Category Archives: Album Reviews

Alabama Shakes Boys & Girls Review

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This is not how bands usually grow.  Bands who have yet to release an album don’t pack large clubs all over the country and Europe.  But in the new online-fueled music industry, hype for the Alabama Shakes spread like wildfire after an innocent blog post and an endorsement from the Drive By Truckers’ Patterson Hood.  Riding a wave of buzz from the blogosphere and now legendary performances during New York’s CMJ week, the band has sold out shows for months without a full album under their belts.  Boys & Girls is their first full studio effort, and from the first notes of album opener “Hold On,” it lives up to the hype.

With a steady-grooving beat, tumbling bassline and guitar riff that sounds straight off a back porch in Alabama, “Hold On” is as catchy as rock and roll gets, and that’s before Brittany Howard’s soulful vocals enters the mix.  Howard’s tortured roar is undeniably the heart and soul of the Alabama Shakes, and when she wails, “I don’t wanna wait!” as the band crashes behind her, the Alabama Shakes already sound like rock and roll royalty.

“Hold On” is one of the most explosively catchy songs in recent memory, and sets the tone for an album full of soul-infused rock and roll.  The bouncy strut of “I Found You” and swamp rock of “Hang Loose” follow and give the album a gritty garage blues sound reminiscent of The Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street.  And, like the Stones, the Alabama Shakes manage to mix battered ballads among the rockers.  The burning slow blues of “You Ain’t Alone” is a standout and features Howard crooning and screaming like a possessed Janis Joplin. 

The album’s other ballads, “Heartbreaker” and the title track “Boys and Girls” aren’t quite as inspired, but just as the album threatens to lull, the band explodes with a 1-2 punch of “Be Mine”and “Ain’t The Same.”  The greasy soul of ”Be Mine” showcased more howling vocals from Howard, while the thick guitar riffs of “Ain’t The Same” displayed the band’s powerful but funky punch as Howard’s screaming is spurred on by crashing piano, guitar and drums.

When bands experience this kind of crazed rise, we can’t help waiting for the other shoe to drop as they fail to live up to our expectations.  Boys & Girls may be only one album, but full of gritty, impassioned rock and roll, it convincingly screams that the Alabama Shakes are well on their way to great things.

Dr. Dog Review

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Here’s a review of Dr. Dog’s new album Be The Void, originally posted here on jambands.com and copied below:

In Dr. Dog’s early days, the band picked up steam despite shying away from major labels and producers, preferring to stick to their own vintage, lo-fi style. On their last album Shame, Shame, that style seemed like it had evolved, as for the first time, they used an outside producer and embraced a bigger sound. Shame, Shame finds the band at their catchiest but also hardest rocking, as years of heavy touring had turned Dr. Dog into a true rock band with rumbling bass and drums and clashing guitars.

Dr. Dog’s new album Be The Void finds them retaining the raw rock and roll edge of Shame, Shame with their most musically aggressive and ambitious album yet, while also returning to the quirky, experimental style of their early days. The country blues of album opener “Lonesome” sets the tone for Be The Void, as it is irresistibly catchy and charming despite utterly nonsensical lyrics and barroom cheers. Between the oddities of “Lonesome” and the bongos and spacey keyboard effects that open the album’s second song, “That Old Black Hole,” the band wastes no time in declaring that their decision to go back to self-producing must have been motivated by their love of doing whatever the hell they want in the studio.

After perfecting streamlined rock and roll with Shame, Shame, Dr. Dog have produced a wild collage of sounds with Be The Void. On the new album, they flesh out these songs with improved musicianship and studio bells and whistles. Make no mistake, not all of the bells and whistles work. The computer noises at the beginning of sleazy rocker “Warrior Man” add little to the song, and the bongo drum led breakdown in the dance pop of “Heavy Light” is even more surprising (though, like everything else on Be The Void, it will grow on you quickly). But the unabashedly loose, fun vibe of the album is contagious and musically, Dr. Dog thrives most in this anything goes atmosphere.

Dr. Dog is built on the unique songwriting partnership of bassist Toby Leaman and guitarist Scott McMicken, who trade off songs throughout the album. Because their writing styles are so different, the album is full of sudden twists and turns. While Leaman’s songs are fairly straightforward, McMicken’s songs sound like a collage of soundscapes. From the electro-pop of “Heavy Light” to the memorable psychedelic dance edge of “How Long Must I Wait,” McMicken’s songs force Dr. Dog into new musical territory.

While McMicken’s songs on Be The Void tend to lean towards experimental psychedelic pop, Leaman’s songs are comfortable rockers. “Warrior Man” nods a little too heavily at The Kinks, but “Big Girl” could be the best rock song Dr. Dog has ever recorded. With Leaman’s infectiously catchy chorus and McMicken’s slashing guitar solos, “Big Girl” finds Dr. Dog fully capturing their live energy in the studio. Leaman’s “Vampire” and “These Days” feature more howling vocals and searing riffs from McMicken and rhythm guitarist Frank McElroy, and show that the band is just as influenced by ‘70s glam rock as they are by ‘60s psychedelic pop.

With the right mix of heavy rock and roll and indie charm, Dr. Dog’s Be The Void is a loose, ragged and lighthearted album that keeps growing on you until it just won’t leave your head. After enduring years and years of comparisons to The Beach Boys and The Beatles (and seemingly no one else), Be The Void finds the band embracing a wider palette of influences and moving closer to their own sound in the studio. Be The Void is harder rocking and livelier than anything they’ve recorded before, and though the experimentation makes for an album that is not as immediately catchy as Shame, Shame, it also creates an album that is certainly more adventurous and ultimately at least as enjoyable.

 

Bruce Springsteen- Wrecking Ball Review

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My review of Bruce Springsteen’s album originally posted here and copied below:

Bruce Springsteen’s new album Wrecking Ball may be a solo album, but album opener “We Take Care Of Our Own” is full of pounding drums, layered riffs and a fist-pumping chorus, sounding just like an E Street Band classic. But of course there is something missing. Wrecking Ball is Springsteen’s first studio effort without his lifelong sidekick, saxophonist Clarence Clemons. And, as you might expect, Springsteen’s music just isn’t the same without Clarence’s horn leading the way. After all, how do you replace the man who Springsteen regularly introduced to crowds as “the biggest man in the world?”

But despite the fact that album opener “We Take Care Of Our Own” sounds like vintage E Street Band rock and roll, none of the core members of the E Street Band even appear on the track. Springsteen chooses to replace Clemons by straying away from the E Street Band and their distinctive style with one of his most musically experimental and ambitious albums. Perhaps in an attempt to distract the listener from the gaping hole where Clemons’ bursting saxophone belongs, Wrecking Ball leans closer to rootsy Americana and gospel than the grand rock and roll of the E Street Band.

The album’s second song “Easy Money” finds Springsteen’s studio experimentations begin – as the song sounds like a combination of the E Street Band and Springsteen’s bluegrass Seeger Sessions band joined by a gospel choir, and mixes moaning fiddle with an electric guitar solo. There are plenty more musical experimentations on the album – including an embrace of hip hop on “Rocky Ground” – an adventure that is just as awkwardly bizarre as you might imagine it to be. But aside from the sudden twist in musical direction on “Rocky Ground,” Wrecking Ball still sounds like a Bruce Springsteen album, just a little more colorful than usual. From bluegrass-tinged lonesome country to Irish folksongs and mournful ballads, Wrecking Ball finds Springsteen experimenting and succeeding with new styles.

Despite making more than a small fortune over the course of his career, Springsteen has never forgotten his own working class roots and the years he spent toiling in New Jersey’s tiny clubs before breaking through to commercial success. Much like his stark Nebraska and The Ghost Of Tom Joad albums, Wrecking Ball is full of stories of working class Americans and their troubles. “We Take Care of Our Own” quickly brings to mind “Born In The U.S.A.” as it is a biting criticism of the American government disguised by a patriotic chorus. With lines like “Where’s the promise from sea to shining sea?” “We Take Care of Our Own” opens the album with Springsteen questioning the American Dream and whether the government has fulfilled its responsibilities to its people.

Those themes are central throughout Wrecking Ball, an album inspired by Occupy Wall Street that finds Springsteen voicing his concern over the direction of this country and our future. He sings about “fat cats” in “Easy Money” and the haunting “Jack Of All Trades” features lines like “A banker man grows fat, a working man grows thin/It’s all happened before and it’ll happen again.” The standout song culminates with Springsteen declaring “If I had me a gun, I’d find the bastards and shoot ‘em on sight,” before Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine contributes a soaring guitar solo, making for one of the album’s most politically charged moments.

But the true highlight of the album is a dose of old fashioned E Street Band rock and roll on “Land Of Hope And Dreams,” where that sound you’ve been waiting for finally arrives. After a soulful gospel choir backs Springsteen as he pays tribute to Woody Guthrie’s “This Train Is Bound For Glory,” the unmistakable sound of Clarence Clemons’ saxophone leaps in above the roar of the band with a moving solo as Springsteen sings about “bells of freedom ringing.” Only someone like Clemons’ could make his last recorded appearance such a majestic one, and his horn has never sounded better.

Up until “Land Of Hope And Dreams,” Wrecking Ball, full of ruminations on hard times, finds Springsteen downtrodden and angry. But he takes a sudden turn towards optimism on “Land Of Hope And Dreams.” “We Are Alive,” a tribute to fallen heroic protestors, follows “Land Of Hope And Dreams” and the pair ends the album on an ultimately hopeful and inspiring note. After all, this is the same man who once proclaimed “It ain’t no sin to be alive” in a song about being “caught in a crossfire that I don’t understand.” With Wrecking Ball, Springsteen focuses on the wealth gap and the recession that America is mired in but this is by no means a dark album. He may be singing about broken promises and hard times, but ultimately, the album is fueled by Springsteen’s unwavering belief that it’s not too late for America to become that “Land of Hope and Dreams” again.

Christopher Paul Stelling- Songs of Praise & Scorn Review

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Check out my review of Christopher Paul Stelling’s brilliant debut album, originally published here on jambands.com and posted below:

Though I listen to as much new music as I can, rarely do I stumble across a brand new artist who captures my rapt attention within seconds. Yet those magical albums do come along every once in awhile and Christopher Paul Stelling’s Songs Of Praise And Scorn is that special debut with the power to transfix the listener from its very first notes. With expertly picked acoustic melodies and gorgeous, howling vocals, Stelling’s songs are immediately captivating.

Though Songs Of Praise And Scorn finds Stelling accompanied only by occasional fiddle and sparse drums in addition to his acoustic guitar, it feels limiting to call him a folksinger. His singing and songwriting is unquestionably at the heart of the album, but he is also a tremendously talented guitarist. A gently picked flowing riff on album opener “Mourning Train To Memphis” is joined by Stelling’s equally raspy and tender voice and soothing fiddle. Proving he can’t quite be pegged down by the folksinger moniker, the song gathers steam as it rolls along and closes with Stelling’s voice energetically ringing out the chorus.

For a quiet, acoustic album, Songs Of Praise And Scorn features quite a bit of lively, wailing vocals. “Never Been There” is a punk rock classic without a band, as Stelling’s raucous guitar strumming is matched in energy by his impassioned vocals. “Strange Darkness,” the most stunningly moving moment on the album, finds Stelling’s voice ranging from a whisper to a deafening howl. He pleads “Be careful, please be gentle with me/Swear I’m not a bad person no, just got a strange darkness livin’ in me,” in a tortured roar that could only be compared to John Lennon’s primal scream therapy-inspired solo masterpiece Plastic Ono Band.

Stelling’s voice is so unique and soulful that the displays of raw wailing on “Strange Darkness” and “Never Been There” are rivaled in intensity by quiet ballads “King Is Dead” and “Little Broken Birds,” as his whispered vocals and whistling have their own kind of power. With a voice like that over a guitar style reminiscent of Bert Jansch and Nick Drake with a touch of John Fahey’s rustic Americana thrown in, Christopher Paul Stelling is well on his way to becoming the next great folksinger.

Best Albums of 2011 #26-30

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Full list here

Real Estate-Days
Like Vetiver, Woods and several others, Real Estate is further proof that sixties influenced psychedelia is beginning to seep into the indie rock scene.  Combining airy, reverb-drenched vocals with soaring guitars and a heavy nod to The Byrds with jingle jangle riffs, Real Estate are poppy but dreamy.  Though the band’s sound is somewhat repetitive, lead guitarist Matt Mondanile’s gentle, lush playing gives the songs some extra color.  The 7+ minute album closer “All The Same” shows that Real Estate thrive when they turn to the exploratory side, but upbeat poppy numbers like “It’s Real” work just as well.

Key Tracks- Easy, It’s Real, Wonder Years, All The Same

27. Rich Robinson- Through A Crooked Sun
With The Black Crowes on hiatus, Rich Robinson is revisiting a solo career that he’s never given proper time or attention.  After years of singing just harmonies in The Black Crowes, Rich doesn’t sound completely comfortable as a lead singer, but makes up for it with his guitar work.  From gorgeous acoustic melodies to searing blues riffs and soaring psychedelia, Through A Crooked Sun is certainly an album for the guitar lover.  Larry Campbell produces the album and lends pedal steel guitar to a few standout tracks, as the band recalls Stephen Stills’ Manassas with their fusion of country and bluegrass with rock and roll.

Key Tracks: Hey Fear, All Along The Way, Bye Bye Baby

28. Gillian Welch- The Harrow and the Harvest
The Harrow and the Harvest is Gillian Welch’s long awaited follow up to 2003′s Soul Journey.  In between, she and her musical partner David Rawlings recorded the spectacular A Friend of a Friend as the David Rawlings Machine in 2009, but The Harrow and the Harvest has little in common with that album or Soul Journey.  Instead the pair turn away from the rootsy but electrified Americana of those album and take an acoustic folk approach.  The Harrow and the Harvest sounds like it could have been recorded during the Great Depression- there are no electric guitars, keyboards or drums on this album.  But the sparse musical accompaniment suits these dark, lonesome songs perfectly.  To say the album is a bit of a downer is putting it lightly.  Lyrically these songs are desolate and apocalyptic, but with the pair’s vocal harmonies, the dark end of the world has never sounded so sweet.

Key Tracks- Scarlet Town, The Way It Will Be, Tennessee

29. My Morning Jacket- Circuital
Though Circuital was not showered with the massive critical acclaim that My Morning Jacket’s albums generally receive, it is nevertheless another strong and creative album.  There are a couple of low points – “Holdin’ On To Black Metal” is particularly brutal – but on most of the album, particularly the ethereal title track, they sound as good as ever.

Key Tracks- Victory Dance, Circuital, Movin’ Away

30. The Wood Brothers- Smoke Ring Halo
My review here
The Wood Brothers third album together finds them leaving their past as a rootsy folk duo behind to make more of a full band album.

Key Tracks- Smoke Ring Halo, Made It Up The Mountain, Blue And Green

Best Albums of 2011 #21-25

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Full List Here

21. The War On Drugs- Slave Ambient
Equally influenced by The Arcade Fire, Bruce Springsteen and the Grateful Dead, The War On Drugs music is dominated by layers of psychedelic keyboards and interwoven liquified guitar lines, but at the core is strong songwriting from frontman Adam Granduciel.  Something about the band’s sound is unquestionably “big” and catchy, and Slave Ambient could be a breakout album of sorts for them.

Key Tracks- Best Night, Your Love Is Calling My Name, Baby Missiles, Original Slave

22. Jonathan Wilson- Gentle Spirit
For the past few years, Jonathan Wilson has quietly spearheaded Laurel Canyon’s emerging country rock scene without getting much recognition. d Along with his good friend Chris Robinson, Wilson has hosted loose jam sessions featuring talented friends ranging from classic rock veterans such as Benmont Tensch of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Jackson Browne to rising young bands Dawes and Truth & Salvage Co.  With Gentle Spirit, the man who has served as the architect of the Laurel Canyon revival from behind the scenes steps into the spotlight with his first official solo album.

Wilson’s psychedelic country rock is more influenced by the Grateful Dead than fellow Laurel Canyon residents Jackson Browne and Crosby, Stills & Nash, and at his best, Wilson’s soaring lead guitar work is reminiscent of Jerry Garcia.  At its worst, the album lags a little bit with a consistently slow tempo and seven songs over six minutes long.  But with a gentle, breezy voice and gorgeous guitar playing, the album is an exciting glimpse into the man who is in many ways the father of one of the most flourishing music scenes in the country.

Key Tracks: Natural Rhapsody, The Way I Feel, Woe Is Me, Valley of the Silver Moon

23. Jim Lauderdale- Reason & Rhyme
My review here
Jim Lauderdale’s 3rd collaboration with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter finds the songwriter as brilliant as ever.

Key Tracks- Cruel Wind & Rain, Jack Dempsey’s Crown, Don’t Give A Hang, Reason & Rhyme

24. Warren Haynes- Man In Motion
Man In Motion is the album that Warren Haynes has wanted to make his entire life.  With Gov’t Mule taking 2011 off, he finally had his chance.  On Man In Motion, Haynes pays tribute to his first musical loves- soul music.  Haynes’ soulful voice shines, while George Porter Jr. on bass and Ivan Neville on keys along with a horn section give the album a funky edge.  For those worried that Haynes searing, bluesy guitar work might get lost on a more straightforward soul album – fear not – there is plenty of guitar on this album.  Actually with seven of the ten tracks clocking in at over six minutes, the album suffers from a little too much jamming.  Though at times Man In Motion feels more like a loose live show than tight soul album, it finds Warren Haynes’ voice sounding better than ever before.

Key Tracks- Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday, Your Wildest Dreams, Save Me

25. Garage A Trois- Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil
Garage A Trois bring their weird brand of noise rock back into the studio for Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil, their second album since keyboardist Marco Benevento replaced guitarist Charlie Hunter in the band.  Featuring heavy, psychedelic noise and effects courtesy of crazed experimentalists Benevento and saxophonist Skerik, the band explores free jazz territory while also featuring groove heavy numbers dominated by drummer Stanton Moore.

Key Tracks: Omar, Shooting Breaks, Thumb

Best Albums of 2011 #16-20

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Full List Here

16. The Low Anthem- Smart Flesh
The Low Anthem received quite a bit of well-deserved praise for their last album, 2009′s Oh My God Charlie Darwin, and their new album is an even stronger follow up.  Featuring brilliant, timeless songwriting and tender vocal harmonies along with a thirst for using instruments rarely touched by folk musicians, The Low Anthem craft their own fresh sound and are one of the most exciting young folk rock bands.

Key Tracks- Ghost Woman Blues, Apothecary Love, Matter Of Time, Smart Flesh

17. Middle Brother- Middle Brother
Take a glance at the key tracks I selected for this album and you can probably figure out what appealed to me most about Middle Brother.  If you couldn’t tell from me selecting Dawes’ album as my favorite of the year, I think Dawes’ frontman, Taylor Goldsmith, is nothing short of a musical genius.  So when listening to Middle Brother, a collaboration between Goldsmith, Deer Tick frontman John McCauley and Delta Spirit frontman Matt Vasquez, it was Goldsmith’s songs which I gravitated towards the most.  Though Goldsmith steals the show (for me, at least), the album has more of a group feel than a typical supergroup effort, and sounds more like a few good friends sitting around a campfire, casually passing around guitars and trading verses.

Key Tracks- Blue Eyes, Wilderness, Blood and Guts, Million Dollar Bill

18. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit- Here We Rest
Jason Isbell’s new album Here We Rest kicks off with the lazy country rock of “Alabama Pines” which could be the best song Isbell has ever written.  Isbell was often overlooked as a member of the Drive By Truckers, even though he wrote several of their most popular songs.  But Isbell has blossomed as a songwriter since leaving the Truckers, and Here We Rest finds his band growing along with him, as this is the 400 Unit’s most consistent and cohesive album yet.

Key Tracks- Alabama Pines, Codeine, Heart On A String, Tour Of Duty

19. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey- Race Riot Suite
The word ambitious always seems to work as an adjective to describe Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, and the band’s name itself just about requires that they relentlessly explore new projects and sounds.  Their new album, Race Riot Suite, certainly lives up to that expectation as the band attempt to tell the story of the brutal 1921 race riots in Tulsa, Oklahoma, through instrumental jazz.  The chaotic, swirling sounds of Chris Comb’s lap steel along with a guest horn section of Peter Apfelbaum and Steve Bernstein evokes the angry violence of the event, and Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey’s re-telling of the story is one of the most interesting musical projects of 2011.

Key Tracks- Black Wall Street, Grandfather’s Gun, Eye Of The Dove

20. Wooden Shjips- West
San Francisco has a long tradition of psychedelic rock, and Wooden Shjips are one of the bands carrying the torch of Bay Area psychedelic rock.  With plenty of fuzzed out, screeching guitar riffs and solos, the band pays some tribute to 1960′s psychedelic rock but is significantly harder edged.  Influenced equally by psychedelic garage rock and krautrock, Wooden Shjips music is adventurous and wildly refreshing.

Key Tracks- Black Smoke Rise, Flight, Rising

Best Albums of 2011 #11-15

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Full List Here

11. Ryan Adams- Ashes & Fire
My Review
After a two year retirement from the music world, Ryan Adams has returned with a mostly acoustic collection of gorgeous new songs that finds him sounding as good as ever.  Adams has a reputation for not being the best judge of his own songwriting, and this album is no exception with a clunker or two.  But most of the album is spellbinding, with Adams’ voice sounding more tender than ever on folky ballads that evoke Neil Young’s Harvest.

Key Tracks- Dirty Rain, Ashes & Fire, Invisible Riverside, Lucky Now

12. Woods- Sun & Shade
2011 was a spectacular year for psychedelic rock lovers, and Woods Sun & Shade was one of several psych-rock masterpieces of the year.  Frontman Jeremy Earl’s breathy falsetto may evoke Neil Young, but musically Woods lean more towards the Grateful Dead with a fondness for psychedelic exploration, which shines through on the 7+ minute instrumental “Out Of The Eye.”  Ranging between guitar driven psychedelia and catchy pop hooks, Woods music is both adventurous and breezy. 

Key Tracks- Pushing Onlys, Out Of The Eye, To Have In The Home. Sol y Sombra

13. Tea Leaf Green- Radio Tragedy!
After Tea Leaf Green’s fairly mediocre and uneven Looking West in 2010, the band ushers in a new chapter with Radio Tragedy!  Bolstered by the addition of percussionist Cochrane McMillan, Radio Tragedy finds the band sounding not only fresh and creative but also more focused in the studio.  Though Looking West was marred by overproduction, on Radio Tragedy the band continues to experiment in the studio but has learned how to insert psychedelic touches that compliment their songs, rather than distract the listener.  Radio Tragedy finds the band sounding more comfortable and confident than they’ve been since original bassist Ben Chambers left several years ago.

Key Tracks: Fallen Angel, Germinatin’ Seed, The Cottonwood Tree, Nothing Changes

14. The Tedeschi Trucks Band- Revelator
Revelator marks the long awaited studio collaboration between Derek Trucks and his wife Susan Tedeschi.  Though the two have frequently performed together live, the new 11 piece Tedeschi Trucks Band marks the first time they have forsaken their solo projects to create a band and write new material together.  As expected, the combination of Tedeschi’s bluesy howl and her husband’s searing slide guitar couldn’t sound more natural.  Unlike The Derek Trucks Band, which had strong roots in free jazz, The Tedeschi Trucks Band sticks to funky blues rock on Revelator.  Though the album may be more song-oriented than any of Derek’s previous work, there is still plenty here for lovers of his remarkable guitar playing, and the album shows he’s grown into an impressive band leader.

Key Tracks: Midnight In Harlem, Bound For Glory, Learn How To Love, Love Has Something Else To Say

15. The London Souls- The London Souls
This is rock and roll.  Full of screaming guitars, howling vocals, and a crashing rhythm section that could make the listener’s eardrums bleed, The London Souls are a throwback to the days of heavy blues rock.  There are plenty of nods to classic rock heroes Led Zeppelin, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream throughout the album, and The London Souls are already being treated as rock and roll royalty, recording their debut album at the famed Abbey Road Studios.  The result is an explosive album that sounds instantly classic yet original by an exciting young band.

Key Tracks- She’s So Mad, Old Country Road, Stand Up, I Think I Like It

Best Albums of 2011 #6-10

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Full List Here

6. The Jayhawks- Mockingbird Time
My review here
The prospect of Mark Olson and Gary Louris reuniting for a Jayhawks album after fifteen years apart was an exciting one.  Rarely do bands return from lengthy, bicker-filled hiatuses to produce fresh, cohesive albums, but with Mockingbird Time, The Jayhawks prove their old magic is as powerful as ever.

Key Tracks: Hide Your Colors, Tiny Arrows, She Walks In So Many Ways, Mockingbird Time


7. Grayson Capps- The Lost Cause Minstrels
Grayson Capps is one of the most talented and shamefully underrated songwriters out there, and The Lost Cause Minstrels is the strongest and most consistent album of his career.  Backed by a killer band, Capps’ latest effort leans more towards rock and roll than the country found on his earlier albums.  There aren’t too many storytellers as creative and sincere as Capps, and with the support of a great band, his stories have never been told better.

Key Tracks- Highway 42, Jane’s Alley Blues, Ol’ Slac, No Definitions

8. Vetiver- The Errant Charm
Vetiver are one of the shining stars of the rising folk psychedelia movement centered in Los Angeles’ Laurel Canyon.  With breezy, catchy melodies, tender vocal harmonies and a healthy amount of acid-drenched lead guitar, Vetiver have figured out how to perfectly toe the line between pop and psychedelia.  Looking back at my best albums of 2009 list, Vetiver’s Tight Knit ranked 13th and was a terrific album, but with The Errant Charm, Vetiver have clearly reached a new plateau.  They’ve become a significantly more cohesive band, and the songs are more experimental and ambitious musically.  But it’s the balance between sonic weirdness and singalong choruses with catchy, jangly guitar riffs that makes Vetiver such a fresh, exciting band.

Key Tracks- It’s Beyond Me, Can’t You Tell, Right Away, Wonder Why

9. Hot Tuna- Steady As She Goes
Even after more than fifty years of playing together, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady are still finding ways to create great new music together.  Steady As She Goes is Hot Tuna’s first studio album in quite awhile – 21 years to be exact.  But with producer Larry Campbell at the helm, their return to the studio is a success.  Campbell is the secret star of this album, not only producing the album but also teaming up with Jorma to write songs and lending his guitar, fiddle, pedal steel and more to the mix.  Opening with heavy blues rocker “Angel of Darkness,” this immediately sounds like vintage Hot Tuna with plenty of searing guitar work from Jorma and heavy baselines from Casady.  Featuring both heavy psychedelic rock and folksy ballads that showcase Jorma’s voice and Campbell’s stringed virtuosity, Steady As She Goes ranks up there with anything the band has ever done.

Key Tracks- Angel of Darkness, Second Chances, Things That Might Have Been

Yellowbirds-The Color
Yellowbirds is the new musical project of Sam Cohen, guitarist and vocalist of psych rockers Apollo Sunshine.  Yellowbirds share the same fondness for 1960′s psychedelia that Apollo Sunshine had, and, like that band, they’ve developed their own unique brand of psychedelic rock.  With no song longer than four minutes, Yellowbirds keep their songs jangly and catchy and put a stronger emphasis on melodies and songwriting than the noise rock of Cohen’s former band.  But within the lush melodies there is still plenty of experimentation, including the psychedelic touch of Cohen’s autoharp, which helps make The Color one of the most fresh and exciting new psychedelic rock albums.

Key Tracks- The Rest Of My LIfe, Rings In The Trees, Our Good Days Are Gone, The Reason