I first came across Mitch Dillon‘s work with another of his bands – Attractor Beams. There he had a superb garage rock meets The Replacements sound. Here he doesn’t travel a great distance from that sound but it is a more distinct alt-country feel. ‘Do You Want Me to Forget?’ is less parched and brittle, … Continue reading
Ripper of a track from Sydney, yet another top shelf release from the Evening Records crew. K. Walsh (Kevin to his mum) treads a finely balanced line between country and the interesting side of rock music. There are strummed electric guitars and walking bass lines mingling with handclaps, psych guitar sounds and most rewardingly, some … Continue reading
I’m a big fan of David Garnham‘s music; the way he can dial into straight and true folk music and then shift gears to the open highway of an alt-country song with his band (the Reasons to Live) in full flight. The latter is perfectly executed on this new track, ‘Holding Pattern’. The song swaggers … Continue reading
Sydney musician Looch Lewis has released a cover of Died Pretty’s ‘Free Dirt’, the last track on their 1988 album Lost and strangely the title of their previous album though the song didn’t appear on it. The original featured Don Walker on piano and Astrid Munday on backing vocals. Lewis stays true to the original, … Continue reading
Starting on low-slung electric guitar chords and and a relaxed backbeat, Annie Keating digs out a wonderful sound on ‘Marigold’, taken from her 2021 album Bristol County Tides, her eighth full-length. I like the way there’s a toughness to the sound of the track, that bluesy country rock that Lucinda Williams harnesses so well, but … Continue reading
What do you get when you cross T-Rex with Wilco and The Rolling Stones? Something akin to the soaring country rock of ‘Catch A Glimpse’, the new single from Aaron Ross & The Peach Leaves. Ross was a member of math rock band Hella (with Zach Hill of Deathgrips and Spencer Seim of sBACH and … Continue reading
Hot nights and a sultry blues rock groove are the order of the day on this new track from Indiana-based David Quinn. We last wrote about Quinn when he released his excellent album Wanderin’ Fool last year. This year’s new album Letting Go finds him broadening his sound and continuing his rich vein of songwriting. … Continue reading
Sydney alt-country trio The April Family released their second album House Of Cards last year but they’ve already pooled their creative talents and written, recorded and filmed a clip for their brand new single ‘Fortune Teller‘ (Social Family Records), the first single from their third album, due out early in 2021. The song hits a … Continue reading
Man, what a song. Ridiculously catchy and most effectively it’s all delivered with an effortless and breezy, light-headed and heavy-hearted, sway and swagger. Like The Lemonheads and The Jayhawks – that nexus of sweet Americana and power-pop. Just a perfect country-rock, guitar pop nugget. Russel Taine Jr. is a band from Austin, TX comprised of … Continue reading
It’s been six years since Sydney songwriter Dave Favours released his solo album Wet Suburban Sunday, but he’s spent those years building up the roster on his label Stanley Records, releasing the Australian alt-country compilation Take Me To Town and honing the sound of his band The Roadside Ashes. Having a solid group of great … Continue reading
Lilly Hiatt Walking Proof New West Records, 2020 With her famous surname and the album’s opening shimmering tremolo guitar chords you’d think you were in for a straight country trip. There’s certainly a strong country streak, of the Nikki Lane kind, that runs through Walking Proof, but just as equally there’s an indie rock aesthetic … Continue reading
Melbourne alt-country/Americana songwriter Mitch Dean released his debut solo album Holding Back The Levee last Friday. “I wanted to make something that sounded like all the albums I love to listen to. From Neil Young through to The Jayhawks.” Evocative storytelling, rich musicality and the heartfelt conveyance of human emotion. Those are some of the hallmarks … Continue reading
Lucinda Williams Good Souls Better Angels Highway 20 / Cooking Vinyl Australia After a year spent looking back with her Car Wheels On A Gravel Road 20th anniversary tour, Lucinda Williams has now turned her mind to the modern world in the here and now, from internal battles of individuals to the heartless idiocy of … Continue reading
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit Reunions Caroline Australia Jason Isbell cemented himself in the pantheon of 21st century songwriters with his Southeastern album in 2013. Since then he’s continued to release strong records but Reunions stands as his most consistent set of songs to date. Sure it might not have the exquisite emotional songwriting … Continue reading
A few weeks ago, Andy Sydow released his new EP Wicked Dreams and our favourite track on it is this one – ‘Feel Like Gold‘. There’s some Petty in his sound, some Nathaniel Rateliff too – framed by some fine organ playing as he soars into a killer chorus on the track. It’s a polished melodic … Continue reading
