Julia McDonald - Gravity (2016)

OFFICIAL: http://www.juliamcdonaldmusic.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/juliamcdonaldmusic

Written by William Elgin, posted by blog admin

Julia McDonald’s first studio release Gravity is a six song EP with an outstanding amount of variety. She emerges on this initial recording as a confident performer and writer who has an unbelievable mastery over the forms she tackles and putting across her point of view. The songs are obviously geared for hopeful commercial success, but McDonald brings a level of artistry to her performances and songwriting that makes this far more than just entertaining commercial trifles. These songs end up sounding and feeling like intensely personal statements that are totally accessible for any listener. Casual and devoted music fans alike will flock to this release for repeated hearings. She’s set a high standard for herself with this first offering and it comes out of the gates with a sense of purpose more properly ascribed to an experienced songwriter instead of a nineteen year old writer and performer.

“Gravity” is a title track that will linger in your memory after even a single listen. McDonald’s lyrical facility is very real and she writes about her experience in a visceral, deeply felt way that explores familiar themes with a language all her own. The songs on Gravity often have a genuine literary flair that never interferes with the musical experience but, instead, enhances it for McDonald’s audience. “Games” is more of a pure pop song than many of the EP’s tracks, but it deals with the same adult subject matter that she tackles in “Gravity” with remarkable sophistication and maturity. The rhythms and tempo of the song will undoubtedly hook listeners in and McDonald delivers a challenging vocal without ever betraying a single misgiving. She brings a wonderfully complete and well rounded talent to the songs on this release that’s practically prodigy-like in the way it dominates this material.

“Pretty Committee” is one of the best pieces on the album and has a sharp musical and lyrical point of view. There’s a more deliberate approach on this song than the preceding “Games”, but the track embraces some of the same commercial characteristics defining that earlier song. The percussion is employed in a much more stripped back manner and the crescendos have a stronger impact thanks, in part, to the generally more relaxed demeanor of the piece. “No Good for Me” is another highlight of the release thanks, if nothing else, to its withering emotional honesty. Few songwriters dare to deal with writing from the first person while also portraying themselves in a less than flattering light. The bitter realities of a dysfunctional relationship isn’t typically entertaining fodder so McDonald wisely contrasts the intense lyrical content with a sweeter musical landscape. “Something to Talk About” has a much more traditional singer/songwriter slant than any of the other tracks and eschews the pop elements defining those other songs in favor of acoustic instrumentation. The production is so keyed in to rendering the song clearly that you can hear occasionally hearing the guitarist changing chords. It has an inexorable tempo that picks up the pace in the song’s second half. There’s an exceptional, brief guitar break in the second half as well. “Simpler Things” ends the EP on an intense note and uses the electronic trappings heard on other songs in a darker fashion than any previous cut. Julia McDonald’s career gets off to a blazing start with Gravity and her potential seems completely limitless.

The Suburbs - Hey Muse! (2017)

OFFICIAL: www.TheSuburbsBand.com
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/thesuburbsband
TWITTER:www.twitter.com/thesuburbsband

Written by Ed Price, posted by blog admin

Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, The Suburbs are a quartet that were a sonic force in the development of the new wave/punk genre and prove that 40 or so years after their formation they can still deliver the goods.  With noteworthy track to track variety, excellent musicianship and superb production/mixing, The Suburbs haven’t lost a single step with record number 7, Hey Muse!  

Fans of Joy Division, New Order, The Madness, The Clash and even Blondie should find a lot to love as each of the album’s 10 tracks are packed with undeniable melodies and a tight mesh of unique sonic layers.  The title track benefits from unbreakable staccato drumming with a taut snare placed front n’ center, open and ringing clean guitar chords, bass lines that travel their own path and soaring vocal back-ups mixing with the hickory cured baritone leads there is dance-ability and darkness in equal measure to sink your teeth into.  Trading eerie feelings for a positive push, “Lost You on the Dance Floor” has glimmering, diamond sharp synths careening into economical but effect rhythms that favor a fervent, steady swing over complexity.  There’s such a irresistible chorus here that this would topped charts internationally had it been released in the 80s, though even now it should wow fans that thought the band dead or that the current new wave scene is on life support.  The layered, vocoder female vocal accompaniment is the perfect foil to the expressive leads.  

“Je Suis Stranger” changes up the mood drastically.  Roping in country-fried guitar twang, bustling new wave rhythms, charming brass arrangements and some of the album’s top shelf, fine wine vocal melodies, this song just oozes class and commitment; the mark of an elder band showing the pups how it’s done. Keyboardist Chan Poling and great bass playing give “Lovers” a churning, bottom heavy thickness but the atmosphere remains fun-loving with funky ska-informed guitar licks, horns and swirly outer space synths concocting a playful musical tease.  “Can’t Take You Back” culls its rushing, perky rhythms from punk, its wistful horns from reggae/ska and its dusty, sandstorm guitars/keys from an Ennio Morricone soundtrack.  It’s a powerful piece with a killer little guitar solo and well thought out lyrics making a relationship breakdown into a dance-y affair.  

“Unified Force” pours on the trippy organ sound FX and hyper melodic keys onto a tune that has some of The Clash’s harmonic punk on tap in addition to quaking bass lines and incisive keyboards.  The remaining tracks are all sturdy constructions of the band’s best qualities with only sublime ballad “Butterfly” coming off as a bit out of place.  Even with that minor nitpick there’s not too many complaints you can levy against Hey Muse!  These genre innovators have come back with a fantastic record after a 4/5 year break

Russ Still and the Moonshiners - Still Cookin' (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://russstill.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/RussStillandtheMoonshiners/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/rbstill2

Written by Ed Price, posted by blog admin

Led by singer/songwriter Russ Still, sole author of eight of the album’s nine tracks, Russ Still and the Moonshiners remember a time when the ol’ glory of southern rock flew high.  Back when bands were finding a new way to reinterpret the well-worn shoes of country music, there was a spark in innovation led by The Outlaws, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackfoot, Hydra and several other notable artists.  Less riff-y and bombastic, and more entrenched in tasty licks and easy breathing groove, Russ Still and his compatriots put on a good show here. 

“Promised Land” slams out riffs n’ home-cooked lead guitar with ample support from the vibrant bass grooves and steady handed drumming.  Tinkling ivories only further the highly melodic element, the nice separation between instruments providing Still plenty of room to exercise his blue-eyed soul rapture.  This is the good stuff from a bygone era brought back to life with imagination and passion to burn. Working up an acoustic trot, “Long Way from Home” simmers and works up a nice acoustic trot, but finishes at a hot electric boil.  The bass-centered “Glorine” is packed with verse/chorus hooks from start to finish and paints the tale of a hard-edged woman with a “cigar in her mouth,” with appropriately fiery wah-guitar bringing the character to vivid life.

Kicking off with a piano ditty before transitioning into an acoustic slow jam, “I Can’t” is the album’s epic ballad and capped off by a rising swell of volume until the electric guitars bring resolution and Russ’ voice finds the plateau. It’s a great all around track and one of the album’s best. The acoustic/electric guitar rocker “Goin’ Fishin’” makes for another high energy sing-a-along and pairs nicely with the Pure Prairie League inspired “Juanita,” a catchy country-rock burner where Still’s voice even manages to sound a lot like the legendary Craig Fuller.  “10,000 Ways” has Freebird-esque sprawl and may strike some as an ode to the powerful, lengthy album closers of the southern-rock heyday. The slovenly riffed lumber of “Workin’ Class Hunter” and the punchy “Run Away” finishes the album on a lively note.

Sophomore slump is nowhere to be found on the sizzling electric smoke of Still Cookin’.  These cats have command of their musicianship, teamwork and songwriting; you can tell the entire band knows one another’s strengths inside and out.  This is a great record that could have been released 30-40 years ago and would have ended up a huge seller. 

Quantum Split - America (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://quantumsplit.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/QuantumSplitBand/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/QuantumSplit

Written by William Elgin, posted by blog admin

The initial release from Qauntum Split, America, is a two song outing bearing the fruit of friendships first formed at the renowned Berklee College of Music. Vocalist/guitarist Soleil Laurent joined forces with fellow classmates Anthony Anderson, Adrian Reed, and Ivan Hardy to form a serious musical outfit that not only vented their considerable musical talents, but provided them an ideal platform for making personal statements important to them. Their debut release benefits immensely from a high quality production job highlighting the band’s multitude of strengths and giving them the sort of presentation first time acts normally only dream of. It is apparent, even after a single listen, this is a band united in their creative vision and possesses a rare sympathetic union of spirit reaching far beyond the benchmarks many new acts need to reach to make maximum possible impact.

The title track alternates between sly, slinky neo-funk moods, carried primarily by tasteful guitar and inventive drumming, and all out blasts of raucous electric guitar. Vocalist Laurent shows impressive versatility with her ability to freely move between these contrasting styles while ceding none of her power or credibility. Quantum Split is clearly a band who understands the value of dynamics. The movement between its more pensive and explosive sections is seamlessly carried off and makes for a dramatic arrangement. The lyrical content reaches a similarly high level without ever becoming too self-important. A song entitled “America” might seem like it promises either inarticulate punk rage or else some self-important musings on the state of the Republic, but “America” here doesn’t over-indulge in either characteristic and, instead, resounds with the sort of intelligence we expect based on the musical arrangement alone. This is a band clearly capable of surprise and the title track hits that mark quite solidly.

The second track “Runaway” continues in much of the same rock/soul vein as the title cut, but there’s a much greater emphasis here on the personal as opposed to larger ideas about country and our place in it. Quantum Split, obviously, varies their sound some, but they follow the same general template for this track that listeners hear on the title cut. It doesn’t end up sounding samey at all. It is, instead, quite clear that the band has a style they’ve already honed to a sharp edge and it cuts deep into listeners on a first pass. America is an impressive first effort for the band and a clear indication they are talents to watch. Rock may not enjoy the same widespread popularity it once did, but don’t tell Quantum Split that. They seize upon the form with a vengeance and deliver a two song set that will dismiss any ideas about a dead art form. This is modern rock music with a compelling presentation and an unbowed spirit.

Donoma - Falling Forward (2017)

OFFICIAL: https://www.donomatribe.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/donomatribe

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/donomatribe

Written by Bradley Johnson, posted by blog admin

Kenosha, Wisconsin’s Donoma are one of the most unusual bands I’ve encountered in quite a long time.  It is impossible to predict what type of ear damage they will employ on any individual track across their sophomore album, Falling Forward’s 12 unnerving tracks.  They’ve got the hearty guitar riffs and beefed up bass/drum interplay of a good rock/blues combo, the twitchiness of NYC noise-rock, a strange penchant for weird lab creations involving several genres and some country soul.  I’ve heard other bands trying to cook up a similar dish of vittles but they usually ruin the entire meal.  Donoma, somehow, makes it work.

If you’re only judging how the album begins and how it ends, you’ve still got two entirely different bands.  “Sick” is a rampart-storming, rock n’ roll affair with powder keg bass grooves blowing apart rollicking tom beats as the guitars whip through a hard rock/country/blues strut on high octane.  Singer Stephanie Vogt holds nothing back in the vocal department in terms of the lyrics or her ballsy presentation of the material.  Closer “Come with Me” is a minimal folk dirge that’s beautifully off-putting (calling to mind a more tuneful Earth).  These descriptions only cover the bookends of this record and what’s sandwiched in between is even more exciting.  The scream along Armageddon of white-washed math rockers “Jack in the Box,” “Splinter” and even “Deep Beneath the Woods’” noisy, digitally manipulated pulsations are the kind of work that would have put this band on a bill with the Cherubs, Boredoms or Painteens.  While “Memory,” “A Change is Gonna Come originally recorded by Sam Cooke,” “Another Light,” “Unfortunate One” and “Otherside” could have set these cats to warm up for Dax Riggs and Sturgill Simpson.  Hell, they’d scare the pants off of Lana del Rey courtesy of the evil jazz/singer-songwriter fluxing of “He Loves Me Not.”  This is truly no-holds barred music that gets up in your face and throws you against the wall; harassing you to beg for release from their musical chokehold. 

Donoma won’t be for everyone but Falling Forward is worth more than a passing glance in the crowded music world today.  The album doesn’t always fit each unique piece of the puzzle together but as a collection of songs it really gets under the skin.  Despite all of the mayhem, several of the songs are catchy enough to even find their way into some sort of Internet radio airplay, thanks to adventurous minded DJs who let their podcasts run wild.