rawk Archive
11 Oct 2018
A Look Back at Crowded House’s ‘Temple of Low Men’
In April 1977, Neil Finn joined Split Enz, a New Zealand/Australian band co-founded nearly five years earlier by older brother Tim. Though he hadn’t yet reached his 18th birthday, Neil […]
06 Oct 2018
Album Review: The Goldwyn Experiment – Avenue B
An elegiac piano melody, “Prologue,” kicks off the album, with a feel not totally removed from Jim Steinman’s Meat Loaf-era work. It’s subtle assured and inviting. Toward the end of […]
02 Oct 2018
The Byrds’ Sweetheart of an Album, 50 Years Later
In the 1960s, the Byrds pioneered folk rock. The chiming electric 12-string guitars on the 1965 singles “Turn! Turn! Turn” and “Mr. Tambourine Man” influenced a generation of musicians. Soon […]
01 Oct 2018
A Look Back at the Tubes’ ‘Remote Control’
The Tubes were among the most outrageous of 1970s rock groups. With an impressively muscular and underrated instrumental foundation, the group – or at least lead singer Fee Waybill – […]
27 Sep 2018
Jorge Santana and Malo: For Real
Malo was a San Francisco Bay area band that combined Latin flavor with a brass section, giving it a sound somewhere between Blood, Sweat & Tears and Santana. In fact, […]
25 Sep 2018
Album Review: The Zombies — Greatest Hits
The Zombies have a sterling and well-deserved reputation. That reputation is built primarily on three things: a couple of early singles, a final album of staggering quality, and a latter-day, […]
21 Sep 2018
Concert Recap: Matthew Sweet at the Visulite Theatre, Charlotte N.C. May 25, 2018
After a couple albums’ worth of searching for his signature style, Nebraska-born Matthew Sweet struck creative and commercial gold with his 1991 album Girlfriend. Sweet’s winning voice and thoughtful lyrics […]
19 Sep 2018
Hundred-word Reviews for September 2018
Time once again for some 100-word reviews. Please note that I receive many albums each day for review consideration; even when allowing for the fact that 80-90% of them don’t […]
18 Sep 2018
Album Review: Guadalcanal Diary – At Your Birthday Party
Signed to DB Recs at or near the local label’s commercial high point, Guadalcanal Diary released its debut EP, Watusi Rodeo in 1983. The disc’s catchy yet slightly off-kilter songs […]
17 Sep 2018
Album Review: John Wesley Harding – Greatest Other People’s Hits
Nearly everything one first learns about John Wesley Harding suggests the man is a smart-aleck. A folky troubadour transplanted long ago from Hastings, England to the U.S., the man born […]