Category: Artists We Like

The heat is on as the summer is in full swing. The planes are circulating and ramping up to land some real rock and roll bombshells over the next couple of months.

Thunder guitarist Luke Morley is prepping for a proper record later in the year with this Mellencamp banger.

Sweet Desire comes to us via a 70’s time machine.

And, believe it or not, there has never been a video for The Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer.” until now that is.

The Cold Stares – The Southern Part 2

8 records in, Evansville’s own The Cold Stares have carved out a religion as one of the best Blues Rock outfits in the game today.

There is a whole lot of Johnny Lang by way of ZZ Top buried in the DNA of “Evil Eye,” Stevie Ray ghost haunte the moody “Hurting Side Of Love,” and “Can’t Call That Love” slides into the moody side of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

With this, a follow-up to last year‘s The Southern, it is inspiring to see a band striking while the iron is hot, releasing an album every year with groovy singles in between.

This one will be in the top half of rock record of the year lists when December rolls around.

Jesse Daniel – Son Of San Lorenzo

With a dedication to the Bakersfield sound, this time coming to your ears from San Lorenzo, California, Jesse Daniel weaves a blend of Western Ballads, Bakersfield Swing, Buck Owens swagger, and Merle Haggard songwriting on his latest record, Son of San Lorenzo.

Having been homeless and recovered from addiction Daniel mixes personal reflection, most notably on the title track, ” Son Of San Lorenzo,” ruin and redemption on “One’s Too Many (And A Thousand Ain’t Enough),” along with addiction on “Crankster,” a bit of a rocker that delves into the darker sides of self-destruction.

Finally, with “Jodi,” a love letter to his wife, we get the sense that there is a rainbow at the end of the tunnel, the demons have been exorcised, and we the listeners are all the better for taking the ride with an artist that is not afraid to be vulnerable on what might be a breakout record for Jesse Daniel.

Monkey House – Crash Box

Monkey House, a Canadian band with a name inspired by a Kurt Vonnegut book, plays in the gene pool of Jazz Pop very much in the Steely Dan mold.

With sophisticated jazz rock melodies and a breezy vibe that would make Christopher Cross come back from the sea, the production value along with the musicianship on this record are both best in class.

“Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘em” could have been the B-side of “Dr. Wu,” “Sundaying” is the perfect cure for what ails you on a lazy, breezy weekend, and “Friday Night Jam” is another yacht rock adjacent breezer that displays the tight as the skin of the skin on an apple synchronistic cohesion of the band in fine fashion.

Do your ears a solid and crate dig deep into the back catalogue of this band that has been doing business since 1999.

The Doobie Brothers – Walk This Road

Clearly a money grab to have some new songs to drag out during their supporting act gig with ELO this summer, there is not a real reason for this record to exist.

With this watered down mostly Michael McDonald, (who has ruined more doobies than wet rolling papers) led ensemble the band that brought you the splendor of “China Grove” has somehow morphed into Hootie and the Blowfish and The Little River Band right before our very ears.

Credit should be given for uniting core members Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons, and John McFee for one last trip around the song, and the title track “Walk With Me,” with an assist from the mighty Mavis staples, would be almost listenable were it not for the previously mentioned Michael McDonald chipping in on vocals.

For those of you that are fans of Toulouse Street era Doobie brothers, your ship has hit an iceberg. For those that are fans of Michael McDonald, seek help.

Pulp – More

Incredibly, More, the last record for Jarvis Cocker and the boys, is Pulps first proper record in 24 years since their breakup in 2002, and it’s a banger.

The opener, “Spike Island” provides a David Bowie background against classic Jarvis Cocker vocals, “Got To Have Love” is a disco treat that comes the closest on this set to rolling out vintage Pulp, “Grown Ups” is a throwback to the Brit Pop glory days, and “My Sex” is Barry White shag-funk.

Sure, Jarvis Cocker’s solo efforts have been good, sometimes great, but what the hell man, where have you been, and welcome back to a band that we didn’t realize we sorely missed. Until now, that is.