Five Cool Ones: Five New Albums Released This Week (January 24, 2024)

The year is careening along and there are plenty of gems to savor this week, but don’t sleep on the one-offs.

ZZ Ward lays down some bone-rattling down home blues on her latest single.

Rock is the New Roll favorites Sunset Strip rockers Crazy Lixx are back and better than ever.

And, Lake Street Dive is releasing selective singles live from the road. “Walking Uphill” is spectacular.

But don’t put away those head phones just yet, it is a stellar week for new releases.

Larkin Poe – Bloom

With a consistently morphing sound, this time into the world of country-rock, the sisters Poe might be the best band you never listen to, but should.

“Pearl” is a proper country-glam rager, “Bluephoria” dips their toes into soul territory and “Bloom Again” is a tender ballad showing off their versatile chops.

If these descendants of Edgar Allen Poe are not your cup of musical tea, seek help pronto.

Matt Berry – Heard Noises

More widely known as the vampire Lazlo in the hit series What We Do In The Shadows, Matt Berry is more mostly known as a musician and has 13 Albums under his vampire belt.

Known for his 60’s influenced jazz-tinged beats and an Austin Powers esthetic, this record is set somewhere squarely in the late ’60s, early ‘70s

“Sky High” has a spooky vibe that would fit in perfectly in a remake of the X files, the hipness of “Stay on the Ground” comes across like a slightly stoned David Byrne, and “I Gotta Limit” soars in the Box Tops “Cry Like A Baby”Mold.”

With the hippy beats and unicorn song textures this one is the leader in the clubhouse for party recording of the year.

Jeannie Piersol – The Nest

A card-carrying member of the San Franciso psychedelic scene of the ‘60s Jeannie was a Grace Slick-adjacent singer and a founding member of the enigmatic band The Great Society.

And now, High Moon Records has released an anthology of her work that includes demos, outtakes, and performances.

With a quick listen it will become auditorially apparent why Piersol never reached the heights of her fellow scenesters Grace Skick and Janice Joplin, but since beauty is in the ear of the beholder there is a lot to savor here with a few spins of this record. The title track is worth the price of admission alone.

Rose City Band – Sol Y Sombra

If Poco, The Pure Prairie League, and a Grateful Dead cover band merged together they would sound suspiciously like Rose City Band. A self-professed space-aged country jam band their latest effort Soul Y Sombra would have been a ‘70s country rock fm radio fixture back in the day.

Opener “Lights On The Way” lives and breathes Grateful Dead’s “Sugar Magnolia showcasing Barry Walker’s stellar pedal steel guitar, “Open Roads” might be the driving tune of the year thus far, and “Seeds Of Light” is a hippy-dippy mellow wonderment.

Stop taking life so seriously for a minute and bathe yourself in this one Grateful-Dead style.

C Duncan – It’s Only A Love Song

Lush, atmospheric, and it couldn’t be more beach boy adjacent and without fighting with Mike Love, the latest fom C Duncan, the love child of Todd Rundgren and Brian Wilson is a smooth ride down a river of rose petals.

The opening title track introduces the piano-centric artist in all his Barry Manilow meets England John and John Ford Coley glory.

The understated vocals along with the lush orchestration will meander your ears back to a timeless era when pop was king and Carole was Queen.

Five Cool Ones: Five New Albums Released This Week (January 17, 2025)

With the new Eric Clapton, Rose City Band, and Delines records in the hopper, 2025 is shaping up to be a boffo year.

The Waterboys have a Dennis Hopper themed record ready to be released soon.

Swedish rockers The Hellacopters have a new record out on January 31. Overdriver.

And Frontier Records own, Perfect Plan delivers the AOR goods on their latest “We Are Heroes.”

And here, in an abundancy of riches, here are five new records that saw the light of ear this week.

David Gray – Dear Life

On his 13th album and first since 2021, David Gray gets a bit more sparse and introspective than we are used to from the artist that first hit our ears with the mega-hit “Babylon.”

Recorded mostly in his home London studio, this time out Gray reflects on things getting old on “Plus & Minus,” on “I Saw Love” he is heavily influenced by Raymond Carver short stories, and “Leave Taking” with its horns and intricate production is worth a headphone listen.

The Weather Station – Humanhood

With Humanhood Tamara Lindeman and Weather station doubles down on the jazz-inflected pop sound version of the band that she brought to our ears going back to the 2021 release, Ignorance.

“Body Movement” has a certain Joni Mitchell element to it, while “Neon Signs” will float you on a Suzanne Vega cloud.

The instrumentation on this record with bass, sax, and flute delicately dispersed throughout the record is next-level quality. Listening to this one while chemically induced will take you back to the ‘70’s sitting under a tree deep in a forest.

20/20 – Back To California

Think of the spawn of the Flying Burrito Brothers and The Little River Band and you will have a bit of an idea of what this band is all about.

In business under various configurations going back as far as 1979 and their eponymous record, these guys are all Laurel Canyon all the time.

The opening title track has an R.EM. bent to it, “The End Of Summer” could have been a Bodeans B side, and “Laurel Canyon” is pure power pop.

If you are looking for a record full of melodic nirvana wrap your ears around this one.

Mick Clarke – Bad Whisky Blues

Recorded entirely in his Surrey, UK studio Bluesman Man Mick Clarke delivers up a set of whisky-drenched songs that run the gamut from stone-cold classic covers to self-penned tumblers.

“Killing Floor” and “Smokestack Lightning” are adequately covered and “Watch Your Step” is a ZZ Top worthy jam.

This one is the perfect soundtrack for that next bender, but make sure that you cleanse the palette with a nice single malt before extinguishing the flame.

Ex Void – In Love Again

A behemoth of an Indie Rock record, everything that you thought of the genre is wrapped up for you in one tight package.

My Bloody Valentine, check. The Smiths Check, The Cranberries, Dinosaur Jr., check, check, check. Cobbled together from several indie-pop U.K. bands of stirling quality including Joanna Gruesome and The Tubs, the dual frontpeople consisting of Lan McArdle and Owen Williams take center stage on this one that is sure to be top 10 contender.

And, if you don’t believe us have your ears take a gander at the Lucinda Williams cover, “Lonely Girls.”