOD BONE CONCORD RECORDS Really good singer-songwriters these days take much harder routes to creating music of substance. Of course it is the much harder road than just strumming your guitar, tinkling your piano and singing [...]
KIM GORDON PLAY ME MATADOR RECORDS It’s difficult to know what to expect from a Kim Gordon solo record, given her avant-garde aloofness over her years in music, but I had no idea just how strange it would be to spend my next 40 or so minutes in [...]
SUZIE UNGERLEIDER AMONG THE EVERGREENS (DELUXE EDITION) MVKA A good album is like a friend who you may not have seen in a while. When you meet up, the reunion is sweet, and the conversation picks up as if no time has passed at all. Among The [...]
CASHIER THE WEIGHT JULIA’S WAR Cashier’s first full-length release is the Lafayette rock band throwing a marker down to all those who listen to them – this is heavy, unapologetic, shoegaze rock. It works, too, at least in parts; there’s some [...]
BILL ORCUTT MUSIC IN CONTINUOUS MOTION PALILALIA RECORDS Since 1996, Bill Orcutt has released 23 solo studio albums, and so Music In Continuous Motion is number 24. He has also made a great many albums collaborating with other artists. Music in [...]
ORA COGAN HARD HEARTED WOMAN SACRED BONES RECORDS I don’t think it is a coincidence that Ora Cogan’s new album opens with the brilliant song “Honey,” with a steady beat, almost like a heartbeat. After all, the album is titled Hard Hearted Woman, [...]
LAMB OF GOD INTO OBLIVION EPIC Lamb Of God has returned with Into Oblivion, their first album since 2022’s Omens. The metal veterans remain as ferocious and consistent as ever over the course of 10 tracks, led by a string of singles, “Sepsis,” [...]
ODD MARSHALL SECONDS INDEPENDENT It is not often that an album sounds like the location in which it was recorded, but the minute I started listening to Seconds, Odd Marshall’s second album (his first since 2024’s successful Sand & Glue), I [...]
MARGARITAS PODRIDAS METALES PESADOS HOPELESS RECORDS With Metales Pesados, Margaritas Podridas deliver a third album that feels both refreshed and unmistakably their own. While the band leans into a more upbeat rhythmic pulse this time around, [...]
WHERE’S BETH ACHE IS A CRICKET IN THE NIGHT INDEPENDENT Good to great singer-songwriters seem to be creeping up on us daily (again!)—artists obviously seem to have a greater need to try and express their personal sensibilities and whatnot [...]
JENN GRANT QUEEN OF THE STRAIT INDEPENDENT With three Juno nominations, millions of streams, and critic accolades all over, Jenn Grant is becoming yet another Canadian music giant. And Grant has not reached that status by sticking to some strict [...]
VARIOUS ARTISTS SOUL TO SOUL: MUSIC FROM THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK LIBERATION HALL In 1971, Ghana hosted Soul To Soul, a 13-hour concert consisting of performances from dozens of African American jazz, soul, and gospel artists. The concert served [...]
ENDEARMENTS AN ALWAYS OPEN DOOR TRASH CASUAL Endearments’ first full-length EP, An Always Open Door, leans heavily into the nostalgia of ’80s synthpop, and nowhere is that clearer than on the opening track, “Summersun.” At first, the pure pop [...]
SQUEEZE TRIXIES BMG Since Squeeze burst onto the scene in 1978 with their self-titled debut album, they have continually kept fans, critics, and listeners guessing as to what they will do next. Trixies is an album that I don’t think anyone saw [...]
VARIOUS ARTISTS HELP(2) WAR CHILD RECORDS War Child is a much-needed and important organization. It is an independent non-government institution, whose goal is ensuring a safe future for every child affected by war. It is an agency that many [...]
FLYING LOTUS BIG MAMA INDEPENDENT Despite not releasing a studio album since 2019’s Flamagra, Flying Lotus remains in a state of constant motion as he moves through the decade with a range of projects, including soundtracks for Yasuke, Ozzy’s [...]
THE SUNCHARMS DARKENING SKY SUNDAY RECORDS The Suncharms are a band with an interesting history. They date back to 1989, and called it a day in 1993, but not before releasing a couple of EPs. In 2015 they reformed, and since then have released [...]
LES MAZOETANS DO YOUR BEST FORBIDDEN PLACE RECORDS Les Mazoetans is a band based in the Netherlands, and Do Your Best is their debut album, although they did release a seven-track mini album/EP in 2025, Merry Christmas from Hanoi. Together they [...]
