INDIE
THE McEUEN SESSIONS
THE McEUEN SESSIONS
For All the Good
themceuensessions.com
John, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s enduring “string wizard,” teams with his sons on this warm and virtuosic country-folk affair. Bittersweet covers “Long Hard Road” and “Leader of the Band” could have been written by the youngsters to their dad; Jonathan’s rose-tinted instrumental “Banjormous” almost certainly was.
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LOGAN VENDERLIC
LOGAN VENDERLIC
Logan Venderlic
myspace.com/loganvenderlic
This wordy West Virginian lets lyrics spill forth like Bright Eyes and Bob Dylan, but he hasn’t forgotten those Blink-182 records he rocked in his youth. Hence the punky pep of “Blue Pills/Red Cups” and “Jerkwater Town”—heavy-subject folk with a wonderfully light touch.
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WHITE WIDOW
WHITE WIDOW
A Psychological Thriller
whitewidowmusic.com
Austin-based Carla Patullo excels at gothed-out ’80s balladry—think Quarterflash or Bonnie Tyler on an Evanescence kick—and that’s the perfect sound for this imaginary film score about twisted romance. Spoiler alert: It ends with a dream of white horses, leaving plenty of mystery for the sequel.
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SILVER SWANS
SILVER SWANS
Forever
myspace.com/silverswansband
Ann Yu is filled with secrets. That goes for “Secrets,” obviously, but also the other 10 dance-floor daydreams conjured up by these San Fran synth-poppers. “I’m spinning you around in my head,” she sings on “Diary Land,” as if dizzy is the only way to be.
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RACHAEL SAGE
RACHAEL SAGE
Romance, record deals and the reality of making it on your own terms
Singer, songwriter and pianist Rachael Sage’s 10th and latest album, Haunted by You, is a song cycle about love, loss and immediate entanglement. Its tale parallels Sage’s own recent personal trajectory, which began with the dissolution of a longtime relationship, followed by a torrid overseas affair—one she soon realized was doomed to fail. But don’t...
REBELUTION
REBELUTION
The sky’s the limit for this sunny California quartet’s brand of uplifting reggae rock
It’s no wonder that Santa Barbara, Calif., is often referred to as the American Riviera. The sun seems to shine incessantly and the beach always beckons. No wonder, then, that reggae-rock band Rebelution found its sound in the small seaside town of Isla Vista, one of Santa Barbara’s more carefree enclaves, making music teeming with spectacularly...
MICHAEL WILLIAMS
MICHAEL WILLIAMS
Neither Hendrix nor his heritage keeps this guitar hero from reaching beyond the blues
Michael Williams is well aware that he seems unusually cheery for a man who claims the blues as a birthright. “At first, I just wanted to be a guitar player,” he explains. “I never wanted to be a singer or a songwriter. But I found myself being pigeonholed and strictly defined as a blues player. That wasn’t intriguing to me. I wanted...
DAYNA KURTZ
DAYNA KURTZ
American Standard
daynakurtz.com
American music comes from the church, so it’s fitting that American Standard—a sampling of homegrown sounds spanning hollerin’ blues to the Replacements’ “Here Comes a Regular”—opens with a prayer. “I’ll be a great sage or a fabulous liar,” Dayna Kurtz sings on “Invocation,” pleading with “mama”—maybe her mother, maybe the Virgin Mary—to “let me come home.” Kurtz will...
UNICYCLE LOVES YOU
UNICYCLE LOVES YOU
Failure
unicyclelovesyou.com
Perhaps intended as film criticism, “Wow Wave Cinema,” the second track on the third album from this Chicago slacker-punk trio, also applies to rock ’n’ roll. “It’s nothing new,” frontman Jim Carroll sings. “It’s just called by a different name.” Twenty years ago, the band’s loveably skuzzy tunes would have been tagged “alt-rock.” Today, they’re “neo-” something-or-other,...
BAHAMAS
BAHAMAS
Barchords
bahamasmusic.net
If not for its twin indie-rock guitars—one glistening, the other grinding—the Bahamas standout “Never Again” might pass for a Lenny Kravitz ballad. And that would be just fine—having spent years playing with fellow Canadian singer Feist, Afie Jurvanen is no stranger to mainstream acclaim. But on his second disc under this tropical moniker, he paddles farther out from the pop mainland. Give him an acoustic...
YVA LAS VEGASS
YVA LAS VEGASS
I Was Born in a Place of Sunshine and the Smell of Ripe Mangoes
myspace.com/lasvegass
To say Yva Las Vegass has a unique point of view is putting it mildly, and there’s no room for mildness where she’s concerned. The native Venezuelan moved to Seattle as a teen and roughed it as a street musician, battling homelessness and addiction. After performing at a birthday party for Krist Novoselic, she played with the Nirvana bassist in...
MOONLIGHT BRIDE
MOONLIGHT BRIDE
Twin Lakes
moonlightbridemusic.com
On “Lemonade,” the big gulp of bittersweet, noisy pop that is this EP’s finest track, singer Justin Giles is simultaneously psyched up and disoriented—just like the music that envelops him. “Where did you take me?” he asks. “These kids are drunk and they don’t like guitars.” If he’s at a party where the kids don’t dig six-strings, he’s definitely in the wrong place. On their...
ULRICH SCHNAUSS & MARK PETERS
ULRICH SCHNAUSS & MARK PETERS
Underrated Silence
myspace.com/ulrichschnauss
Working primarily at night—which might explain the drowsy sound, were it not already his trademark—German electro hypnotist Ulrich Schnauss teamed with Mark Peters of the British band Engineers for this album of pure downy atmosphere. Schnauss’ aim, as always, is to re-create with keyboards the arrestingly beautiful guitar assault of Ride, Chapterhouse and My Bloody...
SISTER SPARROW & THE DIRTY BIRDS
SISTER SPARROW & THE DIRTY BIRDS
Pound of Dirt
sistersparrow.com
Like a snazzy dance band that refuses to wear shoes, this nine-piece soul-rock crew does red-hot and brassy ’60s soul with a scraggly blues edge. The scruffiness is down to the sibling duo of Arleigh and Jackson Kincheloe—Catskills natives who use voice and harmonica, respectively, to dredge up all the sorrow, joy and sexiness of the vintage music they love. Arleigh aspires...
RICKOLUS
RICKOLUS
Coyote and Mule
iamrickolus.tumblr.com
“Where is everyone?” Richard Colado sings on “Candy Blood,” just before answering his own question: “I am everyone.” Sure enough, the 31-year-old Floridian is the sole force behind Rickolus; he recorded this album on a four-track recorder, working partially in the shed behind his parents’ house. There’s a handcrafted feel to these songs, and while the crud-pop nugget “Something in...
SICK FRIEND
SICK FRIEND
The Draft Dodger
sickfriend.bandcamp.com
Since the emergence of the White Stripes and the Black Keys, the indie world has been deluged with guitar-and-drum duos. Sick Friend would seem to offer more of the same, but on their debut these thoughtful Canadians drop bittersweet synth lines and straitlaced rhythms. Singer and guitarist Michael O’Brien has a soul-baring falsetto informed by the Dears and Of Montreal, but on the excellent...
NED EVETT
NED EVETT
Treehouse
nedevett.com
The story goes that Ned Evett smashed his Fender Stratocaster one New Year’s Eve and fashioned a fretless guitar from the pieces. His ingenuity and virtuosity are well documented, but there’s more to his story. For his sixth album, the journeyman picker moved to Nashville and recorded with King Crimson’s Adrian Belew. The goal: to write great songs about his recent financial and romantic hardships. By any measure,...
COLIN SCHILLER & THE REACTIONS
COLIN SCHILLER & THE REACTIONS
Endless Holiday
colinschillerandthereactions.com
When groups do cheeseball ’80s revivalism they tend to focus on stiff, robotic New Wave or butt-wiggling hair metal. Credit Colin Schiller for trying something different. Following in the hallowed footsteps of Loverboy, the Romantics, “Glory Days”-era Springsteen and Huey Lewis and the News, Schiller and his Brooklyn crew make music for Friday at 5 p.m., when...
THE CHROME CRANKS
THE CHROME CRANKS
Ain’t No Lies in Blood
myspace.com/chromecranks
The Chrome Cranks spent three days recording this, their first new album in 15 years. That probably includes the time it took to load in, load out and sweep up whatever detritus—beer bottles, cigarette butts, voodoo remnants—they left behind in the studio. As per their reputation, the Cranks play bluesy punk with murderous glee, conjuring up the Dead Boys on “Living/Dead”...
CAPSULA
CAPSULA
In the Land of Silver Souls
capsula.us
Forged under an Argentinean dictatorship and now based in Spain, this magnificently noisy trio traverses time and space, folding the finest rebel guitar sounds—rockabilly, garage, glam and art-school droning—into one shiny package. Imagine the Stooges on Mars with Spanish accents.
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I SEE HAWKS IN L.A.
I SEE HAWKS IN L.A.
New Kind of Lonely
iseehawks.com
On their first acoustic album, these L.A. country-rockers muse on the Grateful Dead and mourn the literal dead. They also celebrate life—a parade of humor and sadness that, with its immigrant strivers, hopeless drug takers and doomed lovers, is especially colorful in their hometown.
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GEORGE SARAH
GEORGE SARAH
Who Sleep the Sleep of Peace
myspace.com/georgesarahmusic
The year is young, so 2012 could see other electro-orchestral tropical dance records—but only Sarah’s is likely to feature members of the Pogues, Bauhaus and Save Ferris. No wonder this guy makes music for the Discovery Channel; his is a world of wonder and possibility.
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TONIGHT ALIVE
TONIGHT ALIVE
What Are You So Scared of?
tonightaliveofficial.com
Bearing the unmistakable stamp of Mark Trombino—the producer whose high-gloss, hyper-precise pop-punk sound has become an industry standard—the debut from this Aussie quintet bristles with adolescent emotion. When singer Jenna McDougall’s feelings get messy, the music stays tidy and on target.
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MARSHALL CATCH
MARSHALL CATCH
Make Noise
marshallcatch.com
It’s hip to reference Pavement and Teenage Fanclub, but back in the ’90s the rock bands people actually listened to sounded more like Marshall Catch. These big-hearted Montana boys do Hootie hooks with Collective Soul punch. You forgot how much you missed this stuff.
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RISA BINDER
RISA BINDER
Paper Heart
risabinder.com
On “You Made It Rain,” the song that opens her debut album, Risa Binder gets caught between cynicism and belief. As her crush leans in for a kiss, the skies open up—and while she wants to live in a world where such things magically happen, she’s suspicious. “It was so perfect, like the world was a movie set,” the Maryland native sings, perhaps revealing a bit of where she’s been. Before moving to...
BAD WEATHER CALIFORNIA
BAD WEATHER CALIFORNIA
Sunkissed
badweathercalifornia.com
Bad Weather California packs several decades’ worth of good vibrations into a compact package. That goes for the sun—the thematic centerpiece of this aptly named album—and for the half-century of sounds these Denver dudes draw from. With its slippery bass and unlikely blend of wah-wah and chicken-scratch guitars, opener “I’ll Reach out My Hand” kicks things off in a funky fog. From...
AMY RAY
AMY RAY
Lung of Love
amy-ray.com
A few songs after “From Haiti,” whose stabbing guitars evoke “London Calling,” Amy Ray makes an even more direct reference to that classic’s creators in the Clash. “There’s a little Joe Strummer in my DNA,” she sings on “Little Revolution,” an organ-driven pop nugget about embracing—and therefore overcoming—pain and suffering. Indeed, the longtime Indigo Girl shares much in common with Strummer—most...
WALTER ROSE
WALTER ROSE
Cast Your Stone
walterrosemusic.com
As a teenager, this native Hawaiian underwent brain surgeries that left him with partial vision in one eye. Later, after he’d found work teaching special-needs kids, he lost a girlfriend to a motorcycle accident. So he’s entitled to sing songs like “Times Are Hard,” a nervous country-noir number about “dusty dreams.” Of course, if entitlement were enough, the world would be filled with country...
JIOSA
JIOSA
On the Edge
dennyjiosa.com
Even acclaimed smooth-jazz musicians must stand at the mirror and dream of rocking out. Here, Grammy-nominated guitarist Denny Jiosa gets his chance by positioning himself at the head of a mighty power trio. While the versatile virtuoso breaks up his shredding with ballads and even a Beatles cover, it’s the blustery, bluesy hard-rock tunes—the ones you could most imagine David Lee Roth high-kicking along to—that...
SUNNY TAYLOR
SUNNY TAYLOR
Sunny Taylor
sunnytaylormusic.com
Just four songs and 20 minutes long, the latest from this Indiana singer-songwriter offers four distinct stories and asks one overarching question: “When do you get to getting over it?” That line comes from “Paper Tiger (Getting Over It),” a song whose narrator really ought to grab a coffee with the protagonist from “Trucker.” That one is about someone who drives all night, pondering regrets...
LUTHEA SALOM
LUTHEA SALOM
Kick in the Head
lutheasalom.com
Somewhere between Canada and Spain (the countries in which she grew up) and New York City (where she now lives), Luthea Salom surely experienced some heartbreak. She loved, lost and learned, putting her in the same boat as 99.9 percent of the world’s population. So Kick in the Head, her third album, is the sound of an exceptional songwriter coming to terms with the unexceptional nature of her own “little...
CORNFLOWER BLUE
CORNFLOWER BLUE
Run Down the Rails
cornflowerbluemusic.com
Just as the “country” in country music need not refer only to America, such instruments as mandolins, fiddles and twangy guitars aren’t just for hat-clad, boot-scooting genre purists. That’s the takeaway from Run Down the Rails, the sophomore effort from this Canadian duo. Theresa McInerney and Trevor May know their Hank, Johnny and Willie, but they come at Americana via ’90s R.E.M....
KOFFIN KATS
KOFFIN KATS
Our Way & the Highway
koffinkatsrock.com
With a few notable exceptions—the grisly murder tale “A Terrible Way” and apocalyptic rager “The Devil Asked” among them—the Koffin Kats spend much of their sixth album singing about boozing and touring. If the songs are autobiographical, the Detroit psychobilly trio hasn’t let its lifestyle become a hindrance. The production is pomade-slick, and the playing is tighter than sopping-wet...
KIRK WHALUM
KIRK WHALUM
Romance Language
kirkwhalum.com
With Romance Language Kirk Whalum and his brother Kevin have created a musical mash note to one of their favorite albums, 1963’s mood-music landmark John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. Kirk, an acclaimed smooth-jazz saxophonist with nearly two dozen albums to his credit, handles Coltrane’s parts, blowing in his reed as he might his lady’s ear. Kevin, meanwhile, plays lover-man extraordinaire in the...
WHITTON
WHITTON
Rare Bird
whittonmusic.com
Much in the same way Amy Winehouse played on ’60s soul and girl-group sounds, Jaime Whitton draws on ’40s jazz, positioning herself as a kind of Billie Holiday—minus the tragic undertones of either Winehouse or Holiday—for modern pop audiences. Whitton keeps her retro references subtle, using just enough tinkling piano, warbled phrasing and quacking brass to glance backward without risking whiplash. The...
ROBERT DEEBLE
ROBERT DEEBLE
Heart Like Feathers
robertdeeble.com
In the six years since his last album, this Seattle singer-songwriter earned a master’s in psychology. That explains lines like, “I feel the guilt, I feel the shame of an existential rush of temporal things.” Deeble is obviously a keen observer of human behavior, but what’s remarkable about Heart Like Feathers is how conversational and easygoing he sounds. This is true even when he’s at...
THE WEE TRIO
THE WEE TRIO
Ashes to Ashes
theweetrio.com
Finally, David Bowie gets the vibraphone-driven free-jazz tribute he deserves. The Wees turn the classic “The Man Who Sold the World” into funky supermarket music and 2002’s “Sunday” into as somber a meditation as three zany jazz brainiacs are likely to come up with.
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MAC McANALLY
MAC McANALLY
Live in Muscle Shoals
macmcanally.com
Performing live at the University of North Alabama, this enduring country songwriter and Jimmy Buffet sideman shares the stories behind his best tunes. Better yet, he plays them, demonstrating how aw-shucks personality and serious musicianship can make for a swell evening—and an enviable career.
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AUDREY SPILLMAN
AUDREY SPILLMAN
Part of Me
audreyspillmanmusic.com
On the title track, this Nashville newcomer wonders whether the relationship she’s just ended might have been worth saving. It’s heartfelt and complex—and as with the other four country-soul tunes on this EP, she sings it with conviction and elegance.
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EXDETECTIVES
EXDETECTIVES
Take My Forever
exdetectives.com
Faris McReynolds, the young L.A. musician behind ExDetectives, ends this disc by repeating the words “drift forward.” Sure enough, he sounds like a psychedelic ’60s rocker who’s taken a magic carpet ride through time and landed in the alt-rock ’90s—finding nirvana in the age of Nirvana.
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REBECCA SAYRE
REBECCA SAYRE
Play
rebeccasayre.com
Best known for jazzy pop, Sayre takes more of a down-home country turn on this four-song EP. Luckily she retains her signature pep, bouncing between pragmatism (“I’m gonna leave it up to love”) and optimism (“Today, I’m basking in my own light”).
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ANDY TIMMONS
ANDY TIMMONS
Interpreting one of rock’s sacred texts, armed with experience, reverence and blazing guitar
Guitarist Andy Timmons is well aware that it takes a lot of nerve to approach the crown jewel of the Beatles catalog. Nonetheless he and his longtime backing group—bass player Mike Daane and drummer Mitch Marine—summoned up the courage to offer their new rocked-up instrumental rendition of the Beatles’ landmark Sgt. Pepper’s...
DC VILLAINS
DC VILLAINS
Rock trio, comic-book characters, video-game entrepreneurs or TV stars? These guys want it all
If their name conjures up images of scheming politicians or comic-book ne’er-do-wells, the members of the Nashville-based rock band DC Villains don’t mind at all. “Bad guys are often cooler than the good guys,” says frontman Damon Carroll (the first part of the moniker is derived from his initials). “And sometimes the bad guys...
JUSTIN ROBINSON & THE MARY ANNETTES
JUSTIN ROBINSON &
THE MARY ANNETTES
Bones for Tinder
justinrobinsonandthemaryannettes.com
From the Carter Family to Outkast, Robert Johnson to R.E.M., there’s a long, proud tradition of weirdness in Southern music. A key feature has always been contradiction—joy and pain, humor and dread, God and Satan—and there’s plenty to be found on Justin Robinson’s debut album with backing band the Mary Annettes. Previously known for his...
BR’ER
BR’ER
City of Ice
fullgrownman.com
By the fourth track of this harrowing collection, it’s high time for some sunlight—the tune in question is called “Hope,” but even that title turns out to be misleading. “Now there’s no hope for one,” sings Benjamin Schurr, the Philly auteur behind Br’er. “He lives in songs that are sung of pity and empathy and all in between.” That’s putting it lightly. Schurr funnels heartbreak, resentment,...
DARRELL SCOTT
DARRELL SCOTT
Long Ride Home
darrellscott.com
For decades Darrell Scott’s father, recently deceased, played roadhouse bars, singing country hits while squirreling away his own material. That explains Darrell’s fondness for classic country and fascination with the musician’s lifestyle, both of which are celebrated on this disc—a literally down-home collection he cut in his house with a team of Nashville aces. Scott is a respected Music City...
THE MARSHMALLOW GHOSTS
THE MARSHMALLOW GHOSTS
The Marshmallow Ghosts
myspace.com/themarshmallowghosts
On their third straight Halloween-inspired release, the Marshmallow Ghosts move beyond singles and stretch their spookadelic aesthetic across an entire album. The band includes members of Dreamend, Hospital Ships and Black Moth Super Rainbow—bizarro pop acts from the aptly named Graveface label—but the men and women behind the instruments might as well be swirly-eyed...
GLOSSARY
GLOSSARY
Long Live All of Us
glossary.us
After a month holed up in a rural Tennessee house, this veteran quintet emerged with an album’s worth of revelatory self-help
rock ’n’ roll. Singer Joey Kneiser comes on like a Springsteenian Southern preacher man, piling positive exhortations and affirmations (”Crawl with me out of the dark,” “You don’t have to know what got you here to be happy you’re alive”) atop Stones-via-Skynyrd guitar...
ALERT NEW LONDON
ALERT NEW LONDON
Youth
facebook.com/alertnewlondon
Alert old London—as in the British capital—and tell the city’s nostalgic 25-year-olds that there’s an American band reviving the sound of their teen years. On their debut, Alert New London harks back to the chiming, heroic turn-of-the-millennium U.K. rock of Travis, Doves and early Coldplay. Another reason 20-something Brits (and Americans) might dig this? The Ohio quintet packs Youth with...
KID SAVANT
KID SAVANT
Drop It on the Stereo
kidsavant.net
Four years after forming in Indianapolis, this electro-rock quartet has finally released its debut EP. The long delay might explain “4 Years,” in which frontman Ryan Weisberger seems intent on putting the past behind him. “Let’s let loose and forget,” he sings, but the band—now based in Brooklyn—sounds neither loose nor forgetful. All pointy guitars and walls of synth, “4 Years” recalls...