Song of the Day: Lachy Doley Group – Gimme Some Lovin’

A lot of artists are laying down some tasty cover morsels during these pandemic times. Here, Lachy Doley and his band The Lachy Doley Group deliver one of the best extended-jam versions of The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin” your ears will ever have the pleasure of hearing. The sweet Hammond organ wrestling courtesy of Darren Percival is worth the price of admission alone on this one.

Video of the Day: Caylee Hammack – Redhead

This great new Country Rock artist has announced herself in fine fashion with her new record If It Wasn’t For You. She can go low and lonesome with the best of them, but where she really shines is when she cranks up her inner Gretchen Wilson like she does here with her ode to all of the Gingers out there joined by the most famous of the Country redheads, Queen Reba.

Five Cool Ones: Five Cool Albums Released This Week (August 14, 2020)

As we roll into the dog days of the Pandemic there seem to be a lot of cover songs and cover-centric albums out in the atmosphere. Where typically an artist will release covers between albums, or as part of a contractual agreement to release a certain number of albums, these days it is more about musicians not being able to get into the studio, and instead are digging into their treasure chests of favorite artists that influenced them. I for one, think it’s great.

Rock is the new Roll favorite Pitbull lends his “Fireball” spin paying tribute (sort of) to Frankie Valli.

Our favorite female duo First Aid Kit absolutely slay Willie’s “On The Road Again” leaving us scratching our heads wondering why this is the first time this ode to artists and their burning desire to get back on the road has been covered during the pandemic.

And, another Rock is the New Roll favorite, Lizzy Hale jumps in on they Whitney classic “I Will Always Love You,” and does so quite admirably.

Here a five cool records our ears are spinning to this week.

Whitney – Candid

The mellow Indie Pop band Whitney is essentially the duo of Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek, formerly of the highly excellent band Smith Westerns. On this, their third proper full-length record, they offer up a set of covers that with the possible exception of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” a collaboration with the band Waxahatchie, are more B-side selections from some of their favorite artists as well as musicians that have influenced them.

The smooth stylings here float dangerously close to Yacht Rock territory, but here, presented as they do on this record, it is definitely not a bad thing. You can be forgiven if you have never heard of the musician Moondog, not many of us have, but here, Whitney spins his song “High on a Rocky Ledge” into a sort of Hall and Oates anthem, their version of The Roches “Hammond Song” is frankly better than the semi-annoying original, and on “Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying” the tempo picks up slightly on the Labi Siffre song.

There’s a lot to enjoy and explore on this one.

Biffy Clyro – A Celebration of Endings

A splendid return for the Scottish band Biffy Clyro. Somewhat of a start and stop affair with frenzied Pop anthems interspersed with introspective balladry, sometimes in the same song, the diversity in textures is one of the things that makes this highly listenable record so special and intriguing. There are plenty of festival-ready anthems to savor here most interestingly “The Champ” and “Tiny Indoor Fireworks.”

Arlo McKinley – Die Midwestern

This one is going to be a candidate for the end of the year best-of lists, for sure. From the opening salvo “We Were Alright” where the song “Luckenbach Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)” is namechecked, it is clear why this was the last artist that John Prine signed to his Oh Boy record label.

A hard-worn semi-overnight success McKinley was discovered by Oh Boy record major-domo Jody Whelan after seeing him play the High Watt in Nashville where he was subsequently introduced to John Prine. When you combine his Appalachian drawl of a voice, his age-weary experience at age 40 along with his detailed minds-eye songwriting talent, it is clear that the torch is well passed.

Tanya Donnely and the Parkington Sisters- Tanya Donnely and the Parkington Sisters

Here, presented to us is another covers record that eclectically interprets artists and songs that have not received the amount of exposure that they deserve. Tany Donnely, formerly of Throwing Muses, The Breeders, and Belly delightfully weaves her magic around “Ocean Rain,” her too spot-on take on the Pretenders “Kid,” the clear hi-lite “Let Me Roll It” as well as a couple more deep nuggets from the past. “Different Drum” should never again be sung by anyone other than Linda Ronstadt. By official decree, of course.

Levellers – Peace

From across the pond, Brighton, England, The Levellers are one of those bands that seem tailor-made for the major festival circuit. Not to say that they are not a great band, they are, however you could very much see in your minds-ear the fest-fans being whipped into a frenzy dancing wildly to the likes of “Food Roof Family” and the equally ear-catching”Generation Fear.” Don’t sleep on “Born That Way” either. This may be one of the best songs of the year.

 

 

 

Album of the Day: The Bye Bye Blackbirds – Boxer at Rest

The Bye Bye Blackbirds – Boxer at Rest (five out of five)

The first thing that jumps out when you hit the play button or drop the needle down on Boxer at Rest, the supremely excellent new record by Oakland California’s Bye Bye Blackbirds, is the pristine knob-twirling production value courtesy of Doug Gillard, who has worked with Guided By Voices and Nada Surf as well as many other bands you like, that hits you between the ears on the first song “You Were All Light.”

At first-listen, the opening drum intro followed by the Big Star worthy guitar chords will float your mind-space back to happier and even hippier times. And, once the perfectly mixed vocals join the party courtesy of the George Harrison meets Tom Petty  (Travelling Wilbury’s era) vibe of the main songwriter Bradley Skaught, suddenly, as the horns kick-in to take you home, all is right with the world. And it almost wasn’t.

As the album was written and the tracking well underway at Hyde Street Studios in San  Francisco, founding member Lenny Gill fell gravely ill with an illness requiring a heart transplant almost derailing the record before it really got started. Then, during a period of time when Lenny’s ability to ever play the guitar again was very much in doubt, the band recorded each of the individual tracks with the exception of the guitar parts and put them on a shelf for safekeeping.  Replacing the irreplaceable and finding another player to fill in for Lenny was never an option. It was a time to be patient, a time to live, a time to heal. Until finally, after a hard-fought nine months of rehab, the boxer at rest was ready to get back into the ring recording all of the guitar parts in one day.

Having been largely written before Lenny’s illness, the songs on Boxer at Rest are mostly upbeat affairs with an undercurrent of social consciousness lying just below the surface of virtually every track. Two of the songs that demonstrate Bradley Skaught’s agile songwriting skills, “How Do We Stay?” and “All Our Friends”  directly address the tragic 2016 fire that killed 36 people in a warehouse known as The Ghost Ship that had been converted into an artist collective in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland.

All we do is love you
and sing your names out
We pulled the anchor
And kissed you out to sea

And, on “So True” the gentrification of the neighborhoods in and around Oakland with hipster lofts and overpriced coffee shops taking over the landscape is lamented.

“In miles of old alleyways, all our secrets in piles, left outside where the dogs can find them. Gone like they’d never arrived.”

There is a poetic poignancy to virtually every song on this record that is enhanced even more so through a set of quality headphones and multiple listens. The liner notes clearly say play this one loud. Advice best heeded.

Trying to choose a favorite song or to cull band influences or genres from the choice morsels presented here would be somewhat of a fools’ errand. There is literally nothing not to like with this record. Sure, there are fairy dustings of Big Star, The Birds, Buffalo Springfield, and the Box Tops sprinkled everywhere, but make no mistake. Lenny, Bradley and the rest of the band aren’t simply riding the coattails of those that have gone before them, they are playing it forward with depth and deep reverence. Just listen to the guitar licks that would make Sun Records and Sam Phillips proud towards the end of “War Is Still Hell” and tell us we’re wrong. On “Watch Them Chime” you might catch the scent of R.E.M.’ or even a Tim era Replacements vibe. And, on “Baby It’s Still You” the horns are back in just the right spots and the band’s secret weapon, Kelly Atkins, announces herself in fine fashion even though she has been classing up the joint earlier with her elegant harmonies throughout many many of the tracks.

At a nice and tidy 33 minutes and 23 seconds, this one is best savored in one sitting with a nice cocktail in hand, surrounded by good friends, toasting those that are no longer able to join us.