by Nick Sessanna | Dec 17, 2023 | Album Review
Indiana-based singer-songwriter Nate Logston is on his fifth (!) full length album. His songwriting is dripping with experience and the hard-earned scars that come with being a seasoned musician (and life-liver, for that matter). His latest offering is the 11-song...
by Nick Sessanna | Dec 11, 2023 | Album Review
LA-based duo Joker’s Hand (JH) are mad, and for good reason. Everything kinda sucks right now in general (I don’t think I need to elaborate on that much further)… But one of the greatest outlets for releasing said emotions is music, and JH have honed...
by Nick Sessanna | Nov 27, 2023 | Album Review
It’s been a, *ahem,* long road for New Jersey-based act LongRoad, but they seem to have all come out on the other side. Formed from a trio of Rutherfordians (NJ) and Vermont’s Ted Ames, the quartet originally met at the Knitting Factory in NYC and...
by Nick Sessanna | Nov 27, 2023 | Album Review
“What is it that you see when told stories that have no pictures?” An interesting question posed by Stephen Meeker, the individual behind Hot Spoon, Cold Mango. The curiously-named project (which also includes Stephen’s lover) was conceived after the...
by Nick Sessanna | Nov 7, 2023 | Album Review
James Bannon is a New Jersey-based act who just released the six-song EP Heat Ghosts (HG). Full of folksy strumming and plenty of 90s-era adult contemporary flavors, HG tells several poignant stories of love, loss, and human connections. Album opener “Kitchens...
by Nick Sessanna | Oct 22, 2023 | Album Review
Playing With Fireworks (PWF) is the moniker of Luke Underhill. The Chicago, IL native is here with a new sound, shedding his singer songwriter roots for something a bit more lush and expressive. The result of this new identity is a fresh, new EP, Runaway, a four-song...
by Nick Sessanna | Oct 21, 2023 | Album Review
Vast Robot Armies (VRA) has existed for the better part of a decade, an impressive feat for any band. VRA rose from the ashes of many respected projects, think The Life and Times; Sometimes Why; Shiner; Failure; and Sundiver – bandleader Jason Thomson used his...
by Nick Sessanna | Oct 15, 2023 | Album Review
A few months ago, we reviewed Chris Portka’s Trash Music (you can read our original review here) – as a creative, challenging, and utterly unique work of art, Trash Music goes down, at least in our annals, as one of the most left-field recordings...
by Nick Sessanna | Sep 30, 2023 | Album Review
The story of Chief Broom (CB) is sadly a tragic one. Centered around the songwriting of Shadrach Tuck, this revolving cast of Boise, Idaho natives create songs that focus on “the fragility, monotony, beauty and horrors of everyday life.” Crafted in the...
by Chris Miller | Sep 22, 2023 | Album Review
Casual Confrontation is the stage name of Frankie Diez, a Romanian born artist who grew up in Puerto Rico and Miami before landing in Nashville. He’s here with his latest album, Marriage Culture, a sprawling and expansive 17-song offering that promises a look at...
by Chris Miller | Sep 20, 2023 | Album Review, New Music
Sandbox is a seven song EP from Whitewater, Wisconsin-based one man band Idledaze, released in anticipation of a full length album due out spring of 2024. Idledaze performs as a solo act but also does cover projects as a the Idledaze Trio with a setlist that spans...
by Nick Sessanna | Sep 5, 2023 | Album Review
When you get a heads up that an album you’re about to enjoy is classified as “absurdist noise folk,” you kind of already know what you’re getting yourself into… Or maybe, its more likely that you don’t actually have any possible...
by Nick Sessanna | Aug 30, 2023 | Album Review
James Beastly. The man, the myth, the legend. One listen through the blistering punk/alternative/slacker/??? vibes of his latest album, Junk Values, and you’ll be thinking the same thing. He’s self-described as “too indie to be punk and too punk to...
by Nick Sessanna | Aug 22, 2023 | Album Review
Couch Cult started the same as many new acts – a passion project that rose, like a phoenix, out of the ashes of the pandemic. This particular trio watched, ostensibly, from a basement window as the world woke up again. This re-awakening of the world inspired...
by Chris Miller | Aug 18, 2023 | Album Review, New Music
Made of Mana (MoM) is a jazz-infused quartet from San Francisco, and their self-titled EP was recently released July 28 – in anticipation an LP coming later this year. MoM is made up of four lifelong friends (Phil, Sean, Dane, Alec) who have worked together...
