Album Review- Kristen Ford- Pinto

In 2016, I caught Kristen Ford in concert in a small Chicago venue and was immediately taken as a fan.

Ford played a loop style “one man band” concert which even then seemed to be a fad from a decade earlier. Technology made “looping” easier and musicians found a way to make it sound good. Famously, KT Tunstall would hit the US Top 40 charts twice in 2005. 

A year previously, Howie Day had a Top 20 hit with “Collide”, the culmination of seven years of work constantly touring and making a reputation for accompanying himself on samplers and effects pedals. (If you want to check out Ford's early work in this style- she has a fantastic cover of Steve Winwood's "Higher Love" you can look up on YouTube), Tunstall has remained a star in Europe, but has yet to have another US hit. Day’s career has been marked by self-sabotage. 

Other prominent loop artists like Andrew Bird expanded their pallet, and lest we forget, Ed Sheeran started as a looper. There of course is a long history of “one man bands” going as back probably as far as time itself, and along the way cult figures like Hasil Adkins and Nash the Slash, and there always will be. But even in that context, some of those road warriors like Scott H Biram and Bob Log 3 don’t have the visibility now that they experienced circa 2005 when they might grab a review or mention in Pitchfork. 

But of course, it’s the songs that matter and Ford had those. Fame isn’t fair (just turn on the radio and you are likely to hear JJ Abrams’s daughter within the hour) and I was shocked that someone so talented was not so well known. Ford is the type of artist that truly must love their work. She constantly tours and records. She spent the early part of her career self releasing albums. 

As she has established her career more in recent years, those albums seem to be scrubbed off her webpage and streaming services. But I believe she recorded four albums between 2011 and 2017. I am most familiar with 2014s Dinosaur and 2017s Rend and Renderer which have some real gems on them. Showing her versatility and depth, consider some of her other projects. She formed a duo with cellist Kels Van Stran called EVRGRN and they released a 2020 album. She also was part of a hip hop duo with MC Genesis Blu called the Blu Janes who released their album that same year. Ford’s online presence now treats 2021s self released War in the Living Room as a debut album. It is a mix of Ford’s styles (and has now been re-released on Righteous Babe Records.) What is cool is that it was co produced by June Millington the singer/guitarist of rock trailblazers Fanny (It is co-produced along with engineer Brett Buillon who worked with Low). 

In 2022, Ford met Ani DiFranco and ended up signed to the Righteous Babe record label. DiFranco is a musical hero of Ford’s but the partnership seems logical. Both are prolific songwriters who have generally chosen to do things their own way through hard work and constant touring. Both write politically conscious folk music, though they blend multiple genres including Hip Hop, Punk, Funk and Jazz. Both are multi instrumentalists 2025s Pinto is Ford’s shot at greatness. Released on Righteous Babe, DiFranco coproduces, cowrites with Ford on four songs and sings on album opener “Here’s to You Kid”. Also producing with DiFranco and Ford is John Driscoll Hopkins of country hit makers Zac Brown Band. Hopkins duets on Richest in the World. Nashville indie rocker Joseph Jared of the Dangerous Method sings on the album’s closing track. 

The album is engineered and mastered by Randy Merrill who has seemingly done the same for the biggest albums of the last 25 years (Taylor Swift, Adele, Harry Styles, Chappel Roan, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga) Pinto is a fantastically put together album. Like a lot of her previous work, there is defiantly a sense of being “on the road”. Upon listening, I can’t help but think that Ford and I couldn’t be much more different, though I doubt she thinks anything of me listening. It is hard not to think that the great “on the road records” have been made in a genre that has been dominated by straight cisgender white males for most of its history, and before that decades of fiction novels dominated by same. So even with modern exceptions to that (Ezra Furman’s excellent 2018 album Transangelic Exodus for one) and besides the fact that Springsteen and Dylan seemingly perfected the art, it does seem notable when a queer biracial female drops the perfect “road album” but this time it has tampons, weed and long term lesbian relationships. 

It’s also probably a shame this album didn’t come out in the Lillith Fair years or that golden era circa 2012 -2014 where artists like Tegan and Sara, DiFranco, and Tori Amos were big deals before Pitchfork and its ilk flipped over from covering songwriters to highlighting pop music. The best moments are spread out throughout the album. My choices are “Grrl in the Mirror” a rollicking story of past loves. “Wild Heart” rocks hard with the arena rock cock rock getting a gender change . “Pop Pop Fizz Fizz” is a fuzz guitar fan’s dream meet an “us outsiders taking on the world” vibe. Between the references to sports bras and Kardashians, Ford is equally adept at the more-than-just-breakup-song “Whiplash” and at the political (but no less rocking “White Man’s Dream”) 

Opener “Here’s to you Kid” is kind of lightweight given the DiFranco debut but sets up the album quite well. The album closes with “Brand New Pair” which is a bit of a love song that is an absolute perfect ending. The angelic vocals open it up to interpretation. It is perfect for the “movie” feeling album gives and I can picture it as a happy ending but the song also has an unspoken weight that could mean things aren’t so perfect. The Great American Records have allusions to Charles Starkweather and Abraham (from the Book of Genesis) but what makes those albums so good is the autobiographical elements. I am not surprise that Pinto is good, but I am surprised how gripped in it I became. 

There are still plenty of great American albums being written - the Killers’ 2021 Pressure Machine album for one- and I am making assumptions because I assume there is surely some artistic license here, too- but Pinto joins that list of great insightful American journey albums.

Album Review- Curtis Harding- Departures and Arrivals- The Adventures of Captain Curtis

Listening to Curtis Harding’s 2021 album If Words Were Flowers was a revelation. It led me to his two previous albums- 2014s Soul Power and 2017s Face Your Fear- all three are terrific. 

Of artists who have come out in the last 10 years, Harding is probably a Top 3 “most listened” to for me. Harding’s pedigree is the kind of multi-genre path that is reflected in his music. That’s probably coincidental but it is a list of some of my favorite artists of the last 25 years. In 2002, he made his first appearance on the hip hop soul debut album of Cee Lo and His Perfect Imperfections (he would appear on Cee Lo’s 2010 solo album The Lady Killer too). In the latter part of that decade, he worked with members of garage bands The Black Lips and Night Beats. 

His debut album (2014s Soul Power) would be released on the garage rock heavy Burger Records label. There was even a brief collaboration with Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds in that same time frame. He moved to Anti Records and producer Danger Mouse for 2017s Face Your Fears and start collaborating with Sam Cohen of Apollo Sunshine that would continue on the next album. 2021s If Words Were Flowers might be my favorite Harding album to date. Produced and cowritten with Cohen, it’s a soul album, but an album that sounds out of time. The video for “Can't Hide It” imagines Harding in 1971 on a "Soul Train" type show, and it evokes Funkadelic, Gil Scott-Heron and Stevie Wonder. And of course, with the name similarity, it’s impossible not to also think of Curtis Mayfield. You can hear a multitude of genres coming together- soul, pop, funk, gospel, hip hop, psych, jazz and R&B. Unfortunately, there’s no longer a home for this type of music outside of indie rock. 

It’s great that he’s found a home on ANTI-, with its roster of Mavis Staples, Bettye Lavette and Booker T Jones. But it’s also sad that he doesn’t get a bigger audience. You can name a list of recent artists that had that similar 70s sound - enough it’s a genre within itself- Durand Jones, Charles Bradley, Black Pumas, Michael Kiwanuka, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings- and this crowd does well with critics. There is also the Americana-adjacent Adult Alternative format which has given us St Paul and the Broken Bones, Leon Bridges, Alabama Shakes and Nathaniel Ratliff to name a few- that play in bigger venues and inch their way a bit more onto radio playlists Which isn’t to say Harding isn’t doing well. It’s just the frustration of a fan that wishes he was a household name. 

 I have to admit some trepidation for listening to 2025s Departures and Arrivals: Adventures of Captain Curt. Harding has had such a solid three album run that eventually he will release a dud, right? But I need not worry. Even if it might not have quite the killer single of "I Can't Hide It", it’s a solid album. As you can guess from the title, it’s a bit of a concept album. The music again is soul backed by lavish orchestration. The theme isn’t pushy though it does tie the whole thing together. Opener "There She Goes" is punctuated with what sounds like Ernie Isley’s classic 1970s guitar. 

Across the album we are sent to "Hard as Stone" with its indistinguishable lyrics floats out in the world of OutKast and Cee Lo to a dreamy bliss and later the disco stomp of "The Power" with plenty of high hat and keyboard riffs along the way with dabbling in the sounds of the Fifth Dimension and Marvin Gaye along the way. This album is such a thrill for me as a listener taking me to some classic records with no missteps along the way. I don’t know what the future holds (no pun intended for such a futuristic concept record) for Harding but he’s doing amazing work. ("There She Goes" follows Harding's 2021 video "Can't Hide It" in giving nostalgic vibes visually as well as audibly, in this case a Night Gallery/Twilight Zone pastiche)

Album Review- Rhett Miller- A Lifetime of Riding By Night

In July 2025, Old 97s bassist Murry Hammond released a solo album. Last month, lead singer Rhett Miller released his tenth solo album. 

There is a new Old 97s album likely forthcoming next year. The Old 97s have not had any lineup changes and their interviews focus on them as the friends they have been for the last 40 years. U2 is the only other band I can think of quickly that portrays similar chemistry. While lead singer solo albums seem redundant, Miller has generally been purposeful in making them something different. While there are some moments on his solo albums that have the rollicking alt country of Old 97s, that’s usually the exception 2025s A Lifetime of Riding by Night has its own vibe. It’s focused on Miller’s lyrics as the accompanying music is stripped down for an intimate folky feel. This also may be an effect of Rhett’s recent vocal cord surgery. 

Hammond produces while cameos and the guest list on this album consists of Evan Felker of the Turnpike Troubadours, Caitlin Rose, Jesse Valenzuela (of the Gin Blossoms), and Nicole Atkins. Rhett (and the 97s) contains multitudes but it bears reminding that this is the singer who gave its one of the great songs of the last quarter century can write a tune. (I am referring here to “Question” from the 2001 album Satellite Rides, probably the band’s most well known song. It appeared prominently in the TV series Scrubs . Miller re-recorded it in 2006 for his solo album The Believer) his is an also a guy who has covered Prine and Jon Langford. As fun as the 97s are, let's not forget just how talented of a lyricist he is. Miller’s albums are often different than the Old 97s- they are more pop, less alt country. This album doesn’t sound like much of his previous work, but has a wonderful distinct vibe. 

I give Hammond a big thumbs up for capturing that mood. Rhett has always written some great reflective lyrics of life as a musician - the rollicking “Longer than You’ve Been Alive” off the Old 97s 2014 Most Messed Up album as one example. There’s definitely some of that Mott the Hoople style career rumination, but here he tackles it from a more self reflective angle on the disc's title track. “All Over Again” is a positive looking song that is the hallmark of Miller’s solo records. “Be Mine” might be the best song here because it combines that optimism and the detailed narrator sides of Miller. There’s surely an alternate world where only Miller’s solo albums exist and he is an underappreciated troubadour.

Album Review- Rodney Crowell- Airline Highway

I was born up in a home where country music was played often. There’s a few really good artists on country music radio these days but more often than not, I generally am not a fan. I was born as the era of Anne Murray, Crystal Gayle, Kenny Rogers and Conway Twitty gave over to Urban Cowboy. 

While that was the image of country I grew up with, I occasionally found some things I would like- for example, songs like Willie and Merle’s cover of Townes Van Zant’s “Pancho and Lefty” and of course, old Johnny Cash classics. 

Trends can only last so long and towards the end of 1987, the next big thing was something called neotraditional country and the biggest star was a guy named Randy Travis who sang songs like the last decades hadn’t really happened. It’s not that much different than the current era of country radio where years of lightweight party content has given to more serious fare. As with the current environment, it doesn’t mean that I like everything on the air, but as someone who prefers the singer-songwriter style, I can find a lot to like. 

I also can’t separate 1988 with it being a time that I would read copies of Country Music magazine from cover to cover at my Aunt’s house after school. Some of the biggest stars of the day were Rodney Crowell and Roseanne Cash- who were a real life couple. Their songs weren’t that much different than Mellencamp and Springsteen who would play on the pop and rock stations. Looking at a list of the # 1 country s in those years is revelatory. While I am not particularly a fan of all the bands of that time, it’s interesting that even some of the bigger bands of the day - the Judds, Keith Whitley, George Strait had similar neo traditionalist styles. Of course, Whitley and another huge star of the day- Ricky Skaggs came from a bluegrass background, having played together in Ralph Stanley's band. You had plenty of artists who were born out of either Bluegrass or Bakersfield- Dwight Yoakum, Kathy Mattea and the Chris Hillman-led Desert Rose band all took the top spot at some point in those years as did some old timers like Vern Gosdin, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson who had # 1s I would turn to the back of the magazine and a lot of times in those days, near the top was a band called Shenandoah- a band that mixed country with gospel and bluegrass. They would have four # 1 country songs in those two years and a few years later, would record a collaboration with Allison Krauss which would be her chart debut. You rarely hear about the band nowadays. (As I write this, they have just announced a new recording of their biggest hit "The Church on Chamberlain Road" with Nickelback to introduce it to a new generation). 

I would say there’s two things to bear in mind. One is the fact that I am nostalgic for the music of my early teens, which is no revelation. That’s going to pretty typical of everyone on the planet. Secondly, despite the influences and a handful of truly great songs, most of the country songs of this time suffer from what I call sterile production. My preferences were always going to be rock and pop. But I did particularly like Crowell and Cash. Crowell’s album Diamonds and Dirt had five # 1 country songs - the first album to achieve that. Songs like “I Couldn’t Leave You if I Tried” and “Above and Beyond (the Call of Love)” weren’t all that dissimilar from what Mellencamp or Steve Earle (who had jumped from country charts to a rock audience) were doing. 

Although Crowell wrote many famous country songs, his chart career was as red hot as it ever was, but his time at the top ended up being short lived (he would touch the Top 20 with 4 more songs between 1990 and 1992 but no more chart toppers) Roseanne Cash’s biggest hit was “Tennessee Flat Top Box”, a cover of a song her Dad had once did. Cash was already an established star with crossover appeal but here she was with a truly all time great song. I remember it getting some play on pop/rock stations. I had a hard time finding where it landed on the Billboard 100 but I found a mention that it only reached # 84. She had 5 Country # 1s between 1987 and 1989 (and was on one of Crowell’s # 1 as a duet if you want to say 6) Yoakum made a big impression too. He was not quite as dominant on the charts, but a big enough star that he had two number ones in 1989 and had seven other Top 10 country hits from 1986-9 including the title track of his breakout album “Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc…”. Earle had a lesser amount of chart success (seven Top 40 Country hits in 86-89) but was getting plenty of buzz. His 1988 album Copperhead Road was notable for him changing from country to rock. Even if it didn’t get a ton of airplay (it did manage to find a spot on the mainstream rock chart) somehow everyone knew the title track and it had become one of the most iconic country songs of all time. It regularly is listed as one of the most played songs on jukeboxes year after year and it is now the current song used in Chevrolet ads. Earle would have one last country chart hit in 1989. His cover of “Six Days on the Road” reached # 30 as part of the Planes, Trains and Automobiles soundtrack. 

As with any genre, the influence remains, but the industry looks to find a way of bending the sound to something that will increase sales. Starring in December of 1989, you have the first # 1s from Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt and Clint Black. 1991 brought Alan Jackson and of course by 1992 it was time for Billy Ray Cyrus. I still heard plenty of country radio riding in a car with my father but hardly any songs I liked. Earle got into trouble but reemerged with a string of albums that didn’t care about pop charts and were as good (maybe even better) than his previous albums. Yoakum stayed on the charts, and Mary Chapin Carpenter, who had emerged with a couple of top 20 songs in 1989 would find a niche for a few years as folk influenced country music. But these were now the exceptions. You could occasionally find something exciting that might show up on CMT. In 1996, the Western swing influenced BR549 would hit # 44 on the country charts with “Cherokee Boogie” and bluegrass legends Del McCoury Band would get some occasional video airplay with “My Love Will Not Change” in 2003 but it would take another couple of decades to again find some interesting music on country radio. 

In 1989, I might have considered Crowell, Cash, Yoakum or Earle my favorite country artist depending on the day. But after the mid 90s, the only one I followed consistently was Earle I hadn’t really given Crowell any thought until in 2019, Uncut magazine named his Texas album one of its best of the month. There’s a point in an artist’s career that the record company thinks the best bet is to surround the aging star with talented guests. This, Texas also features Earle, Ringo Starr, Billy Gibbons, Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, and Lee Ann Womack. Texas was a great album though. Crowell still had the songwriting chops and so the pattern would repeat. 

2021s Triage took a direction without the A List guests and the songs gathered more around the themes of mortality, faith and love. Texas was a very good record. Triage was even better. I dig a bit deeper in Crowell’s 21st century catalog but it’s pretty hefty. 2001s The Houston Kid and 2017s Close Ties have been a nice discovery but there is still a lot more to dig into 2023 saw Crowell teaming up with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco as producer. Pulling out more of a blues influenced and late 70s country sound, it’s not a bad album, but I don’t rate it as high as his other records, and I doubt I will revisit it anytime soon. 

2025s Airline Highway sees Crowell match up with a producer and fan who I think has a great ear for his work in Tyler Bryant (of Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown). The band is top notch - guitarist Dave Grissom (John Mellencamp, Joe Eli, James McMurtry), keyboardist Catherine Marx (Willie Nelson) Drummer Conrad Choucroun (NRBQ, Bob Schneider) Grammy winner Accordion player Dirk Powell (Joan Baez, the Ranconteurs) and violinist Eleanor Denig (Eric Church, Margo Price, Old 97s). The guest list is a perfect complement of rising alt country stars who fit Crowell’s sound- Bryant, Lukas Nelson, Larkin Poe, Ashley McBryde and Blackberry Smoke guitarist Charlie Starr. The songs feel like classic Crowell with “Rainy Days in California” showing that pop sensibility, “Maybe Someday Down the Road” is the whisper/sung reflective narrative and “The Twenty One Song Salute” the nostalgic celebration. In the case of the latter, he’s made it a dedication to GG Shinn- a legendary swamp pop musician who led the Boogie Kings during a decades long career- and Cleoma Falcon- one of the first musicians to record Cajun music and a trailblazer being one of the few women to perform live music onstage in the 1920s and 1930s. 

Airline Highway is a strong album that catches Crowell’s spirit. I still picture him as the guy on the Diamonds and Dirt album, but these days he is the elder legend. It’s hard to say this is better than Triage or Close Ties. Crowell has been so consistent so the idea of “star with one last great album in him” is not really applicable here, if otherwise it would have been true. But this is a great one and hopefully finds its way to a lot of peoples’ ears

Album Review- (The London) Suede- Antidepressants

I was a huge fan of the band Suede (who were forced into the moniker the London Suede in the US). They were one of my favorite bands of the 90s. Suede were a big deal in the UK, so their career in the US is overshadowed by the fact they could not make the same impact here. Though Britpop in general had only a mild effect on charts here, bands like Oasis, Elastica and the Verve did become household names. 

With hindsight, 1993s self titled debut album was a bigger cultural shock than we probably give it credit for. Even Blur ended up with a radio hit, but Suede remained outside looking in. But their was a lot of buzz around the first album, even some MTV airplay and it seemed that everyone who needed to know, knew. Most bands would be jealous of that kind of success. At the time though, it seemed they were one and done. 

I saw them in 1994 and they were playing a fairly small venue. No surprise with returns like that they gave up conquering the US so easily. Even then, Dog Man Star, the second album, is in my mind, a masterpiece. Much loved by the UK press, you never hear about it on this side of the Atlantic. Unlike the glam stomp of the debut, It was overdramatic and overblown in all the best ways. It also caused a lot of problems with the band, with guitarist Bernard Butler leaving the band before the album was finalized and released. Richard Oakes and Neil Codling joined the band then in Butler's stead. Oakes took the reins as lead guitarist and Codling as keyboardist, with both taking over most of the songwriting (usually in combinations of Anderson/Oakes, Anderson/Codling or Codling and Anderson individually). 

1996s Coming Up is focused on three and a half minute radio ready singles. In my mind it’s overshadowed by the brilliance of the predecessor but it’s still a very good record. 1999s Head Music is in “difficult fourth album” territory, made tougher as Suede had also cranked out two additional albums worth of material in B-sides and non album tracks. It’s a pretty good album even if it didn’t quite match previous heights. It took me awhile to find a copy of 2002s New Morning- the final album in the first chapter of the band. I find it quite uninspired though Allmusic gives it a generally positive review. Suede would break up but reunite a decade later. 

They have now equaled the original iteration’s output - five albums in nine years. Suede’s reunion albums have got plenty of positive reviews and yet in a lot of ways, I found the “second act” a pale imitation of the original. Of these albums, I generally only rate the second (2016s Night Thoughts) highly which is also probably the closest they have gotten to returning to the sound of Dog Man Star.

2025s Antidepressants may be the most well received album of their post reunion years. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. The joke has always been that Suede was too indebted to Bowie and specifically Ziggy Stardust. There’s not been a lot of diversity in their sound since Headmusic and perhaps they have decided that they aren’t going to venture far away from what their fans want. But Antidepressants does feel like Coming Up. Every song has that radio single three and a half minute feel. It’s hard to say why it works so well. Ed Buller is the producer again after the band opted for Alan Moulder on their last album. That’s probably a good thing as he helmed the band’s first three albums, and really has an ear for them. The songs feel like they are made to be played live. The previous album’s orchestral accompaniment is gone. Brett Anderson has made a big deal about the band being a forward looking concern and not Oasis style nostalgia. 

With bands like The Cure and Pulp capturing a bit of their old lighting in a bottle. Producer Buller and songwriters Anderson, Oakes and Codling (the three credited together on many songs) have managed to do a bit of that themselves.

Album Review- Jim Bob- Stick

On August 22, Jim Bob released his 13th and 14th albums on the same day- Automatic and Stick. While this is a basic generalization, Automatic is in the mold of his last three albums- a series of narratives from everyday life in which Jim Bob can skewer society when it needs it and compliment the positive aspects we need to hear too. But Stick is a louder, noisier affair that is closer to the albums he made 30-some years ago as part of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. 

Songs like “Art” and “Last Day of the Tour” are pure glam rock stomp a la Slade and the Sweet and not altogether that much different from Carter USM’s 1991 album 30Something. 

Closer "There’s Not Enough Space in the Hall" brings the proceedings to a close with an (almost) life affirming singalong with a reference to Amazon Alexa thrown in (it’s Jim Bob after all). Opener “A Song by Me” is an expletive filled statement that would have opened a Carter album with the band in “power trio” mode. A song like “What a Sh*tshow” wouldn’t fit on Automatic lyrically or even musically (its melody similar to a punk reading of “I Had too Much to Dream Last Night” but we are better for having it. 

While Carter USM were one of my favorite bands of that era, they probably weren’t in my top five favorites. But as implausible as it seems, Jim Bob has been honing his craft. I would put him up against any songwriter today, and Stick is kind of the fun punky record but the lyrics are solid too. On Bandcamp, Jim Bob says ‘Automatic’ and ‘Stick’ are both the greatest album (sic) Jim Bob has ever made. He might not be wrong.

Album Review- Jim Bob- Stick

In the early 1990s, Carter USM rode a wave of indie rock that incorporated dance, hip hop and punk.

The band hit their peak in 1992- going to # 1 on the UK Album charts and their biggest success in the US with 1992:The Love Album.

Though the music of that time has faded largely from memory, 1992: The Love Album is an all time favorite of mine. Critics will occasionally bring up the band that form forgot. Carter threw puns about while making wry observations about the mundane day to day or sneaking in social criticism into catchy pop songs. The band had Ian Dury show up for a cameo, and though it may have seemed an unusual pairing at the time, there was definitely a linear path from Dury to Carter’s lyricist “Jim Bob”. 

Although it felt trendy at the time, the music from the era didn’t age well. Now if doesn’t help to name your band “the Unstoppable Sex Machine” or have unconventional hairstyles or have the guitarist name himself Fruitbat. But none of these bands get much praise anymore. In the US, the most successful band in this genre and time was Jesus Jones. Even with their massive success, you never hear anything about them. 

I often hear among those friends around 50 years of age who much they loved Ned’s Atomic Dustbin but between Britpop and Grunge, it seems like this music was just a short lived fad. Jim Bob didn’t stop when Carter broke up in 1998. He wrote an autobiography and then became a novelist. From 2003 to 2016, he released 7 albums. But it was 2020s Pop Up that brought him back to attention, breaking back onto the UK Album charts. It was also the first time I had heard his solo music (and indeed, the first I had given him some thought in some time). 

 That album Pop Up, 2021s Who Do We Hate Today and 2023s Thanks for Reaching Out were revelations. Each record took personal narratives to make comment on the current world- whether it be toxic masculinity, cancel culture, gun violence or any number of other topics. For my money, I am not sure there’s a better songwriter with that much quality output in that time frame. My expectation would have been that after being so prolific, the quality would go down or the artist burn himself out. So I was shocked when JimBob approached 2025 by releasing two albums on the same day. More shocking is that they seem to be both quality.

Today, I am going to focus on Automatic. The other album Stick is a noisier affair that recalls the Carter USM days, but Automatic is very much in the vein of the three previous albums and is recorded with the same backing band. On lead single “Danny From Nowhere”, he sings “I have broken a promise that I made to myself I’d never write another one of these songs” But he has and he has done another album of them. Whether the lyric is true or artistic license Automatic follows the template and showcases his narratives of common people and their hobbies and worries whether it be drones, knitting or mortgage. There are everyday villains and everyday heroes. There are also killer one liners like “wars don’t end/just like Boy Bands they just go on hiatus”. As good as his recent run is, the album unexpectedly may be the best one of his solo run yet. “Danny” is the single and it’s fantastic but my favorite song on the album is “Can you hear us at the back of the room”. At its heart, a riposte to people who complain about new music being derivative, but is a celebration of a lot of bands that influenced Jim. 

There’s still no one quite like Jim Bob. Half Man Half Biscuit come to mind but they seem to come at things slightly different. There’s a bit of “how the hell do I categorize this” in that way you might say the same thing about The Divine Comedy or The Wedding Present or Gorkys Zygotic Mynci. While Jim Bob says Automatic was originally planned as B-sides for his other album (an idea he quickly gave up deciding on two records) it is really one of my favorite records of the year and proof that Jim Bob is one of the planet’s underappreciated artistic geniuses.

Album Review -Cody Jinks- In The Blood

I find Cody Jinks one of the more interesting artists in music right now. 

He broke through about a decade ago at the forefront of a new generation of Outlaw Country. No surprise that Jinks (like Hank Williams 3) came out of metal first. This new breed looked upon Johnny Cash as their hero, but superimposing what they thought he should be- a bit of Bon Scott and a bit of Lemmy, or had come to Ronnie Van Zant via James Hetfield. 

This was the direct descendant of Copperhead Road- bluegrass at the crossroads with heavy metal. When Jinks started making this music, mainstream country music was transitioning from a Fleetwood Mac/Eagles and Kenny Chesney’s Jimmy Buffet influence to a party style that was strongly influenced by early 00s hip hop (Nelly and Florida Georgia Line had one of the biggest country collaboration hits of 2020). 

But the current country music landscape has switched to a more serious introspective vibe. While critics generally don’t like Morgan Wallen and Jelly Roll, their style is build off this vibe, and all across the charts - Zach Top, Cody Johnson, and Lainey Wilson among many others. It’s hard not to think that if Jinks had played the major label game, he could have cashed in. That said (like Charlie Crockett who comes to the genre with a slightly different approach), Jinks probably isn’t too disappointed. He’s filling larger size venues while making the music he wants. At the end of the day, this is probably his ideal outcome. Heck, his song “Loud and Heavy” is (along with Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”) one of the top walk up songs in Major League Baseball.

 Armchair critics can find plenty to complain about - Jinks has been over prolific at times, the production quality has sounded DIY, etc But 2025s In My Blood sounds like the kind of album you would want him to make. It is very much in the vein of 2024s Change the Game. Produced by long time bassist, collaborator and producer Joshua Thompson along with engineer Charles Godfrey (Dropkick Murphys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Swans) it provides an accessible starting point for new fans, while generally providing the kind of front to back listen to satisfy most long time fans. There is a guest spot from Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke who if you don’t know, play blues influenced Southern Rock. That style mix would seem a good fit for Jinks fans. 

That 2024 album introduced Jinks as a newly sober troubadour who was looking inward like a late era country star might have done. Those themes run through here as well. That said, it’s not like his MO has changed that much - Hank Williams and David Allen Coe get namedropped, the rock songs rock and the country ballads could fill an arena. It’s drawn from the crossover radio appeal of Hank Williams Jr and Travis Tritt just as much as it is from the outlaw feel of Merle and Waylon, but it also reflects the more modern mindset of Tyler Childers or Colter Wall. 

Which means this won’t change anyone’s opinion - songs like Lost Highway will scratch the itch for renegade country and closer When Time Doesn’t Fly could for seamlessly on country radio. But most songs like Monster and Found ride both sides of that. Which is the genius of Cody Jinks. Chris Stapleton may be the only artist that fits the tightrope of country radio and serious songwriting. 

For example, Jason Isbell would sound out of place on country radio (even though his songs when sung by others have become hits) and Blake Shelton is never going to be taken seriously by critics, despite his booming voice. In-between lies Jinks. 

There will be some people who will never be satisfied (chasing the fresh sound of 2015s breakout album The Adobe Sessions) but for most fans, it’s a solid set of songs from a now well established artist.

Album Review- Murry Hammond- Trail Songs of the Deep

The Old 97s popped up with their break through album Wreck Your Life in 1995. The same year that gave us Wilco’s AM, the Jayhawks Tomorrow the Green Grass and Son Volt’s Trace (if any year could be called ground zero for Americana, it’s a good one with even established artists releasing well loved folk tinged albums that year - Springsteen, Earle, Emmylou, Prine,Hiatt) 

While the Old 97s didn’t get as much attention at the time, it would be less than a decade before they were at the forefront of their genre. Decades later, they are an alt country institution. The band is the rare one where it has kept its original members. Lead singer Rhett Miller is the face of the band. That isn’t a surprise. He’s had a concurrent solo career with nine albums. But Rhett ISN’T the Old 97s. There’s some proof in his solo career which is a bit more pop than the band’s output. 

If you have seen the band in concert, a highlight has been guitarist Ken Bethea’s verbal asides. Bethea is a great compliment to Miller, a Peter Buck to Miller’s Stipe. Drummer Philip Peeples hardly gets any press but is a fantastic stickman giving that country punk beat. Like REM or U2, it’s apparent that every member is important. I hate to belabor the REM comparison but bassist Murry Hammond is a bit similar to Mike Mills in many ways. A solid bassist with beautiful vocal talents who doesn’t look like a rock star On the band’s first run through 2008s Blame it on Gravity, the band usually gave Murry two songs on each album to write and sing, including the band’s classic “W Texas Teardrops”. He contributed two songs to 2020s Twelfth as well.

Hammond is perfect in that role as second vocalist, in the way Steve Diggle was a great counterpart to Pete Shelley, or Grant Hart to Bob Mould. 

Trail Songs of the Deep isn’t Hammond’s first solo album (He released his debut in 2008) but this may be his first high profile one. Unlike Miller’s albums, this isn’t an album to listen to once and make a decision. It’s laidback and a bit melancholy. 

Opening track “3:10 to Liverpool” shouldn’t be surprising but Murry is more spaghetti western than his band ever gets to be. Its references are probably more artists like the Derailers and Charley Crockett (who also shares producer Mark Neil). The title of that track gives you in a sentence the genesis of the sound that the band Hammond created- a bit of Beatles, a bit of American West cool.

In fact, there’s a bit of “country noir” vibe. It doesn’t really sound like Calexico but you could describe the music the same way. There’s a little bit of the same vibe of David Olney, especially his last album- the Goth tinged Whispers and Sighs -or the likes of Jim White who has done quite well in the genre. It might not be for everyone but give a chance and you might find a nice under the radar record for alt country fans.

My experience was that if didn’t grab me at first, but it will go down as one of my favorite albums of the year, once I realized it was a slightly different vibe than Old 97s or Rhett Miller.

Album Review: Ken Boothe & Jah Wobble - Old Fashioned Ways

Ken Boothe is one of my all time favorite vocalists. In the mid 1960s, he was at the forefront of the invention of Rocksteady. In the early 1970s, he had a handful of reggae hits in the UK that only two or three other artist could match (even getting namechecked by the Clash on “White Man in Hammersmith Palais”) So I don’t begrudge Boothe for staying busy and trying to attract new fans. 2017s Inna de Yard album with backing from the reggae collective of the same name is a five star album. 

A mix of a handful of his big hits and newer or lesser known songs performed mostly in an acoustic setting, it truly is one of the great albums of the last decade. I was already a Boothe fan thanks to the various Studio One and Trojan compilations, but this is an album that would convert new fans So you will get no complaints out of me when Jah Wobble has partnered with Ken Boothe for 2025 album Old Fashioned Ways. 

Boothe has picked some of his biggest songs- “Artibella”, “Everything I Own”, “Is it Because I’m Black” and “Freedom Street”- and some well known covers - “Just My Imagination”, “My Girl” and “Ain’t No Sunshine”. Admittedly, it’s hard to take the album seriously. Besides the track list, the cover is nondescript AI generated art; but mostly everything about it (including the press kit) looks exactly like last year’s Timeless Roots - the album Jah Wobble made with reggae legend Horace Andy.

Cleopatra Records has a bad reputation recently as their main MO has changed from being known for their 90s Goth records to recent decades of mainly churning out low quality punk compilations. Last fall, the label made headlines as it appeared they were forcing out Dead Boys singer Jake Hout to replace him with AI generated vocals of the late Stiv Bators. 

But Cleopatra has had some notable releases lately and the album does sound good. I am sure Wobble legitimately is a fan of Andy and Boothe. Wobble, of course is a legend himself, bassist for the classic early Public Image Ltd albums and had a solid solo career afterwards often working in high profile projects with people like Sinead O’Conner, Bill Laswell and Brian Eno among dozens of others. 

Boothe sounds great and Wobble accompanies him with generally a deep bass or dub sound. Although their are a fair number of Boothe compilations, this album pairs well with Inna De Yard as a good primer for Boothe. There’s surprisingly little crossover even though both albums feel designed to introduce Boothe a new audience. I believe the only song on both is Booth’s signature tune “Artibella”. Boothe has performed it often over the years, sometimes in ska or rocksteady, sometimes as reggae. It is one of my all time favorite songs and this point does not disappoint as his yearning vocals are perfectly matched by Wobble’s dub accompaniment. 

“Ain’t No Sunshine” is so well trodden as a cover but Boothe sings it as it is everything to him before Wobble turns it into a dub delight. “You Left The Water Running” has been performed by the greats- Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and even Boothe back in 1974- and here it invokes the greats. There’s no real clunkers here. Even “Reggae Christmas” which was written and originally released in 1984 by that noted reggae legend Bryan Adams (of “Cuts Like A Knife” fame) appended at the end is quite enjoyable It feels weird getting excited about an album that won’t get much press (Mojo magazine did give it a glowing review but only awarded three stars out of five) and maybe that’s understandable, but it’s a really great listen.

Album Review: Peter Murphy- Silver Shade

On occasion, I have sketched out the 100 bands (or so) that have influenced me the most.

I am not sure where Bauhaus falls on the list, but they surely merit discussion. Goth probably exists with or without them but they definitely created a sound and vision that was something new from what came before. The compilation Bauhaus 1979-1983 is one of the great retrospective albums of all time- drawing from their four albums augmented with essential non album tracks. It is four sides of nothing but classic songs 

After such a remarkable run, most artists don’t quite have such a successful second act, but Peter Murphy and his bandmates certainly did. In 1990, he hit his commercial peak with his third album Deep. The single “Cuts You Up” was a massive hit (it even broke the US Top 100) but is truly an all time great song. 

I didn’t expect to follow Murphy but caught a listen to 1995s Cascade and quite fell in love with it. Single “Scarlet Thing in You” was limited to scant MTV airplay on 120 Minutes but it is a great song. The album that surrounds it was no filler either. With a team consisting of producer Pascal Gabriel and guitarist Paul Statham (the two men would go on to cowrite Dido’s debut single in 1999 and cowrite a song for Kylie Minogue’s 2001 Fever album) and innovative guitarist Michael Brook (who’s collaborated with Brian Eno, Robert Fripp and the Edge), Murphy combined Goth and Pop with atmospheric soundscapes and a Mediterranean influence. 

Murphy would continue to release albums sporadically. Bauhaus would reunite on four occasions including a lengthy bit from 2005 to 2008 where they would release the album Go Away White- an album which did not quite match up to earlier work. In 2019, Murphy would suffer a heart attack during the then recent Bauhaus reunion tour. Bauhaus would start 2022 with another regrouping and recording a new single. But as the band started the tour, they had to cancel. Murphy entered rehab amidst rumors of some old demons returning.

 I have to admit that I had low expectations for album number 11, 2025s Silver Shade, but it definitely caught my ear. Co-writer and production credits are shared with Killing Joke bassist turned superstar producer Youth. Trent Reznor contributes to four songs. Tool bassist Justin Chancellor plays on five songs, Tool drummer Danny Carey on two. The closing track is Let the Flowers Grow, a duet with Boy George Age suits Goth rockers well and with a generation passing, 

Murphy has become an elder statesman. While the album falls short of classic Bauhaus, it’s still quite the success. While most songs don’t quite hit the transcendence of lead single “The Artroom Wonder”, songs like “Cochita is Lame” and “Swoon” are poppy earworms. Flamenco guitarist Amir John Haddad brings international flavor to the second side of the album. 

Bowie has always been a close comparison to Murphy but it’s hard not to bring to mind the Reznor influenced Bowie albums of the 90s. This, like that of Bowie’s Outside doesn’t quite measure up as a masterpiece, but with a measure of ambition and a legendary talent, it is a decent genre exercise. Another obvious comparison is Gary Numan’s recent work. Like Numan, it’s an update to his groundbreaking work from decades ago. The themes of futurism and apocalyptic fantasy mixed with World influences. If nothing else, it always is interesting. Genre fans should enjoy. 

Unfortunately Murphy is having health issues again and has cancelled his tour. He is 67 now but it would be great if we could get a few more records like this from him.

Album Review: David Lowery: Fathers, Sons and Brothers

1989s Key Lime Pie by Camper Van Beethoven may be my favorite album of all time. 

The previous album, 1988s Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart is more critically acclaimed (as is their 1985 debit Telephone Free Landslide Victory, and I do like both of those records quite a bit) but Key Lime Pie always seemed the perfect record to me. 

I was dumb and abandoned David Lowery when he went to Cracker. In those days, bands selling out was a big deal. The cliché was REM signing to Warner Bros. Even almost 40 years, I can’t think of anything that comes to mind as the prime example of “selling out”. (2008s Sonic Youth compilation which was sold exclusively at Starbucks is the only other thing comes to mind) 

Fortunately, I dispensed with that notion quickly, as Cracker came to play live in my town and they won me over. So like everyone else, I bought those first two Cracker albums. 

Cracker stayed busy but radio was no longer playing their new stuff. I heard some songs off the Camper Van Beethoven reunion album 2004s New Roman Times (incidentally off of Pandora, which is one of a few streaming services Lowery has fought tooth and nail over the years). While the album did not get rave reviews, it scratched my particular itch. 

In 2011, Lowery released his first solo album The Palace Guards. It’s quite a good album with some of that Camper wit, and may be my favorite of his 21st century albums Two more California themed records by the reformed CVB came in rapid succession-2013s La Costa Perdida and 2014s El Camino Real. Both are quite good. 

From what I understand, Lowery has been busy but his albums have only been released online through Bandcamp and via CDs through his website (a limited release of 1000 which have sold out). So there was 2020s In the Shadow of the Bull- covering his family and stories involving them. 2021s Leaving Key Member Clause- covering the years of Camper Van Beethoven through that third Cracker album and 2023s Vending Machine which covers a bit of everything from the passing of Mark Linkous, fleeting fame and air travel. 

These three albums are seeing a wide release as a two album set in 2025 as the autobiographical Fathers Sons and Brothers. Though I have to admit that it didn’t grab me at first, it has quickly become one of my favorite albums of the year. 

It doesn’t hurt that Lowery is such a fantastic storyteller and these real stories sound like the stuff of fiction. Songs like Disneyland Jail and How Does Your Sister Roller Skate sound less like a book and more like classic Camper. Opening tracks like “Frozen Sea” and “Super Bloom” are essentially an Lowery origin story. “It Don’t Last Long” is my favorite song. There are a few self referential songs in regard to how Lowery feels about his art and the fans. This song does that but in such a great way of talking about fame. It’s an insightful song in the way “Ballad of Mott the Hoople” was. 

There is even a song called “I Wrote A Song Called ‘Take the Skinheads Bowling’” which certainly deserves a chapter (“you haven’t heard of him and you’ve barely heard of me”) At the risk of repeating myself, I just want to say this body of work does what it sets out to do- in a weird way it is a Lowery autobiography. As someone who feels passionately about his work, it seems to cement Lowery as one of America’s best storytellers. He’s not the only guy who was a critical acclaim in his late 20s that has been able to pull off work just as good in his mid 60s, but that list surely has to be short. 

There are a few songs that are more traditional- the title track of the collection feels like a 1960s soul song augmented as it with help from the BellRays. There are a couple of songs like this that mix fine with the more satirical tracks. “Roll Down That Hill” is both a song that could be a Cracker single and details the night David met his ex-wife. 

This is a standout album of the year for me and if you ever were a fan of Lowery, check it out.

Album Review: Jonathan Richman- Only Frozen Sky Anyway

In 1992, Jonathan Richman released his fourth solo album I, Jonathan for the Rounder Records label.

I am not certain if this was my introduction to “Jojo” but it was either just prior or in quick succession to checking out his previous work. Specifically, the two very different albums released in 1976 that are titled “The Modern Lovers” and “Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers”. 

he former is a masterpiece that not only was part of the recipe of punk rock (“Roadrunner” was covered by the Sex Pistols among others; "Pablo Picasso" by Burning Sensations would make the Repo Man soundtrack, and be a John Cale staple) but created a genre of geek rock or "neurotic rock" that would inform The Violent Femmes, Pavement and Weezer. But it wasn’t the music Richman wanted to make. That was the latter- an album almost always described as “childlike” with songs like “Here Comes the Martian Martians” and “Hey There Little Insect”- it’s surely close to a five star album in its own right. I was immediately a Richman fan but “I Jonathan” did help accelerate it.

It seems a perfect album. While it is well in line with the second incarnation of Modern Lovers, some of that original Jonathan is there too in the observational song “I Was Dancing in a Lesbian Bar”(what has likely become his most famous non- Modern Lovers song) and the friend drama of “You Can’t Talk to The Dude” as well as the love for raw pre-punk rock n roll on “The Velvet Underground” and “Parties in the USA” Produced by Brennan Totten who had produced his previous record and would produce his next, I love the clear sound and how intimate it feels. 

1995s You Must Ask the Heart follows a similar pattern- there’s a song about early baseball legend Walter Johnson, an upbeat cover of Tom Waits’s “Heart of Saturday Night”, “Let Her Go Into the Darkness” is a bit of the drama, a Spanish ballad and even a cover of “The Rose”. Looking at Wikipedia, the contemporary reviews are quite harsh but I think that while it is not as good as I, Jonathan, it belongs in the same conversation. 

Richman has never stopped making records but his career seems to be a difficult one to follow. I would always try to check out his new album but often would not have known about them until they showed up in some kind of Year- End conversation. Although I have my disagreements with Pitchfork.com, they seem to have consistently reviewed and championed Richman. Recent releases are hard to find though. Richman moved from Rounder to Vapor (home of Tegan & Sara and Acetone) and then to the small Blue Arrow label. 

I did a fairly good job keeping up with 2001, 2004, 2008 and 2010 records. They were typical Richman fare- more mellow and less immediately accessible than I Jonathan, but that’s my problem not his. 2016s Ishkode Ishkode and 2018s Sa we’re under my radar, but it’s not just me, their online presence is negligible.

In some ways. 2025s Only Frozen Sky Anyway seemed significant from the moment it was announced as a rare July 4 release. This came in tandem with the announcement that Richman’s albums were coming to streaming services. Not just the recent two largely unheard records but all of his 21st Century albums (Most of which, if not all, had not been online). Only Frozen Sky Anyway is a fantastic album. It follows a similar template to those great 90s albums. 

There’s a couple of songs that sound like classic Richman like “O Guitar” and “The Dog Star”. There’s the Spanish language “Se Va Pa’voler”. The album is bookended by two songs of Richman zen- the near album title opening track “I Was Just a Piece of Frozen of Sky Anyway” and closers “The Wavelet” and “I Am the Sky”. There’s biographical fare like “David and Goliath” and is that a cover of…. The Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” which sounds like an old Richman classic. 

Richman’s current band is Jerry Harrison, the ex-Talking Head who was part of the proto punk Modern Lovers from 1971 to 1974 with Richman and drummer Tommy Larkins who’s been with him since 1996. The album is also dedicated in part to Andy Paley who produced the albums Rockin and Romance and Surrender to Jonathan and appeared on many of Richman’s albums through the years Only Frozen Sky.. is one of the truly great records of the year and though there are some serious moments, 

I can’t help but think there is something ageless about Richman. He seems perpetually on the cusp of middle age- the intersection of youthful innocence and elder wisdom. It felt that way on his Bezerkley Records debut when he was merely 25. It felt that way when it was quite accurate on I Jonathan at 41, and it still feels that way though on the new record now that he has reached 74 years of age.