Live Video of the Day: Long Train Runnin’ (Live From The Bracon Theatre)

Live from the Beacon the Doobie Brothers perform the Albums Toulouse Street and The Captain and Me in their entirety. They have lost a bit on their fastball but here they do a nice job on the arrangement that helps soften the impacts of Father Time.

New Music Friday (June 28, 2019)

It has been a been a bit too long since we have gone down the Rock and Roll rabbit hole in search of songs and bands that act like any year after 1989 never existed. Sure Greta Van Fleet, Rival Sons and The Struts are fine Rock and Roll bands in the grand old school tradition, but there are a lot more bands than that that deserve some of your ear time. Here are a few we are listening to right now.

Turbonegro – Special Education

These cats from Oslo, Norway went on hiatus for a bit in the late 80’s but thankfully for their legions of fans the band reappeared in 2007 and have been hanging and banging ever since. With a sound that floats somewhere between The New York Dolls and Judas Priest their songs feature more hooks than an episode of The Greatest Catch.

Massive Wagons – Tokyo

With recent tours opening for The Wildhearts it is still head scratching that on the strength of their latest record Full Nelson this band has not yet become the next big thing to save Rock and Roll.

The Bad Somethings – Let It Roll

Any song that kicks things off with a cowbell pretty much has us at hello. Alive era Kiss is the template for this band with just an ever so slight scent of Bachman Turner Overdrive wafting in the year. Good stuff.

Giuda – Overdrive

If the Bay City Rollers were cool they would sound like these Italian retro-rockers. One of the view bands that are bringing back the Glam with hints of Slade, Sweet and small slice of The Knack thrown in for good measure.

Ex Hex – Tough Enough

A girl super group of sorts featuring Mary Timony, Betsy Wright, and Laura Harris this band ramps it up with wild riffs, cool vocal harmonies, and heaps of power chords.

Bishop Gunn – Anything You Want

Word on the streets is that Bishop Gunn is right now in the studio working on the follow-up to their highly excellent 2018 release Natchez, and it can’t come too soon. The Black Crowes by way of Blackberry smoke make this one a smooth down home listen in the Lynyrd Skynyrd mold.

Helen Rose – John Coltrane on the Jukebox

Part Blues, Part Country Soul Helen Rose is a bit of a Genre Bender. This one is from her 2018 release Trouble Holding Back.

John Diva & the Rockets of Love – Dance Dirty

There is something entirely refreshing about a band that totally embraces their influences with no shame in their game whatsoever.  In this case it is all Def Leppard most of the time and that is never a bad thing.

 

 

 

Five Cool Ones: Five Cool Albums Released Today (June 28, 2019)

The Black Keys – Let’s Rock

After spending time apart going back to 2014 Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney are reunited and it feels so good. Blues, Garage, and old Soul are still at the core of their sound, but this time around there is a joie-de-vie amplification that seems to have the band reenergized.

Chris Stamey and The ModRec Orchestra

This release is notable for a couple of reasons. First, it is Chris Stamey of the db’s, and that’s worth the price of admission alone. Second, and most importantly, the guest list of artists that appear on the album is stellar. Branford Marsalis, Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, Marshall Crenshaw, and Caitlin Carey of Whiskeytown and many others. Inspired by Cole Porter, Henry Mancini, George and Ira Gershwin, and the rest of the great songsmiths from days gone by, Stamey puts a new shine a classic sound.

The Alarm – Sigma

Decades in The Alarm doesn’t seem to have missed a beat. The template doesn’t seem to have changed much on this, their sequel to 2018’s Equals, and as always, front-man and co-founder Mike Peters is in fine form.

Foy Vance – From Muscle Shoals

The sequel to this one, To Memphis, will be one part of a book end of releases, the first recorded at Fame studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the second recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis will be released early next year.

Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers – No Good Deed

Winners of many 2018 independent Blues awards including artist of the year, No Good Deed might be the roadhouse record of the year.

Five Cool Ones: Five Cool Albums Released Today (June 21, 2019)

Another scorcher of a week. From the purple beyond Prince dropped a sweet set of songs he wrote and gave to other artists, who knew he wrote “Manic Monday”, and Nick Lowe released a woefully puny 4 song E.P.. Every one of the songs that feature his newest backing band Los Straitjackets is great, but c’mon man, give us more. Hear are five more records that we really like.

Black Pumas – Black Pumas

Hard to classify this group of Austin musicians. Rock, Soul, R&B with a hint of Tex Mex? Yep, Yes, and sure. The best we can come up with is that if Marvin Gaye fronted The Black Keys, and were based out of Tijuana, they would sound like these guys. Check them out for yourself.

The Hollywood Vampires – Rise

This one won’t be on heavy rotation on anyone’s turntable, not even mine, but what the heck, you’ve got Alice Cooper Joe Perry and Johnny Depp. And that’s pretty darn cool.

Willie Nelson – Ride Me Back Home

So far, Willie Nelson, releasing albums at a startling rate, hasn’t given us a chance to miss him. The title track is great, and “My Favorite Picture of You” is a stunner. His version of “Just the Way You Are”, however, is better left unheard.

Jim Lauderdale – From Another World

If Jim Lauderdale could sing, Kris Kristofferson is Pavarotti by comparison, he would be much more famous. The guy writes a hell of a song in the Guy Clark Tom T. Hall mold.

The Raconteurs – Help Us Stranger

And speaking of Jack White, The Raconteurs are back. This is notable mostly in that we get a Halleys Comet type appearance from the Power Pop genius Brendan Benson who inexplicably only shows up in Jack Whites side-piece band. The Ying to White’s Dirty Blues Yang. If you haven’t heard Benson’s 1996 album One Mississippi search it out.