review Archive
18 Jul 2023
Album Review: Alabama Mike – Stuff I’ve Been Through
As the saying goes, don’t judge a book – or an album – by its cover. Though the largely monochromatic photo and graphics that serve as the cover of Stuff […]
17 Jul 2023
Album Review: Ally Venable — Real Gone
It’s a largely inescapable fact of life that pop and hip-hop are the primary musical genres for the younger demographic. These days, the audiences rock, jazz, blues – even country […]
09 Jul 2023
Album Reviews: The Spygenius Back Catalog
Spygenius – Songs from the Devil’s Typist (circa 2008) Compared to their more recent output – but only in that context – Spygenius’s debut album initially comes off as a […]
07 Jul 2023
Album Review: Sparkle*jets U.K. — Best of Friends
More often than not, tribute albums center around artists or songs that are comparatively well-known. But Best of Friends, the latest album from misleadingly-named L.A. power pop trio Sparkle*jets U.K. […]
29 Jun 2023
Album Review: The Zombies — Different Game
A longtime critical favorite, The Zombies have built a sterling reputation upon a number of strengths. Colin Blunstone’s vocals have been central to the group’s appeal, and the musicianship – […]
25 Jun 2023
Album Review: Lloyds – Attitude Check
San Francisco of the late 1970s and early- to mid-’80s was home to a thriving new music scene. In those days before the internet, local scenes existed somewhat independently of […]
24 Jun 2023
Album Review: The Mosquitos – This Then are the Mosquitos!
Hey hey, remember the Monkees revival of the ‘80s? MTV rebroadcast the classic ‘60s musical comedy series, and included bumper segments featuring the band (well, Micky, Peter and Davy, anyway). […]
23 Jun 2023
Album Review: Jody Porter and the Berlin Waltz – Waterways
Fountains of Wayne made some of the best melodic pop/rock of their time. The group was active from the mid 1990s through about 2013. They had gone inactive in 2011, […]
22 Jun 2023
Album Review: The Anderson Council — The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon
Album cover art often offers clues to the music contained within. But this isn’t always the case. The latest album from The Anderson Council features a cover that uses tarot […]
21 Jun 2023
Album Review: Bill Pritchard – Sings Poems by Patrick Woodcock
It’s remarkable and noteworthy when a composer-songwriter of great stature decides to make an album featuring lyrics by another artist. Not a covers project, exactly, but a kind of semi-collaborative […]