My 20 Favorite Albums of 2023

 Best is subjective so how about we call this the list of my favorite albums of 2023 - check them out

The Baseball Project- Grand Salami Time (Omnivore). Come for the Buck/Mills/Easter reunion, stay for the songs about Mark Fidrych, Jim Bouton and Sadaharu Oh 

The Bomboras-Songs From Beyond (MuSick) Rob Zombie championed horror surf band returns after 25 year hiatus 

Zach Bryan - self-titled (Belting Bronco/Warner) Hot buzz country artist makes album worthy of the buzz

Bug Club- Green Dream in F# (Bingo/We are Busy Bodies)  if you want to argue this is a 2022 release (it got its larger label and Bandcamp releases in April of 2023) then substitute it for one of the other two releases of theirs that came out this past year

Maher Cissoko - Kora World (Ajabu!) The prolific master of the 21 string West African instrument draws from history for this meditative work. 

Crocodiles - Upside Down In Heaven (Lollipop) Rejuvenated by their 2021 cover EP project, the band finds the melodic side of their Jesus and Mary Chain style noise rock. 

The Damned- Darkadelic (Edel/EARmusic) Building on the promising 2018 reunion Evil Spirits, with Paul Gray added as a cowriter for four tracks, the band hits its nearly 50 year career potential 

Galen and Paul - Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day (Sony) - Sea Shantys,Ye-ye Pop and romantic ballads hardly seem to be the expected from The Clash’s Paul Simonon and prog royalty Galen Ayers but this one is hard not to like 

The Gaslight Anthem - History Books (Rich Mahogany/Thirty Tigers) - Rejuvenated by a near decade hiatus, the band returns to Springsteen inspired Heartland Rock with actual Springsteen included. 

Gorillaz- Cracker Island (Parlophone/Warner) Now an eight album institution, more simple than ambitious, their best album in awhile.  

HD Harmsen -Glaciers (Strawberry Jam Jams) Veteran of the glory years of the Ames/Des Moines scene (2012-13), Harmsen returns with a quirky Shimmy Disc style pop record. 

Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo - Phantasmagoria in Blue (Mute) - Australian goth country icon Harvey teams with actress Acevedo for an album of more perfect goth country. 

Inna De Yard- Family Affair (Wagram) - Third album from Jamaican collective that mixes reggae legends (this time Keith and Tex) with new talent. 

Jim Bob- Thanks for Reaching Out (Cherry Red) - Clever social commentary on third album of former Carter USM main man’s trilogy that started with 2020s Pop Up Jim Bob

Don Letts- Outta Sync (Cigale/Cooking Vinyl) - Filmmaker/Clash colleague/Big Audio Dynamite cofounder releases his debut which is a fun producer party record.  

Lydia Loveless - Nothing’s Going to Stand in my Way Again (Bloodshot) Loveless continues to be one of the best songwriters on the planet. 

Metal Marty- Greatest Hits (Acetate) A de facto Supersuckers album from the band’s guitarist brings the old fashioned rock n roll

Theory of Ghosts-EPs 1 and 2 (Theory of Ghosts) - Ex Piano Magic main man Glen Johnson delights with a mix of slowcore and Bunnymen style alternative rock

The Ventures- New Space (Hi-Tide). Essentially a Ship of Theseus band led by producer/long time member Bob Spalding that captures a modern version of the Ventures sound as close as could be possible 

WITCH- Zango (Desert Daze) Jagari Chanda has relaunched the 70s Zamrock legends with a sound that equally recalls their classic songs and a modern sound. 

And one bonus pick

Gentlem3n- Mochyn Dall (Kinder Gentler) I can’t have an impartial opinion about my friend Jesse’s love letter to 90s Champaign scene

Album Review- Vince Clarke- Songs of Silence

 Do we all agree that Vince Clarke is probably the icon when it comes to synth pop. You likely know the story - cofounder of Depeche Mode, two incredible albums with Alison Moyet as Yazoo, detours with the Assembly and VCMG, bunch of remixes and probably most notably, the other half to Andy Bell for nearly 40 years now in Erasure.

Songs of Silence is a 2023 solo album (as far as I know, solo debut)by Vince Clarke with Clarke paying all the instruments. It is a Covid album of you want to call it that - recorded during that period with the pandemic a major influence explicit in the sound.

It’s not a dance record or synth pop in the terms you most recognize that term.

It is an ambient work for lack of a better description and it is very good.

No doubt Clarke is a bit of a musical genius, and the album being practically wordless makes it a normally tough sell for me. But like some recent solo works by other synth trailblazers - Martin Rev, Chris Carter, even JG Thirlwell- it is not a throwaway. (Like every other review, I can’t help but add the quote from Clarke that it was even a bit too drone-y for his cat, who departed the sessions)

Blackleg is a particularly strong moment. The Guardian describes it as so: an emotional hinge to this largely wordless album, setting a scab-bashing miners’ song from 19th-century Northumberland to a pitch-dark chasm of drones. “Take yer tools and yer duds as well, and hoy them down to the pit of hell,” sings our uncredited union man, “down you go, and fare ye well, you dirty blackleg miner.”

Album Review- Madness- Theater of the Absurd Presents: C'Est La Vie

Madness are a bunch of things. In the US, a one hit wonder with one massive evergreen song. For ska bands, an influence. But in many ways, maybe best known for their Britishness. This particular style that somehow doesn’t translate to America- like the Kinks, the Fall, Roxy Music, the Jam, and Blur, to name a few. Like nearly every band of their era, they now have two segments of their career. By the time I had became a fan, it was the mid 80s and the band was making unremarkable albums for Geffen. 

If you are an American like me, you likely picked up 83s self titled album which was if not quite a greatest hits (92s Divine Madness would do a better job of that), then definitely a premier sampler of their music. Regardless, the band had a great set of singles. 22 songs charted in the UK Top 20. The band reunited in 1999 with the Wonderful album and added five more studio albums since. The band is often ambitious and nearly all of their work has been critically acclaimed. My favorite of these is probably the least acclaimed but I love their 2005 covers album The Dangerman Sessions Vol 1. Uncut gave it a devastating 1.5 stars out of 5, though the accompanying review seems to suggest it’s a worthy album. 

After a soundtrack celebrating the bands career- 2022s Get Up- November 2023s Theater of the Absurd Presents: C’est La Vie is their most ambitious album in years- a concept album of sorts about England and about the band that lines up with that Kinks influence. And like the Kinks, an albums “concept” doesn’t really matter if the songs aren’t good. Early Madness records effortlessly captured the Nutty Boys but the Geffen records sounded like a forced formula. 

 C’est La Vie is a fun album that references previous points in their career. It captures that pop sound you hear on their classic singles. I am not sure that any of the songs measure quite up to the classics, but Madness fans should be happy

 

Album Review- Graham Parker- Last Chance to Do the Twist

I am happy to finally getting around to writing about Graham Parker. 

Parker was a much critically acclaimed musician when I was becoming a fan myself in the 80s. 

Like Elvis Costello, he had several good albums, so multiple albums would show up on Best Album Ever lists- it could be 76s debut Howlin Wind, 76s follow up Heat Treatment or the general consensus (and my favroite) 79s Squeezing Out Sparks. Parker never quite crossed over like Costello (or Joe Jackson), despite some attention and minor hits (1985s Wake Up Next you You and 1988s Get Started, Start a Fire barely denting some charts), he mostly remains a bit of a cult figure. 

By the time I got to him, his contemporary work was getting mixed reviews- 88s Mona Lisa’s Sister and 91s Struck by Lightning It worked out well for me then that Parker’s oeuvre got well represented with 93s Passion is No Ordinary Word anthology. 

I never obsessed with Parker as I might have with Costello but here was a career where there certainly are enough gems (like another contemporary Nick Lowe) in with some rubble - it is a pretty solid condensation of a career. By the end of the 90s, I was still chasing after Parker though media attention was fleeting. He had released 14 albums when I last had followed him with 96s Acid Bubblegum (which didn’t include his numerous live albums- at least two being treated as major works) Parker had always been prolific and he has remained so, though he has slipped under the radar in a way that Costello (or even Lowe or Jackson) never did. 

I was never going to be surprised if he did resurface in a big way and 2023s Last Chance to do the Twist was a minor explosion- getting tons of buzz in a brave new world of social media conversation and online alternative broadcasting options. “Twist” is a fun record of a veteran songwriter having a nice late career resurrection. 

Album 23 by most counts of a 47 year career Is it one of his best works? I would hesitate to go that far- it's a pretty solid, though not outstanding record- but I wouldn’t argue if someone thought so. There are some highlights for anyone plotting a career anthology. It is a perfect bookend (hopefully new launching point) for a reappraisal of a real talent. It is also ironic that the man critics always called the 'angry young man' always struck me all his career as a cranky 73 year old, he is only reaching that age now. 

Even in its weird moments though -they aren’t out of place - a love song to Cannabis, the reggae rap of Dem Bugs, the Spanish Inquisition joke in Wicked Wit. Though I would not say its his best work, I think this is the comeback we all hoped for, and fans of his previous albums will be plenty pleased. (If you want the late period Parker classic album in my opinion- I will put in a suggestion for 2007 Don’t Tell Columbus but you may have to wait a bit for that story). 

 2023 - Big Star Records

Album Review- The Gaslight Anthem- "History Books"

I fell in love with the Gaslight Anthem from the first listen which was 2007s Sink Or Swim, though if was probably 2008 when I heard it, just prior to their bigger introduction to the world - The 59 Sound.

The Gaslight Anthem are a band that you probably love or find annoying. They put their influences all over everything- The Clash, Miles Davis, Tom Waits and so on. The best comparison has always been Social Distortion - a modern after-punk updating of an ideal 1950s of greased hair and motorcycle gangs. But of course, musically , the bands aren’t really that close.

Where Social Distortion pulls from late 70s Hardcore punk (Frank and Rikk Agnew were in an early lineup), The Anthem sound like they were listening to Springsteen, Petty and the many Springsteen clones of the same time period.

I may or may not have realized it but it became clear around 2010 that the indie rock scene had a heavy Springsteen influence - Arcade Fire, Hold Steady, Titus Andronicus, Against Me!- and if I hadn’t noticed it, I was listening to the Sklar Brothers when they pointed it out.

I was a huge fan of Springsteen and 90s Indie Rock and the two did not really mix together. He was still very much one of the most newsworthy artists of the day- certainly not very “cool”. That the indie scene finally caught up with him isn’t surprising

It’s clear that the Gaslight Anthem and the aforementioned peers grew up listening to say, the Replacements, the Pogues and Billy Bragg and Bruce wasn’t a left field choice. (We know GA has covered Pearl Jam and Nirvana so they very much of their age).

There seems to be an almost mirror like quality for Springsteen and Joe Strummer. Both representing this artistic hero of the working class and the oppressed. If Bruce did climb to the charts, he had got there by being adored by The Ramones and Patti Smith.

The story of the Gaslight Anthem (my version) mimics another Springsteen following, the Killers, insomuch as they debuted with a fresh sound but seemed to be grinding to diminishing returns over time, calling it quits (or nearly quits) and finding their way back to revitalize themselves.

In the case of Gaslight Anthem, the 59 Sound is probably where everything works, but subsequently over time, we arrived at their 5th album - 2014s Get Hurt and its hard to see where the earnest populism stops and Bon Jovi style arena rock begins.

In this case, the band went on hiatus and Brian Fallon worked on solo projects. Fallon’s solo stuff is pretty good and he blended a few influences but worked on honing those songwriter skills.

It’s a similar story to the Killers who followed a similar path and then seemed refreshed when they came back. When the Killers came to their seventh album, 2021s Pressure Machine - they made one of their best albums yet.

Pressure Machine was ambitious and clearly an attempt by that band to make their Nebraska or The River.

I am not sure Gaslight Anthem’s 2023 album History Books is any more ambitious than anything else the band has done, since they always have written anthems, but a few songs do feel particularly “heavier” and literate.

It is indeed a much better album now that they have come back after being apart than their previous two records. And Hearland Rock was always in their mix, but yes “History Books” and “Michigan 1975” do feel particularly deep.

The sound seems to cut the middle between the bands standard anthem fare and Fallon’s mellow bluesy side - which works well. I run counter to a review I read that says this wouldn’t be a good starting point for the band, as I feel it probably would.

There is a particular crunch on the record that is more in line with their last record than Fallon’s solo work. Peter Katis produces (The National, Interpol, Frightened Rabbit)

Of course, you can’t talk about the Springsteen influence without mentioning Bruce is actually on the title track. Yes, the “circle of life”- Bruce actually encouraged Fallon (the story goes) to get the band back together and write a duet for the both of them.

“History Books” probably doesn’t need Bruce. Fallon starts the song and his style isn’t that much different. Still, if you can get Bruce, then you do. It fits as an homage, a passing of the torch or whatever you want to make of it.

A decade ago, Gaslight Anthem felt like one of the most exciting bands on the planet. History Books brings that feeling back.

Album Review- Tribes "Rabbit Head"

Baby, the 2012 album by Tribes is one of my favorite albums of the last twenty years. The band were born out of the Britpop buzz diet of Pixies, the Smiths and the Clash. A mix of youthful energy and Marc Bolan-inspired vocals- the band seemed picked from the early heyday of Suede and Supergrass (and championed by Frank Black) 

The problem with drawing from that pool is found in reviews like Allmusic which mentions several bands in comparison- Nirvana, Razorlight, Oasis, Blur and indeed Pixies, T Rex and Suede. Allmusic also slights them with a three star review of the debut which would put it on my list of #unlovedmusic 

Tribes has a very common band template. Buzz debut followed by second album then label drop (Island Records in this case). The difference is that they now show up ten years later as if it was business as usual. 

Both 2013s Wish to Scream and 2023s Rabbit Head fall short of the debut. But they do contain three or four killer songs that make them worthwhile.

Songs like “10 Ways to Improve Your Life” and “It’s All Borrowed” are nice adds to the catalog with guitar crunch. There are some missteps like where they try to get clever with “-Ism” or lean into Yard Act-isms.

But of course they are best at those Suede-like swoops like “Hard Pill” and “Dad I’m Not A Tough Guy” and the all out “Medicine” I won’t pretend there’s a lot of nuance here. 

You are probably going to know right away if you like this or not. It’s not going to “grow on you” after time. It’s a blast of energy and if you long for the days of the Libertines, the Fratellis and the Kaiser Chiefs, then enjoy.

 

Album Review- Maher Cissoko- Kora World

I fell in love with Maher Cissoko on 2021s Cissoko Heritage - an Uncut Magazine pick of the month. 

I probably won’t be able to do him justice, but in plain terms, the Senegal-born Cissoko and his family are among the most prominent players of the Kora- a 22 string East African harp that has a tradition stretching back 700 years. 

Cissoko is fairly prolific, releasing solo albums as well as with his wife Sosou. 

It is a failing of Western mainstream culture that non-Rock music gets bundled into one category- whether it is Brazilian Tropocalia, Cameroonian funk or Indonesian pipe music. 30 years ago, it was called World Music, these days the broader “international” banner. 

I admit I have “rock ears” so what draws me most to Cissoko is the guitar-like style of the Kora matched to his vocals and sense of melody (he’s not afraid to blend in reggae, rock and hip hop sensibilities either) which result in some of music's most plaintive moments; while others may like his work for its meditative properties. 

Admittedly, in the current music environment, the latter may be the bigger commerical draw. 

While Cissoko Heritage was probably more of the former, 2023s Kora World leans a bit heavier on the meditation. Neither album would be a bad introduction to the music of Cissoko. Check them out

 

Album Review- Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevdeo - Phantasmagoria in Blue

Mick Harvey has had a fantastic highly under the radar career. Perhaps accomplishing the work of two or three people. Famously, he was Nick Cave’s right hand man from the beginning in the Boys Next Door and the Birthday Party and then finally the Bad Seeds up until Dig Lazarus Dig and leaving in 2009. He was also a member of Crime and the City Solution - the similarly minded Australian band in their 1985-1991 run. As notable, he has worked with PJ Harvey (no relation) and co-produced or played on five of her albums most notably Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea and Let England Shake. You can find his work when you listen to Anita Lane, Rowland S Howard or the Cruel Sea. As a solo artist, he has credited on ten albums and of these, his main work has been his four albums of Serge Gainsbourg covers. I am usually not a fan of such tributes, but I love these records. Not only do I enjoy them, but they are some of my favorite records. Harvey likely kicked off the greater appreciation for Gainsbourg in the indie community. Harvey is perfect for it- exhibiting similar vocal territory as his aforementioned peers - Cave, Howard and Simon Bonney Probably the last we heard from Harvey was his collaboration with author Christopher Richard Barker- a weird concept record about a fictional World War 1 soldier and his correspondence. It sounds pretentious but was actually one of my favorite records of 2018. He returns in 2023 with Phantasmagoria in Blue with actress/singer/filmmaker Amanda Acevedo who is making her recorded debut here. It’s a stunner of an album if you liked Harvey’s Gainsbourg records. Acevedo is a terrific foil and both voices are dramatic and striking. It’s impossible not to think of Nancy and Lee or Serge and Jane/Bridget The songs are covers from the deep well of not only Hazelwood/Sinatra, Leonard Cohen and Tim Buckley but Jackson C Frank and Silvio Rodriguez among the sources. Most strikingly is a cover of Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield” which should probably stick out like a sore thumb but folds in seamlessly to the overall product. Harvey kind of gets lost in the Cohen/Gainsbourg/Hazelwood/Walker lineage. Never quite as recognized as Cave, Tindersticks , Pulp or the many and varied artists who have used their elements in music. But Phantasmagoria in Blue is a masterful record of the genre and well recommended.

A few words on The Beatles - "Now and Then"

 If I am being honest, the video borders on cheesy for me. I suppose it’s possible that we live in such a tech era where someone can make Hank Williams sing gangster rap and it sounds good. I get the adding of footage but I really think the video could have been so much better. 

I don’t have anything new to add but I like  Now and Then. 

I tend to think it would have worked well as a McCartney/Lennon single. It’s not a bad song and the nostalgia hits the right tone. I totally get that.  It is at first listen a bit unremarkable though its effect (like the song itself with the string section) tends to grow. 

But it’s in my opinion, the least of the three Threetles songs and it’s interesting to find out that it was skipped in those 90s sessions earlier because Harrison didn’t think it was enough to build a song around. 

All of the three “reunion” songs fit a generic Beatlesque template but for example that’s no surprise, but I love the sound of the other two. Even in their context, they sound good to me, for example, Real Love is carried by a strong Harrison guitar. I would love to feel more of a Harrison presence in the new song. 

I think there is definitely an element of “the times” in the appraisal of these songs. The 90s songs seemed to be pretty much discounted right from the gate and I feel are largely unloved.  

I realize they might not be the bands best work but one also can’t help but think that they’re no different than say VoodooLounge/Steel Wheels or the best moments of Its Hard/Face Dances. The trouble with any established band is they start to have to compete against themselves. The reason later Prince records were disappointing was because they were never going to be as good as Dirty Mind or Sign O The Times but also they were not going to be as good as the new Janelle Monae or Outkast album. The Beatles, the Stones, U2, whoever is always going to have those issues. There is no potential Beatles single that can beat nostalgia. 

But the 90s songs are treated with a definite asterisk. Now we are separated to a point where the audience is either of a more advanced age pondering mortality (Now and Then) or haven’t really grown up with the Beatles at all (extending to not hearing Lennon/Macca/George on the radio as Gen X had)

The acclaim for the song seems fairly universal. The memes have the Beatles playing rivals to Jungkook, perhaps the biggest artist on the planet. And though you could play it for laughs, it is like two titans at the top. 

At least, that’s my guess why it’s hitting different. It is being marketed as the last Beatles song ever and it seems quite possible that it could be (As technology changes, tapes get unearthed,etc, I still fell the inevitable doubt that we won’t see something else, but I guess the odds are probably strong it will be the coda). 

Clearly, the way we consume music has changed as well. It is much easier to digest Here and Now by flinging it onto a playlist. We can share the video with our friends. Radio airplay is not really important to the process. 

(Maybe that is also why I can be so cavalier in my opinion. The Beatles are everywhere in my life. There is a 24/7 Sirius channel. There have been numerous outtakes. The Peter Jackson doc. I don’t feel a sense of “return” as others may have because I can’t miss what hasn’t went away) 

Ironically, the new trend towards buying vinyl probably has helped get the song to the top of charts as well. And as far as those charts go, maybe the charts aren’t that big of a deal anymore, but surely fans want to see them take the top spot.  

The new song has been appended to the re-release of the famous Red and Blue Greatest Hits (perhaps like me you are annoyed if has been appended to 1967-1970 which surely would now make it 1967-2023)

As with Now and Then, technology has jumped in leaps and bounds since the Beatles anthology CDs. In this case, the songs recorded in mono have been taken by Peter Jackson and the elements released now in stereo surround. 

The Red and Blue albums are special to me because they essentially were my introduction to the Beatles. I have fond memories of it taking me to a certain time and place. It is a pretty solid comp too. (I am in the ball park where Rock and Roll Music Vol 1 and 2 were contemporary too. There’s probably never not going to be a Beatles compilation or two on the market)

Album review- Gentlm3n- Mocyn Dall

 

I have a half dozen friends who have had some success in the music industry and today I want to put in a good word for one of them. Maybe, one day I will get to some of the others. 

I have known Jesse since he was a teen in the “rival” high school with mutual friends. He was one of the coolest people around back then. I still think he is. He was in one of the two local bands of the day- when the prevailing trends were U2 arena rock and baggy psychedelic Neds Atomic Dustbin style of the day. 

I am probably not as close to him as I am with other friends of mine, and yet, I feel like whenever it was the toughest times of my life, he was always there for me. Even now, I really enjoy the quick conversation with him online. Funny, how we probably don’t realize that effect we have on others. 

About a decade ago, he got active making music again, playing bass guitar in support for a band in St Louis. I was starting a family and unfortunately never made it to any of his live shows though at the time, I had hoped I could. 

Since then, he has made music as a trio mostly in the recording studio with a rare love date. 

In the last couple of years, he has really stepped up his recording and making his previously recorded stuff available on line. Although we have many similar tastes, I feel like his recordings dig into his roots of prog rock and Dischord Records style post punk. His last album- 2021s Precious Cargo was more into some of the progressive style stuff. 

So I am more excited about his newest album- Mochyn Dall which is his love letter to 90s era Central Illinois music. This is more in line with those latter influences in emo-rock and post-hardcore. On his Bandcamp page, he calls out Sarge, Seam, the Poster Children and Hum. 

I have written about my relationship with Champaign, Illinois music before. While I only spent a handful of weekend there, some of my best friends lived there and so I still felt that influence strongly. In hindsight, many of those bands in that scene ended up playing a major part on the development of emo rock. 

Have a listen. Visit his Bandcamp if you want https://gentlem3n.bandcamp.com/ or 

stream it on Spotify, YouTube or in the usual places. 

Album Review- Buddy and Julie Miller - In The Throes

 Every review I have read of Buddy and Julie Miller’s new album “In the Throes” reads about the same.

They do have as much as claim to the title “the First Couple of Americana” as anyone. This is their fourth album since they started recording as a duo in 2001. Buddy has several solo albums, a disc with Jim Lauderdale, and a career as artist, producer, and songwriter going back to 1975. Julie started out (as her good friend Sam Phillips had) as a Christian music artist before branching out into more Americana fare.

They have - individually or collectively- worked with everyone in Americana. Scan their respective Wikipedia pages and see names like Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Shawn Colvin, Kinky Friedman, Lucinda Williams, Solomon Burke, Robert Plant, Patty Griffin, Innocence Mission, Victoria Williams, Richard Thompson, Levon Helm, Elvis Costello, Frank Black, Midnight Oil and countless others

If you know me, you won’t be surprised that I found about them via their work with Steve Earle. Buddy Miller played lead guitar on the El Corazon tour and produced the Colvin and Earle record. Earle sang vocals on the last Millers album.

In the 80s, it seemed like the most talented artists would find large audiences even when not played on the radio by finding alternative paths and word of mouth. I think, it’s true then, that in the 2020s, the most talented musicians will find an audience somehow through word of mouth and alternative streams, and so Buddy and Julie have quite a following.

In the Throes is a fine addition to a great catalog. I have to admit that at 67, Julie’s rasp adds a gravitas that makes their songs so appealing, but the interaction of the two is also a draw - something inherent in a married couple -a bit like John Doe and Exene or Richard and Linda Thompson. In the Throes is a mix of styles- the duos’ Bandcamp calls if a mix of gospel, blues, rockabilly and R&B.

Also of note, “Don’t Make Her Cry” is a Bob Dylan songwriting credit shared as it evolved from a song that was handed by Bob with origins in a 1978 conversation to Regina McCrary to the Millers.

2023 - New West

Album Review: Lydia Loveless- Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again

 

My first experience with Lydia Loveless was 2016s Real. Real is probably a good halfway point in her career to date

Prior to that, her songs have titles like “Steve Earle”, “Chris Isaak”, “ Head” “ Boy Crazy” and covered Kesha and Prince and wrote a song about Jeffrey Dahmer. 

There of course is no either/or or better/worse in art. But listening to 2020s Daughter or 2023s Nothing’s Gonna Stand in my Way Again tends to take me down a road of those critic cliches like “‘maturing songwriter”. 

It’s a term we reserve for the Dylan’s and Lennon’s because they are the all time greats. Most musical acts seem to max out at two albums. But it’s this kind of criticspeak that I can’t help but thinking with Loveless. 

There’s still the rebellious musician of those early days but it’s been honed into sharp songwriter material in the way rowdy rockers like Earle and Paul Westerberg did. 

Which makes this an album an interesting one to ponder. It sounds so clean that it is easy to imagine it playing on the radio somewhere. 

Of course, where is another story. While it would easily fit in a set between say Lucinda Williams and Jason Isbell, it’s not like there are that many stations around that exist. 

Indeed, even in this new Stapleton/ Zach Bryan/Speak Now (Taylor’s version) country radio environment, there is, to be frank, a mathematically slim percentage of female voices on country radio. 

Which I suppose solves the “what do I do now my favorite cult artist is popular” conundrum, but in no uncertain terms, is clearly a bummer. 

There’s certainly nothing wrong with Loveless’s production that would keep it off air. 

“Nothing..” is probably as good as an Americana album as one can get, and we do live on a post-radio environment, so people will find this album.  The album’s singles  like “Toothache” rock so hard that Tom Petty comparisons keep bouncing up. Unfortunately, modern radio wouldn’t likely find a spot for Tom these days either, so we are back to “word of mouth” and I am telling you now to go listen. 

Album Review- Galen and Paul: Why Don't We Do Tomorrow Another Day

 

Paul Simonon is probably the coolest rock guy ever. He’s on the cover of London Calling- maybe the most iconic of record album covers. He was in the Clash. He wrote “Guns of Brixton”. He had the ultimate punk look. 

Joining with Gary Myrick, he actually performs on one of my all time favorite records - Havana 3 AM- which was this mix of rockabilly and Tex-Mex- the kind of thing Joe Strummer always wanted to do- and it did it better than maybe even Joe did as a solo artist. 

He played with one of the coolest 21st Century musos Damon Albarn in The Good, The Bad and The Queen, and even toured with Gorillaz. He has had a second career as an artist, spent time on Greenpeace vessels and even played on a Dylan record. 

Simonon even had a cooler Covid lockdown than you. While the rest of us were wearing sweatpants, attending zoom meetings and binging on Tiger King, he used the time, writing music while living in a fishing village on the isle of Mallorca in the Mediterranean with singer Galen Ayers (coincidentally daughter of Soft Machine’s Kevin Ayers with a musical career of her own). 

 I have never been to Mallorca but “Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day” the pair’s 2023 album feels like it brings me there. Songs are sometimes sung in English and sometimes Spanish, while Strummer-style Spaghetti Western vibes and Sea shantys drift in their influence. 

Perhaps the most obvious touchpoint is Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood and their albums. Pop from a distant time and place. 

Albarn, Simon Tong (The Verve,  Good Bad and the Queen) Dan Donovan (Big Audio Dynamite), and Sebastian Rochford (Polar Bear, Sons of Kmet) support and Tony Visconti expertly produces. 

This is a fun record that’s nuanced enough to appeal to Clash fans (at least fans of Strummer's globe-hopping solo career) and yet is probably the most opposite album you could find to the Clash’s debut record. 

“I’ve never had a good time.. in Paris” is pure whimsy with the two exchanging lines. If this kind of light fare was all the album was, it would probably wear thin, but the album is a mixture of moods and styles- “ Lonely Town” treads similar trails to great effect, but “Room at the Top” takes it down a darker path. In any case, with the utmost respect for Paul who occasionally comes primarily to the fore as on "A Sea Shanty", the album is at its best when the two are both combine vocally. 

This definitely is the kind of record that could be a cult album.  It just odd enough that I suspect many will skip over it. But it surprisingly hangs together well enough that it rewards the listener who spends some time with it.