Back from hiatus, we are back and better than ever, doing the work so you don’t have to.
The band Sweet, yes, the group that brought you “Ballroom Blitz,” “Fox On The Run,” and “Love is Like Oxygen,” is back with a new single, “Changes.” More E.L.O. or Boston than Glam, but it is still very cool.
Sunset Strip Wonderboys, The Bites, are scorching the earth with their mulleted masterpiece, “Heather Leather.”
And, if that is not enough, Eric Clapton teams up with the late Jeff on a very Jeff Beck version of “Moon River.”
And now, without further ado, here are five new records to tickle the senses and bathe the ears.
Kool and the Gang – People Just “Wanna” Have Fun
Editors note, this is not an album that will get much airplay outside your pool or the hippest house party on the block. It is what it is, a set of highly danceable tunes that will have you getting down like you were one of the dancers on soul train.
The opening song, “Let’s Party,” will have you tapping your toes, the title track is pure ’70s disco pleasure, and “VIP” would have made Prince proud.
So touch up the afro, get those bell bottoms out of the closet, and dance like it’s 1979 all over again.
Lukas Nelson & Nelson and Promise of the Real – Sticks and Stones
Continuing to veer to the hippy side, Lukas Nelson and his band offer a solid set of blues boogies, barroom stompers, and campfire singalongs.
Since writing drinking songs is almost the family business, Lukas has composed his own “Whisky River” courtesy of “Every Time I Drink” and The anthemic Alcohallejula,” and there are not many songs written this year better than “More Than Friends, a song that features Lainey Wilson.
Unlike previous efforts, there is no real message on this one. This time delivering a set of loose good-time, bar-centric tunes is the order of the day, and to that, we say bravo.
Night Beats – Rajan
A Psych Rock lovers dream much in the mold of King Grizzard, Rajan, the latest from Night Beats, combines Turkish psych, Morricone Western Noir, and Funk into a blend worthy of a Tarantino soundtrack.
The mood is firmly set on “Hot Ghee,” where you don’t know if you are in an ashram outside of Tibet, a teepee in Sedona, or at a party at Donovan’s house with Austin Powers, Cheech and Chong, and Willie Nelson. The smokey swirl of “Blue” will remind you of that last time you were on mushrooms, and the more conventional “Moving Pictures” would have been spot-on playing over the credits in a Fellini movie.
A mood-setting record, this one is worth spending time with, if nothing else, to see what might be lurking around the next corner.
Colter Wall – Little Songs
With the best country baritone on this side of Charley Crockett, Colter Wall is back with another traditionist set of Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt-worthy storytelling.
With vivid imagery and concise arrangements, spending time with Little Songs is like walking along a Canadian prairie walking along with the cactus and the coyote.
“Standing Here” is a James Hand-worthy track with a simple message, you can accomplish a lot just by hanging out and standing there. “Honky Tonk Nighthawk” is as fine a honky tonk song as you will hear all year. Just give me a buckskin beer and a lap steel guitar.
Almost a decade in the making, the next in the line of great country stars may have just arrived.
Duane Betts – Wild & Precious Life
Another card-carrying member of the Allman Brothers and scion of Dickey Betts, Duane Betts partners up with Marcus King, Nicki Bluhm, and Derek Trucks on a Southern rock-centric album of Allman-worthy jams, double shot blues rockers that would make SRV blush, and Duane Allman proud.
“Waiting On A Song” is pure rambling man splendor, “Cold Dark World” sets the roof on fire with Marcus King front and center, and “Circles in the Stars” that Duane has a songwriting talent that can stand fret for fret with any Allman Brothers band member past or present.
Rock Is The New Roll 