Critics who claim Rock And Roll is dead have not listened to Wisconsin native Jared James Nichols’ self-titled third album (Black Hill Records) which is filled with twelve pieces of evidence to the contrary. Nichols is known for his signature pick-less style and is one of only four global ambassadors for Gibson Guitars, which certainly sets expectations high for what you are about to experience.Continue reading
Hjartastjaki (Svart) is an almost cinematic experience, as Isafjord create bleak and desolate landscape pictures with their sombre atmospheric music. The duo of Solstafir vocalist Addi Tryggvason and multi-instrumentalist Ragnar Zolberg (Sign) wrote the album while holed up together in an old house, during the depths of an icy winter and using a broken piano to start many of their ideas.
The boisterous Mother Vulture have created quite a stir, and judging from their debut Mother Knows Best (Lockdown Records) it is very easy to see why. The Bristolian four piece are a whirlwind of different sounds – punk, metal and Royal Blood like rock rolled into one rowdy whole.
As the nights get darker, trees have lost their leaves and there’s a “nip” in the air, you could do worse than retreat into your man cave with a guitar and some whiskey, or even The Guitar & Whiskey Club’s new self-titled EP (Orchard / Sony).
Waves of melodic metal crashed upon Saint Vitus Bar on Saturday as three bands served an eclectic mix of musical flavors. Continue reading
One of the things that was great about growing up in the seventies was the soothing, grounded music. There was an earthiness to some of the music that just made the listener feel good. The songs weren’t too complex, nor were they too simple; they just existed to make the listener get in tune with their surroundings. Fast forward fifty years and life is just more complex and frenetic. This is reflected in some genres of music. It can be a struggle to find earthy music that makes you feel good.
Clutch, the irrepressible quartet from Maryland, America have just graced our ears with a new record Sunrise On Slaughter Beach (Weathermarker) – their thirteenth record, coming four years after Book Of Bad Decisions. It is unmistakably a Clutch album, full of hearty riffs and deft turns of phrase, but it is a shorter and more varied one than its predecessor.
The American quartet Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown have a new album Shake The Roots, and it is the first on their own record label Rattle Shake Records. Their first independent album, and their fifth one overall, comes two years after Pressure and was recorded at frontman Tyler Bryant’s home studio in Nashville. It is a refreshing exploration of blues and rootsy rock, with plenty of dirty grooves, classic rock riffs and southern twang.
Work on Greenbeard’s third album started four years ago, but numerous line up changes and the dreaded C word delayed things slightly. The wait is over as the Texan Stoner Rock groups third album, aptly titled Variant (Sailor Records/Kozmik Artifactz), is finally with us – it sees them mix fuzzy stoner rock with psychedelic, blues, soul and heavy metal influences.Continue reading
They say (well, Turisas did, which is probably as unlikely a band to reference in the introduction to a review of a solo album by the vocalist from The Menzingers as you’re going to get) no good story ever starts with drinking tea. But, maybe, just maybe this one does. For the journey of Don’t Go Throwing Roses In My Grave (Epitaph Records), the first solo album from Gregor Barnett begins with the premature closing of one adventure and the unplanned void of returning home to… no plans. Just peace, quiet, solitude, and, well, whatever hot drink of choice our man from Pennsylvania chooses to imbibe the morning.