The first thing you should know about The Successful Failures is that any attempt to plug them into one genre or another is very much a fool’s errand. Hailing from Trenton, N.J., the band deftly combines Americana, Pop, Rock, and enough of a dusting of Bluegrass that serves as an appetizer to the main course without overwhelming the entire meal.
Originally intended to be an E.P., once the pandemic hit the band used the extra time available to expand the project into a proper full-length record, and what a record it is. Once you get past the mandolin introduction on the opening track “Honeycomb” for fear that a Flatt and Scruggs Hee Haw hoedown is awaiting, all seems to be well when Mick Choba’s vocals kick with his whiskey-soaked voice sounding like a less ramshackle Rhett Miller in full Old ’97s mold. “On Down The Line” is a perfect Honky Tonk sing-along, and “Whiskey Song” toes the Americana with a touch of Country line to perfection.
With the song “This Girl,” the first single from the record, there is more than a passing acquaintance with Power Pop by way of The Bodeans while the song structure puts on full display the master-class level songwriting inherent with the band.
“She used to, she used to be naked, now she’s always undressed she used to be lonely now she’s only making the best of this world she’s making the best of it.”
“Murder ‘neath the Silver Moon” is a murder ballad and a marvel of a song that doesn’t end well for our hero. Spoiler alert, he shouldn’t have cheated on her. These guys even morph the somewhat hokey “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It” into a musical dual guitar, call and response feast for the ears.
This is a great band and should be on your list of best albums of 2020, no question.
As frontwoman for Transvision Vamp, Wendy James was fearless leading the band to top ten hits with “I Want Your Love” and “Baby I Don’t Care” before the band disbanded. Now, after collaborating with the likes of Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, and Nick Cave she is alone and out on her own with a new record that combines Soul, Vintage Pop, Funk, and pretty much every other cool genre you can come up with.
The opening title track sounds like it could have been peeled right off the Dusty in Memphis record, “Perilous Beauty” and could have been on a Pixes’ record, and “Marlene Et Fleur” would have been perfect on any of the early-era Bangles records. One of the more intriguing aspects of this album is the ability to travel from one musical era to another at the blink of an ear, case in point the ’60s Phil Spector girl-group vibe of “Free Man Walk” followed immediately by “Stomp Down, Snuck Up” that could have been on any mid-career Madonna release, and “Little Melvin” that has a bit of a Sharon Jones and the Dap Kinks funky soul in it.
Pleasurable sound nuggets are everywhere with quite possibly the best of the lot “Bar Room Brawl & Benzedrine” showing off the backing bands’ musical prowess. This is a shape-shifting tour de force that is best savored loud and in large doses.
One of the best Glam Rock debut records to come out in quite some time, at least since the Struts’ Everybody Wants when Luke Spiller first hit our ear-waves, and this one is destined to be a keeper. The album pulls no punches in introducing you to the band opening-up with a three-song salvo of their previously released singles, Wondermints all of them with “Don’t Leave Our “Love (Open For Closing),” “Like Dreamers Do,” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Satellite” all having you at hello.
Sort of combining the more bombastic sound of The Strokes with the coolest elements of ’70s Suzi Quattro Glam, every song is well crafted, hooks-aplenty, and with a surprise around every turn song after song. The real beauty of this Glamtastic record is that it combines the gritty Pop-Glam sounds of contemporary bands in the mode of The Killers while all the while keeping their cosmic boots firmly entrenched on the Mott the Hoople, T Rex, and David Bowie Party train.
This is not your grandfather’s Bay City Rollers Glam. We have already got this one on our the shortlist for Rock and Roll album of the year.
If ever there was a band that literally sounds like the geography of where they are from Australian band Ocean Alley would fit that bill perfectly. Combining psychedelic overtones, surf guitar, and ’70s Pop you can almost feel the wind and sense the surf crashing on the beach as each song swells and drifts into the next.
The touchpoints here may be obvious with the bending notes of David Gilmour and the languid riffs of Pink Floyd front and center, but this one goes deeper than that. The swirling “Tombstone” has a bit of Supertramp in its DNA, “Up In There” soars and meanders with a more contemporary feel, and “Stained Glass” is a blissful epic that would have fit quite nicely on the Breakfast In America Album. There is even a touch of Little River Band in “All Worn Out,” a ballad that is to our ears the best of the lot.
For extra credit go back and spend some time with their 2018 album, Chiaroscuro, a record that had four singles make it onto the triple j Hot 100, the Aussie equivalent of Billboard.
Beth Hart continues to impress with her intimate quarantine sessions. Here’s hoping these intimate performances by artists continue well after the pandemic is over.
The quality of new music is down a touch from some really stellar prior weeks, but fear not, August is trending to be a stellar month. Despite the lack of quantity, there is a slew of really cool singles out there as artists seek to teasingly tickle our ears in anticipation of what is yet to come. The Rolling Stones, yes those Rolling Stones have released another single, “Scarlet” featuring Jimmy Page.
The band Whitney has delivered a spot-on version of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” reminding us what a great song it really is.
And, of course, Grace Potter continues to deliver her Monday Night Twilight quarantine episodes.
Here are five albums that are capturing our ear time this week.
Ted Russell Kamp – Down In The Den
Despite being one of the more prolific artists on the Americana scene with 12 records in the last 15 years, Ted Russell Kamp is largely an unknown entity in the music scene unless you are a hardcore fan. And, that is really a shame. Having played bass for many of the top artists including Shooter Jennings, Whitey Morgan, Jessi Colter as well as many others, with the release of his latest, Down in the Den, he may have just altered his history from sideman to top of the marquis.
Alternating country-rockers as displayed on the opener, “Home Sweet Hollywood,” a duet with Shooter Jennings, Dixieland on “Hobo Nickel,” and downright balladry as he fights life on the road while trying to keep a relationship going like he does on “Stick With Me” there are no miss-steps on this record. With a voice that is honest and open with a timbre that as ear-pleasing as it can get, the inherent songcraft and general spirit of this ralbum will bring to mind the last couple of Chris Stapelton records.
The Danberrys – Shine
The Danberrys are an old-school husband and wife team delivering rich story songs of pastoral blues and back-woods funk. With Dorothy Daniels’ soaring vocals in the Tanya Tucker mold and Ben Deberry’s masterful guitar playing moving the needle, the sound is dynamic and the overall texture of the record borders on country noir. There is a swagger to their recordings that was not inherent in their previous recordings most notably on the opening track “Shine” and the stunning “Holding the Bag.” The duo enters into Steve Earle territory on “The Road,” and on “Never Gone” they seem to be heading towards the dark night of the soul.
Give this one a spin, several listens in you will discover a few layers that will stick with you for a long time.
Liza Anne – Bad Vacation
Bad Vacation is an interesting moniker for an album during these times when pretty much any vacation is a good vacation, but in this case, in the capable hands of Liza Anne, it seems appropriate. On her previous record, Fine But Dying, and in periodicals and various interviews she has given her battle with mental illness has been bravely chronicled in her art. And here she certainly makes no exception especially so on “I Shouldn’t Ghost My Therapist” and “This Chaos, That Feeling” where the loss of a relationship seems to have her spinning in her own mind. Stylistically veering down the track with stops at Power Pop, Indie Rock, Art Rock, and Emo stations, this is a diverse and powerful record that will have you considering your own place in the world.
MisterWives – SUPERBLOOM
Once you are hit with the sonic U2 on steroids opening blast, “The End,” curiously placed at the beginning of the record, and Mandy Lee’s vocal kicks in with her Chrissie Hynde meets Stevie Nicks vibe, all bets are off and you will be hooked and ready to listen to the rest of the record. Next up, “Ghost” raises the stakes with another anthemic festival-worthy gem, and things only get better from there. “whywhywhy” slows the tempo down, but only just slightly, until mid-song when a chorus kicks in that would make ABBA rethink their career choice.
Mid-record the soaring pace slows a bit with a couple of ballads thrown on top of the fire but by the time “over the rainbow” rolls around the dancing fiesta is back and in full force. Once you get down to the end of the record, the title track is presented in all its Gospel glory and the glorious ride is about to come to an end. If soulful horns, gorgeous melodies, gospel-harmonies, catchy hooks, and soulful festival-ready anthems are your jams, then this record will have you fully ensconced in your happy place.
Roberta Flack – First Take
The stunning debut record, First Take, is getting a glossy 50th-anniversary reissue makeover and it sounds fresher and better than ever. With a stripped-down band of Roberta on Piano, Ray Lucas on drums, Ron Carter on bass, and John Pizarreli on guitar, every song on the record is handled with a velvet touch. From the stunning opener “Compared to What” to the Leonard Cohen penned “That’s No Way To Say Goodbye” and on to, of course, the epically beautiful “The First Ever I Saw Your Face,” if ever there was a debut record that was better than this one, I’d like to know.
Seasick Steve – Love & Peace
It has been a minute now that Seasick Steve has been on the scene entertaining us with his raw and powerful performances, and we as humans are all the better for it. Self-produced, Love & Peace delivers a confident set of Howlin’ Wolf by the way of White Stripes gnarly blues for the common man. The opener “Love & Peace” is a tour-de-force call to arms where Seasick practically commands the rest of us to stop the hatred and get back to love and peace. “Regular Man” is a solid blues stomper where Steve touches around the fringes of the mystery of his backstory, and Carni Days is an outright ballad describing the not so glamourous life of a traveling carnival worker.
Seasick Steve is one of us. Just a regular guy with an unusual gift to be able to touch our hearts and cleanse our soul.
Who knew that one of the newest and most exciting New Metal bands to come around in a heck of a long time would be from Cancun, Mexico. On this, the band’s much-anticipated debut album, the band is more than meeting the lofty expectations set for them after becoming the first-ever Hispanic-American group to win the Wacken Open Air Metal Battle in Germany.
Drawing influences from the ’80s themed Metal bands with a pinch of Glam and Melodic Rock threw in to satisfy the faint of heart, the DNA of MTV bands the likes of Dokken, Kiss, Winger, Motley Crue, early Skid Row along with Judas Priest in their heavier moments, is the order of the day. The singer Max Mendoza with the looks of a Hispanic Michael Hutchence throws his voice out there in the Axl or Myles Kennedy range and takes total command of the stage in their live performances. “Blinding Lights,” the first single out of the gate is a scorcher, and even the two songs on the record sung in Spanish are ear-catching and cool with “Tormenta” as one of the highlights of the record that will be a clear favorite when the band hits the road for their South American tour in 2021.
Our leader in the clubhouse for the Quarantune of the Year goes to Dave Mason and his band of Quarantines. This Band consisting of The Doobie Brothers, Dave Mason, Sammy Hagar, and Mick Fleetwood is so cool even Dave Mason can’t spoil the broth.
It seems that California based guitar player Stephen Dale Petit has waited for his entire career to produce this record that is a mini-masterpiece and a master class in what modern Blues Rock should be, and where it is headed. And this, complete with album artwork from Klaus Voorman, the artist who created The Beatles’ Revolver cover, is, by all accounts, his own personal best and has the potential for Grammy consideration in the Blues category. Joe Bonamassa may get all the press these days, But this guitar slinger that has already made a name for himself on the other side of the pond can easily stand fret for fret with his idol.
With about as diverse a palet of songs as you will find, every Blues nugget presented here stands alone. One second the sonic wonder of Stevie Ray hits you between the ears on “Tinderbox,” and in the next breath all hell breaks loose with the snarling Clash influenced title track on “2020 Visions.” The nuanced slow burn of “The Ending of the End” brings to mind both Kings, Freddie and B.B., and “Steppin’ Out” would hold up quite spectacularly at the crossroads battling it out with the devil for the soul of the song.
Anthems are not left out of the mix, and “Soul of a Man,” a song that features Shemekia Copeland, shares a lot of DNA with “Beds are Burning” and will be a call and response staple on the festival circuit this year. If there is a festival circuit this year, that is. There are no throwaway tunes on this one. “Zombie Train” may be the weakest of the lot, not surprising given the song title, but beyond that, this album is a real page-turner. Stay with all nine minutes of “The Fall of America” churning, burning apocalypse-blues plays as legit at it can get.
Richard Davies & The Dissidents – Human Traffic (3 out of 5)
There is no rocket science being studied here with Richard Davies and his band of dissidents on this his debut solo record, but none the less, there are plenty of sweet sounds to sink your ears into. The template that is thrown down here on Human Traffic is no-nonsense, straight forward, Brinsley Schwartz Pub Rock and Roll. Cutting his guitar teeth as a guitar slinger sideman for the likes of Peter Perrett and Glen Matlock as well as with his own band The Snakes, Davies more than holds his own with a solid set of self-penned tunes and to add to the coolness factor “Heartbeat Smile,” an Alejandro Escovedo cover song is thrown in for good measure admirably performed with a Post-Punk flair.
With “21st Century Man” sounding like a new wave Tom Petty, and (“Long Road) To Your Heart” carrying a Billy Idol meets Greg Kihn mojo-sound, there is enough sonic diversity to keep things interesting and to warrant several more trips to the musical well.
Rock Is The New Roll 