Video of the Day: Beth Blade & The Beautiful Disasters – Never Let It Go

Should the Go Go’s have veered more into Blondie territory they would have sounded much like British rockers Beth Blade & The Beautiful Disaster. The single “Never Let It Go” is the precursor to their upcoming September 12 release, Mythos, Confession, Tragedies, and Love.”

Song of the Day: Alice Cooper – Black Mamba

Alice Cooper is back for the first time in 50 years with his original band courtesy of his upcoming July 25 album, The Revenge of Alice Cooper. A fitting successor to Love it to Death, Killer, and Billion Dollar Babies, the record brings back the vintage shock-horror of vintage Alice Cooper.

Five Cool Ones: Five New Albums Released This Week (April 18, 2025)

The summer is close and things are heating up across the world, but there is a cool breeze blowing on the album front. So grab a Mai Tai and settle in.

Pearl Charles is quilting her Nancy Sinatra vibes prepping for a new record to be released later in the month.

Silver Synthetic released a new record, Rosalie. Think Big Star if they spent more time at Joshua Tree.

And, for fans of Queens of the Stone Age, the band HIMALAYAS will scratch your desert rock itch.

But, that’s not all. As per usual here are five new players to spin on your turntables.

Valerie June – Owls, Omens, and Oracles

With her genre bending music that flows through the veins of Americana, Soul, Pop and Blues her latest Owls, Omens, and Oracles is a life-affirming record with plenty of earworms throughout.

Produced by pop master M. Ward the record channels ‘70s pop on “Trust The Path,” Phil Spector wall of sound on “All I Really Wanna Do,” and Amy Winehouse vibes on “Endless Tree.”

This record is a ray of optimism in desolate times.

Those Damn Crows – God Shaped Hole

Straightforward rock and roll is the order of the day on God-Shaped Hole, the latest from Nashville-based Those Damn Crows.

From the opening salvo of “Dancing With The Enemy,” your ears are treated to some sort of Devil’s hybrid combining The Hu, U2 in their prime, and Metallica. Interesting stuff indeed.

Word of caution, don’t listen to “Let’s Go Psycho” when driving, and “Night Train” burns the soul much like a Pearl Jam ballad in the “Jeremy” mold.

Don’t sleep on this one as the leader in the clubhouse for the rock record of the year.

Cold Specks – Light For The Midnight

Just listen to the first two minutes of “How It Feels,” the initial salvo from Cold Specks on her latest record Light For Midnight, and we dare you not to have Carole King ear worms drilled into the minds ear.

The musical project of Laden Hussein, Cold Specks floats on a cloud of atmospheric synths, delicate piano, and deep R&B to create her own vision, a sort of doom soul.

“Venus In Pisces” has a certain ‘Till Tuesday lilt to it, “Lingering Ghosts” harkens back to darker times when she was misdiagnosed as having schizophrenia, and “Endlessly” is a study in stellar songwriting.

A record that would not seem out of place it was released in the early ’90s, this one represents an artist coming out of a dark tunnel and delivering what might be the best album of her career.

Turnpike Troubadours – Price Of Admission

You would be hard pressed to find a more legitimate roots country band over the last ten years than Stillwater’s own Turnpike Troubadours.

Ignoring the glitter of Nashville, the band instead has chosen to stick to their Oklahoma roots and imbed themselves in a state, a town that is as hardscrabble as it gets with an everyman ethos that is palpable.

Produced by Shooter Shennings, the new record meanders from pensive to rowdy in the blink of a hot steel guitar solo.

Critics might call out the semi-slick production, one of the hazards of hiring a big-time producer, while others will revel in the honky tonk ethos.

Come for the poignancy of “Forgiving You,” but stay for the heartbreak of “A Lie Agree Upon” with this one.

Little Barrie – Electric War

Mutch like you get with virtually every Easy Eye Sound release, The latest Little Barrie collaboration with drummer Malcolm Catto, is an exploration in eclectic sounds and textures.

With a distinct raw, analog feel, the record, with its groove-centric pulse takes on a jazz feel that seems to be vintage and refreshingly contemporary at the same time.

With elements of funk, psychedelia, rock, and jazz permeating the air, this one is an eclectic listen that will educate your ears.

Five Cool Ones: Five New Albums Released This Week (April 4, 2025)

With summer just a few fortnights away, the music scene is already warming up.

Sadly, the far less superior Taking It To The Streets era lineup was chosen for the Doobie Brothers reboot.

The airport 77’s have a new platter scheduled for April 30 with an advance single in “If It’s On, I’m In.”

And, Rock is the New Roll new faves Strawberry Moon are banging us in the eardrums with “Polly Pocket World.”

But, you know the drill by now, here are five new savory nuggets for your ear massage this week.

Elton John and Brandi Carlile – Who Believes In Angels

No stranger to collaborations going back to the Kiki Dee days, Elton John, this time, has teamed up with Brandi Carlile to produce a likable album of pop gems that remind us how great and for-the-times that these respective artists are.

The lead-off single takes the title from Elton’s 2024 documentary Never Too Late, and with standout tracks like “The Rose Of Laura Nyro” and “Little Richards Bible” as well as the Saturday Night swagger of “Swing For The Fences,” it is clear that Sir Elton, even semi-retired, still has an awful lot in his musical tank.

Pug Johnson – El Cabron

El Cabron, the latest from Pug Johnson, one of the lesser known members of the outlaw country movement, draws inspiration from Townes Van Zandt and Terry Allen in creating a deviant landscape that includes gringos, saloon girls, and malcontents all doing business on a bed of Cajun, Texas Swimg, and honky-tonk.

We meet our hero, or villian depending on your point of view, with a thing for Singapore Slings courtesy of the title track as he heads to Mexico to cantinas full of women and song, all the way to last call with “Last Call (With Apologies To Terry Allen) with a side trip to the cathouse with the Doug Sahm worthy “Thanks To The Cathluse (I’m In The Doghouse With You.”)

This one is quite possibly the best outlaw story record since Terry Allen’s Juarez.

Lily Seabird – Trash Mountain

Named after a decommissioned landfill site where she lives with a collective of artists, Vermont’s own Lily Seabird applies her wares on Trash Mountain with an early-era Lucinda Williams esthetic.

The songs on the new record reflect her emergence coming out the other end of dark times following the suicide of her best friend and the travails of an extensive touring schedule.

“Albany” is a remuneration on a broken society, “How Far Away” is the song that directly addresses her grief, and “The Fight” is a piano-based wonderment that puts her Joni Mitchell influences on full display.

Lily Seabird, through her music as well as her ecology-forward agenda, is clearly an artist who is here to make a difference in this world.

The Waterboys – Life, Death, and Dennis Hopper

Having written a song called “Aftermath” in the 80’s that was loosely based on the life of Dennis Hopper, The Waterboys are out with a proper long-player tribute with Life, Death, And Dennis Hopper.

Inspired by the life and ethos of the iconic actor, Mike Scott, drawing from Hopper’s acting as well as his photography, has created a series of conceptual vignettes with a bevy of collaborators including Steve Earle, Fiona Apple, and Bruce Springsteen.

Released on the venerable Sun Records label featuring a song for each of Hopper’s ex-wives, the record is a sprawling 60’s psychedelic era wonderment that should stand the test of time when the end-of-the-year awards season rolls around.

West 22nd – Nowhere To Be

Coming to you from the musical hotbed of Austin, TX, and the West campus at the University of Texas, West 22nd is an Indie Folk group in the Mumford and Sons mold with the occasional bombast of the Lumineers.

From the opener, “Can’t Help It” a song with a certain Fountains of Wayne appeal, to the Wilco-esque “Laugh It All” the band clearly demonstrates that they have the songwriting chops to quickly go from playing frat parties to the stages of SXSW in the very near future.