What has four kids and sounds like O Brother Where Art Thou?  Harlan Pepper!  Kinda.  The band is four dudes who just got out of high school but who make country rock with a heavier emphasis on the country.  And by country, we’re talking rootsy.  Like Gram Parsons and Buck Owens (that’s their own reference, [...]

Tell me that isn’t the coolest album cover you’ve seen in a long, long time!  Chad Kichula‘s self-released debut “The Killer” owes much to Johnny Cash lyrically, even if the music is more for saloon brawls than moping broken hearts clubbers.  I’ve listened to this album straight through twice already, and I liked it even [...]

Julie the Band’s new EP, “Wild As the Sky”, is, put simply, terrific.  It’s a tightly crafted amalgam of indie rock, indie soul, and Americana.  And there’s no Julie to be found.  It’s an all-male team from SoCal who sound like they’ve been playing, singing, and writing together for years. On Baby Bird records. I [...]

I’ve never really gotten the whole Keane thing, but I might start now.  Bandmembers Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin’s alt-country side project Mt. Desolation feels as authentic as any English Americana band possibly can.  Playing along with members of Noah & The Whale, The Killers, The Long Winters, and Mumford and Sons, with production by [...]

Altcountryretropunkers The Black come with a strong pedigree: They’ve got two former Voxtrotters and David Longoria on guitar and vocals–formerly of And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead.  So it’s no shock that these motherfu*kers can write songs and play them with passion, power, and drive.  I had high expectations when the [...]

Back on September 14, 1991, Brian Henneman (Bottle Rockets/Chicken Truck), Jay Farrar (Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt) and Tom Parr (Chicken Truck) got together in St. Looey to play as The Dust Bowl Club in the KDHX radio studio. They performed all kindsa old classics and new rootsies. And since I haven’t been posting bootlegs so much [...]

You know who Vulture Whale is, right?  They had the 11th best indie album last year, and the 7th best EP.  That pretty much means they were the best new band of last year.  And you know who Wes McDonald is, right?  He’s been making music for a long time, and is one of the [...]

Kingsley Flood are the best Boston band not to be from England.  Sorry.  Inside joke.  In all seriousness, though, Kingsley Flood make honest, American music that occupies the vast (and well trodden) path between Wilco’s early work and Joe Strummer’s later work.  It’s Americana with a classic rock feel, in other words.  Strong lyrics, great [...]

Elliot Randall is a country singer-songwriter who doesn’t sound like he should be from San Francisco.  His music has an authentic feel, with lyrics that recall Waylon and Willie, along with the darker Merle and even the offbeat Dwight Yoakum, all coupled with the poppier sensibilities of The Eagles.  The album is crystal clear, produced [...]

It’s not always easy to be a Venice is Sinking fan.  Their albums are quiet and sad, mostly, so you have to be in a very mellow mood to listen.  Sort of like My Morning Jacket, but with less pep.  It’s orchestral pop–complete with violins, trumpets, etc., dense and heavy, tightly crafted. None of this [...]