rawk Archive
18 May 2019
Album Review: Outerfield – Pleasant Grove Hotel
The opening lick on “Wondering If You’re Real” suggests that Pleasant Grove Hotel is going to be a swampy, Southern-fried blues rock outing. As it turns out, that description isn’t accurate of the album as a whole. With a basic, two chord foundation (see also: “Feelin’ Alright” and eleventy billion other tunes), it’s a catchy
17 May 2019
Moves: Movin’ On Up
More than a decade ago, guitarists Stephen Murray and Matt Martin launched their band, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, as a sort of hybrid between ragtime jazz and rock ‘n’ roll. Seven albums, two EPs and countless gigs later, the band looks much the same. But it sounds completely different. Reflecting that change, the band is
15 May 2019
Even More Hundred-worders for May 2019
I’m determined to keep my backlog of music-for-review to a manageable size. Making that happen means that once again it’s time for ten of my quickie reviews. So off we go. These are all new or very recent titles of new music. Girls on Grass – Dirty Power I really like this record. Right off
14 May 2019
Hundred-worders for May 2019: Vinyl
A subtle hint to any press agents or label reps who might happen to read this: a near surefire way to get your client’s album reviewed on Musoscribe is to send me a vinyl record. Unless I wholly detest it – and that’s not likely to happen if you check in before sending to make
13 May 2019
Not Long for This World: The Grays’ ‘Ro Sham Bo’ at 25
By the 1990s, radio programming had completed its shift into a narrowcasted, focus-grouped, thinly-sliced target marketing based approach. There seemed little room for rock that wasn’t of the classic variety (Beatles, Stones, Pink Floyd etc.) or overblown, stadium-oriented mass-consumption fodder (Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard). Intrepid programmers, however, sensed an opening and pursued
10 May 2019
Hundred-worders for May 2019
Here we go again, kids. If you’ve visited Musoscribe before, you likely know the drill: new albums worth your (and my) time, covered in the tidy space of precisely 100 words each. Proper Ornaments – 6 Lenins Here’s a nice one. With shades of Echo & the Bunnymen and the church, this London group makes
04 May 2019
Travers Brothership: Tour Europe and Let the World Decide
Travers Brothership has been on an upward trajectory for a few years running. The success of the Asheville-based soulful rock band’s 2016 album A Way to Survive eventually led to a touring spot opening for popular jam band moe., and Travers Brothership has built on that success. While making plans for a series of live
30 Apr 2019
Where But for Caravan Would We? A Look Back at Caravan’s debut LP
By 1968, the burgeoning musical underground in England was attracting notice in wider circles. Thanks to the success of ambitious works like the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Moody Blues’ Days of Future Passed, Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Procol Harum’s debut album (to name but four
29 Apr 2019
Album Review: Chocolate Watchband — This is My Voice
Exemplars of 1960s psychedelic garage rock, San Jose, California’s Chocolate Watchband nonetheless suffered greatly at the hands of the band’s label and (to a lesser extent) producer. Over the course of the group’s three albums of that era, not once did the members find themselves free to make an album that honestly reflected the band’s
22 Apr 2019
Drunken Prayer: Geer Diary
Morgan Geer is into a lot of things, musically speaking. He’s toured and recorded with Freakwater, the Handsome Family and other acts that exist on the edgy fringes of Americana. And since 2006, he’s also been releasing albums and performing as Drunken Prayer. Six albums in, Drunken Prayer has made its most diverse – and