Albums
Cool Ghouls – Cool Ghouls
These are some young ‘uns out of San Francisco, fronted by three singer-songwriters – Ryan Wong, Pat Thomas (not to be confused with Absolute Grey’s Pat Thomas, who I think is still residing in the […]
Reviews
Albums
Surfin’ Lungs – Full Petal Jacket
(Disclosure) The Surfin’ Lungs and me go back some 25 years. In all that time their focus has remained as tight as an excimer laser on, you can surmise from their name, what’s known colloquially […]
Albums
Gavin Guss – On High
This is the follow-up to Mr. Guss’s 2010 debut solo album, Mercury Mine. Once again it’s a mostly one-man-band production. The songs are fetching and succinct (only three out of twelve numbers cross the three-minute […]
Albums
Gene Clark – Here Tonight: The White Light Demos
A cache of publisher’s demos from the period leading up to Gene’s return as a solo act with his self-titled album were recently found. The story goes the album was to be called White Light, […]
DVDs
Color Me Obsessed: A Film about the Replacements
This is a portrait in negative. None of the Replacements are interviewed or make an appearance (until the “where are they now” ending and into the credits, where still pictures of the original band members […]
DVDs
The Rolling Stones 1969-1974: The Mick Taylor Years
THROUGH THE PAST, SMARTLY For those who arrived at the party rather late – meaning the first new Stones record you ever bought had a big red tongue splayed across its label – the five […]
Albums
The Explorers Club – Grand Hotel
Pastiche: “A literary, musical, or artistic piece consisting wholly or chiefly of motifs or techniques borrowed from one or more sources.” There’s no getting past it, the Explorers Club are still in that phase. It’s […]
Albums
The Golden Bears – Write It Like You Find It
Here is what I’ve learned: The Golden Bears are a duo, with a fair amount of help, out of Portland, Oregon: Julianna Bright (vocals and drums) and Seth Lorinczi (a whole bunch the other stuff). […]
Albums
Sleeping In The Aviary – You And Me, Ghost
From Minneapolis via Madison, Wisconsin comes another band to disrupt my ignorance. This is their fourth album, not a stitch of the previous three had I heard before this, and still haven’t. Nor any of […]
DVDs
They ain’t heavy….
Never as naughty as the Rolling Stones, nor as pin-up perfect as Herman’s Hermits; seldom as musically adventurous as the Yardbirds, nitty-gritty as the Animals, or full-on bombastic as The Who. Of course, as truly […]