Rock Is The New Roll

A boffo couple of weeks under our musical belt. Billy Idol has released as single from the Rebel Yell Sessions.

David Gilmour is out with a perfectly Floydian release with “The Pipers Call.”

And, if that’s not all, the mighty Deep Purple is front and center blasting your ears with a new single, Portable Door.

But don’t adjust your ears, here are five more records to savor with multiple listens.

Son of Man – Gaslight

Coming from a band that has one fret in the fiery past of Classic Rock and the other in the haze of Progressive Rock, the band Son of Man rocks enough to satisfy fans of Black Sabbath while sending Whitesnakr fans into snake euphoria.

From the opener “Down” that could have been a David Coverdale vocal to the Ronnie James Dio vibe of “Stuck,” a song that could have been on any of the Rainbow records, rock and roll is definitely here to stay.

Complete with the requisite ballad, “Thanks For The Ride,” this record is one for the ages.

Charley Crockett – $10 Cowboy

The brightest Americana act to surface in the last 10 years this side of Sturgill Simpson, Charlie Crockett applies his trade just West of pre-beard Waylon and Willie, with the passion and authenticity of a bullfighter.

With $10 Cowboy, Crockett takes you into a stable of truck stop casinos, trailer home tragedies, and Austin alleys.

Combining the honky-tonk classic “Hard Luck & Circumstances,” the blues-country ramble of the title track, and the Marty Robbins adjacent closer “Midnight Cowboy,” new school, allow me to introduce you to old school on this potential Americana record of the year.

Lemon Twigs – A Dream Is All We Know

After several curated listens to 2023’s Everything Harmony it was difficult to wrap our ears around where they would take us next given the precision-pop brilliance of the FM radio arena sound delivered on the record. But, as it turns out, our fret was misguided as The Lemon Twigs have delivered a step-up progression in pure-pop brilliance.

From the opening salvo of “My Golden Years,” a song that is “Go All The Way” Raspberries morphing into Holland era Beach Boys, to the Todd Rundgren vibes of “They Dont Know How To Fall In Place” On to the Badfinger without the bad mojo mantra of “If You And I Are Not Wise,” there is nothing not to like about this record.

If your jam is Jellyfish, Hall and Oates, Badfinger, Beach Boys, Beatles, The Hollies or the Raspberries, this one demands some ear space.

Album of the year?

GospelbeacH – Wiggle Your Fingers

The L.A. band GospelbeacH is one of the few bands in business today that dream-weaves Psychedelic Pop, Rock, and Americana into a gumbo of immensely Cathy melodies that will have you walking the 60’s hipster streets of London one minute and the beaches of California the next.

“Losin’ Patience” goes down smooth like a Tom Petty tune, “I’ll Close My Eyes,” drips Neil Young, and “The Dropouts (Parts One and Too) could have written on The Replacements Let It Be roof.

Multiple listens of this one will yield multiple cool vibes.

King Congo and the Monkey Birds – That Delicious Vice

Scaling down to a trio, King Kong and the Pink Monkey Birds break down their night desert Blues Rock sound with echoing drums, fuzzy guitar, and the ambiance of a Morricone soundtrack.

Think Leonard Cohen if he fronted a proper rock band on “Wicked World,” a night at the Titty Twister with “Silver For My Sister,” and a last call, one more before another Tarantino noir instrumental to close things out after a night of music and mescal with Nick Cave and Iggy Pop.

Josh Homme and Queens of the Stoneage would definitely want a piece of this one.