Archive Review: Steve Wynn & the Marvelous 3’s …tick…tick…tick (2006)

Former Dream Syndicate frontman Steve Wynn has enjoyed a lengthy, distinguished, and sadly uncommercial solo career over the past couple of decades. Unfortunately, critical acclaim doesn’t put food on the table, you can’t wear your good reviews on your back, and making great records won’t necessarily put a roof over your head. Wynn has refused to give up, however, continuing to write and record at an impressive pace, haunting the dark corners of the indie-rock world with his sonic experimentations.

While most of his solo efforts have involved virtual pick-up bands of friends and admirers, for …tick…tick…tick Wynn has pieced together a talented outfit that enjoys a real band chemistry, the trio serving as the perfect foils for Wynn’s ever-wicked artistic vision. With “The Marvelous 3” in tow, Wynn has attempted to “convey the sensation of post-millennium panic” (his words, not mine).

Steve Wynn & the Marvelous 3’s …tick…tick…tick

All in all, I’d say that Wynn accomplished what he set out to do. The songs and performances on …tick…tick…tick are at once both hauntingly beautiful and darkly alluring, the band capable of moving from a whisper to a scream at the speed of a heartbeat. Guitarist Jason Victor’s six-string wails like a wolverine caught in a trap while bassist Dave DeCastro and drummer Linda Pitmon serve up a barn-burning beat behind Wynn’s fluid (and often-echoed) vocals.

The effect is both disconcerting and undeniably charismatic, Wynn and crew masterfully blending anarchic rock ‘n’ roll, chaotic rhythms, jangling psychedelica and folk-influenced lyricism to a powerful conclusion. Wynn’s nuanced wordplay plays across the artist’s usual noir landscapes, dark-hued story-songs and bleak confessional poetry inhabited by loss and confusion, betrayal and frustration in a world of reckless betrayal and helpless romanticism.

It’s heady stuff, to be sure, but Wynn has pulled off this delicate lyrical balancing act more often than not. With a young, hungry band behind him to assist in shaping his unique vision, Wynn has delivered in …tick…tick…tick his best work, arguably, since the Dream Syndicate days. Damn near every song here would sound great on the radio, and if there was any justice in this cold, cruel world (hint…there ain’t none), Steve Wynn & the Marvelous 3 would enjoy massive CD sales and constant radio airplay to go along with the almost-guaranteed critical accolades.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Ready for his coronation, …tick…tick…tick cements Wynn’s status as indie-rock royalty, an artist ripe for rediscovery and appreciation by an audience thirsting for real rock ‘n’ roll cheap thrills. (Down There Records)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™, 2006

Zine Review: Plastic Crimewave’s Galactic Zoo Dossier #7 (2007)

If you’re a fan of psychedelic delicacies, acid-washed rock, stoned blues and other musical obscurities from the hallowed ‘60s and early-70s, then Galactic Zoo Dossier is a zine made with you in mind. Created by musician/artist “Plastic Crimewave” (a/k/a Steve Krakow) with a little help from friends like Byron Coley, Scott Wilkinson, Kit Moore, and others, Galactic Zoo Dossier is a delightful compendium of rock music history, with a fanatical focus on the wild and wacky tunes of the past.

Plastic Crimewave’s Galactic Zoo Dossier #7

First things first, however: Galactic Zoo Dossier is not your typical music zine in that its pages are almost all entirely hand-drawn and lettered by the skilled Mr. Crimewave. Yeah, there are a few photos scattered about, and in keeping with the Plastic one’s long-standing obsession with funny books, a handful of scanned-and-pasted strips from vintage comics are accompanied by the artist’s comments. The amazing and impressive bulk of the 100+ pages of this seventh issue of Galactic Zoo Dossier, however, were hand-crafted by Crimewave, with articles often illustrated by his unique, thick-lined portraits of the artists; the issue also includes several pages of the artist’s original collector’s cards.

The crude, penultimate D.I.Y. vibe of the zine takes getting used to, but like a favorite record that you at first hated and couldn’t understand, but later grew to love, the hand-lettered pages become easier to navigate with every article that you read. And this issue of GZD has a hell of a lot of reading for the dedicated follower of fashion. Band/artist features include early ‘70s psychedelic soul outfit Rasputin’s Stash, pop star-turned-folkie Dion, prog-rock forebears the Nice, proto-punkers Crushed Butler, British rockers Manfred Mann, and a slew of long-forgotten psychedelic-era wonders like Sam Gopal, H.P. Lovecraft, Arthur Brown’s Kingdom Come, and others. Interviews in this issue include fascinating conversations with Dave Lambert of the Strawbs, Clive Palmer of the Incredible String Band, Kevin Coyne, and cartoonist Gary Panter.

Pioneers of Distortion & Patriarch Hippies

Every issue of Galactic Zoo Dossier is a treat, but along with the expanded page count of this issue comes several impressive works of criticism, art and academia. Scott Wilkinson’s “Pioneers of Distortion & Patriarch Hippies,” which emphasizes the influence of the blues on psychedelia, garage, and folk-rock, is simply fascinating, a well-researched-and-written piece that further broadened a subject that I was already quite knowledgeable about. Kit Moore’s piece on hippie horror films is both informative and entertaining for an old psychotronic film buff like the Reverend, while Crimewave’s “catch-all” articles, like this issue’s pieces on “The British Underground” and Motown’s “psychedelic soul,” are both informative and introductory, leading the reader to find out more about the (often obscure) bands/artists featured. 

From an artistic perspective, Crimewave’s collector’s cards are simply amazing works, each sheet of nine cards featuring portraits and information on the featured artist. Issue #7 comes with two very different but equally impressive sets of cards. The first is actually the third set in the “Damaged Guitar Gods” series and features such underrated and obscure six-string geniuses as Rory Gallagher, Phil Manzanera, bluesman Skip James, R&B legend Ike Turner and others, a total of 45 collector’s cards (yes, the sheets are perforated if you want to separate your cards). The second set of cards that comes with this issue is the first grouping of “Astral Folk Goddesses” featuring artists like Nico, Judy Henske, Vashti Bunyan, Sandy Denny, and 23 other distaff songbirds.  

Galactic Zoo Dossier doesn’t come cheap, with this issue running $16.00 from Drag City Records mail order. But the zine and accompanying collector’s cards also come packaged with a free CD of some of the most whacked-out music that you’ll ever hear, compiled by Plastic Crimewave. This issue features Teenage Meadows of Infinity, a two-disc set that includes tunes from folks like the Stooges, Blossom Toes, Michael Yonkers, Ed Askew, Devendra Banhart, Vincent Black Shadow and, yes, Mr. Crimewave his own bad self. These rare and exclusive tracks are guaranteed to get your toes tapping and start your head spinning. For the cost of a CD at that obnoxious mall chain store, you can have a copy of Galactic Zoo Dossier #7, eight pages of rock ‘n’ roll collector’s cards, and two full CDs of music – enough psychedelic swag to scrub your brain, feed your soul and drastically expand your musical horizons.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Lauded in the pages of hipster publications like Spin, Mojo, Fader, and Blackbook as “the premier hand-drawn underground psychedelic journal,” hopefully the increased notoriety of GZD has also led to increased sales. A labor this intense, passionate and, dare we say it – insane – deserves more than mere unrequited love in return. (Drag City Records, published July 17th, 2007)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ zine...

Archive Review: The Ramones’ ¡Adios Amigos! (1995)

As the Ramones pass their twentieth anniversary together, the Queens, New York foursome that was long considered a one joke, “here-today, gone-tomorrow” band has managed to outlive most, if not all of their critics. During the past two decades, the Ramones have been no more or no less consistent than any other artists during the same time period, and the fact that they’re still alive and kicking in 1995 says something about the band’s genuine love of music than many of their more “serious” artistic peers can lay claim to. That the Ramones can still kick out the proverbial jams with an album as hard-rocking and vital as ¡Adios Amigos! after all of this time is a further testimony to the fountain of youth that is rock ‘n’ roll.

¡Adios Amigos! draws heavily on material penned by former bandmate Dee Dee Ramone, with six of the album’s thirteen songs either written by or co-written by Dee Dee. The manic energy of these songs, with their pop culture obsessions and slightly off-kilter sense of humor is matched perfectly with the band’s current musical mix of high-energy, three-chord punk rock and slightly more complex, metal-edged hard rock. “The Crusher” is, perhaps, the best rock tune ever written about pro wrestling, while “Cretin Family” and “Born To Die In Berlin” revisit various periods of the band’s history, their 1970s roots and their more cynical ‘80s material, respectively. Avid record collector and 1960 pop devotee Joey Ramone contributes a wonderfully innocent slice of psychedelic-edged bubble gum in “Life’s A Gas” while Marky offers the wonderfully offbeat “Have A Nice Day.” A secret bonus cut tacked onto the end of the CD has the band running through an electric cover of the ‘60s-vintage theme to the Spiderman animated Saturday morning cartoon.

Most telling, however, is the inclusion of Tom Wait’s “I Don’t Want To Grow Up” as the opening cut on ¡Adios Amigos! Much has been said about a rumored Ramones break-up, that after twenty years of constant touring and studio work that the band has run its course. From their very first early ‘70s performances at New York’s legendary C.B.G.B.’s, the Ramones have been a staple of youth culture, a major influence on the hardcore scene of the 1980s as well as the current pop punk artists of the ‘90s. As the various members of the Ramones approach middle-age, however, it’s got to be harder and harder for them to get energized for another tour or another album. The song’s line “how the hell did it get here so soon?” easily becomes much more than a rhetorical question when sung by frontman and founding member Joey Ramone. With its fierce denial of the inevitable passage of time, “I Don’t Want To Grow Up,” is a song particularly suited to the seemingly ageless icons that are the Ramones. (Radioactive Records, released July 18th, 1995)
   
Review originally published by Review & Discussion of Rock ‘n’ Roll (R.A.D!) zine...

Book Review: Dave Thompson’s London’s Burning (2009)

British music journalist Dave Thompson is a veteran author of rock ‘n’ roll biographies, penning dozens of books on folks like Iggy Pop, Kiss, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among many others over the past couple of decades. As frequently as he has turned his insight towards dissecting the life and art of others, however, this is the first time that Thompson has used his undeniable talent to look inward at his own life and experience.

Subtitled “True Adventures on the Front Lines of Punk 1976-1977,” Thompson’s excellent London’s Burning is, as he calls it, a “memoir” without “too much me” included. Ostensibly the story of a year in the life of British punk rock, the teenage Thompson had a front seat to the birth and evolution of punk from a provincial underground phenomenon to a worldwide cultural revolution.

Dave Thompson’s London’s Burning

To tell this tale, Thompson relies on his own memories, and those of the many musicians that he has interviewed through the years, as well as those he spoke with specifically for the book. Beginning with the death of the glam-rock era and the lingering descent of pub-rock into obsolescence, Thompson’s personalized history of the first stirrings of punk is developed from his youthful vinyl obsession and eager attendance at dozens of shows by early versions of bands like the Sex Pistols, the Adverts, the Stranglers, and the Damned, as well as his friendships with many of the music-makers.

Thompson marks the flashpoint of British punk rock with the first performance of American rocker Patti Smith, her powerful, primal sound launching a hundred bands. Although the story touches upon many of the aforementioned and better-known punk outfits, Thompson takes great care to include obscure (but no less talented or fondly remembered) bands like the Arrows, Radio Stars, and Heavy Metal Kids in his exploration of the music. Sometimes his stories are funny, sometimes poignant, and sometimes even harrowing as Thompson describes the racism present in mid-to-late-‘70s England, as well as the violence that would come to be leveled against anybody perceived as being a “punk rocker.”

Thompson is being only a little disingenuous when he calls London’s Burning a memoir without too much “me” because, in truth, it is the presence of his younger self, and that experience that is central to the book’s immense charm. In remembering his youthful love of the music, and unbridled enthusiasm for the changes wrought by punk’s ascendance, Thompson also reminds us of why the “Class of ‘77” was so important in the overall evolution of rock music. The stories and memories of the assembled musicians are vital to the story here, but it is Thompson’s interaction and role as a documentarian that drives the book.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

British punk rock circa 1977-79 has been covered in abundance, almost to the point of absurdity, by dozens of books and hundreds, if not thousands of magazine articles and even compilation albums. Few have the firsthand knowledge and experience of Dave Thompson, though, and the talent to express it so succinctly and in an entertaining manner. Nobody has the stories that Thompson has accumulated, making London’s Burning the final word in ‘70s British punk rock. If you’re an old-school punk fan, you should definitely check this one out… (Chicago Review Press, published May 1st, 2009)

Review originally published by the Trademark of Quality (TMQ) blog…

Buy the book from Amazon: Dave Thompson’s London’s Burning

Archive Review: Electric Hellfire Club’s Electronomicon (2001)

Formed in 1991 by Thrill Kill Kult alumni Thomas Thorn, who left the popular industrial dance band over creative differences, the Electric Hellfire Club has proven to be the perfect outlet for Thorn’s lyrical fascination with the dark side. For better than ten years now, the EHC has corrupted the youth of America with their unique blend of Satanic psychedelia, demonic dance, and Goth run amok. Although they’ve largely shed their early industrial dance leanings in favor of a more metallic Sturm und Drang, Electronomicon shows that the band has managed to retain the energy of their dance roots while incorporating the power of death metal into their aural assault.

The first American band to record in Sweden’s infamous Abyss Studios with producer Tommy Tagtgren (Marduk, Dark Funeral), the Electric Hellfire Club have delivered a club-footed musical bastard in Electronomicon, their fifth full-length album. The songs here rock harder than a jackhammer enema, Thorn and crew taking the EHC further over the edge towards a muscular, dark-hued Euro-influenced death metal sound. The lyrical orientation of Electronomicon should be familiar to long-time fans of the band, however, Thorn offering his particular perspective on Lovecraft’s fictional tome the Necronomicon, complete with serpent cults, old gods, and Christian dupes. 

Whether the EHC are serious or not about the Satanism they wear so openly on their sleeves is irrelevant, really. With tunes this mesmerizing, potent and powerful – ritualistic rhythms driven forward by Ricktor Ravensbruck’s screaming six-string and Thorn’s silver-tongued growl – the music itself makes a statement regardless of the band’s religious and/or philosophical beliefs. Thorn’s well-written and imaginative lyrics aside, the Electric Hellfire Club prove with Electronomicon that they are a hell of a metal band (pun intended). Anyone who might be offended by the Electric Hellfire Club probably isn’t listening anyway. (Cleopatra Records, released October 2nd, 2001)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide music zine... 

Archive Review: The Damnwells’ PMR+1 (2003)

It would be too damn easy to dismiss the Damnwells as a mere Wilco clone, given the band’s penchant for mournful vocals and weeping guitars. The truth is, although the seven songs on this EP skew awfully close to Jeff Tweedy’s artistic vision, the Damnwells throw a few disparate elements into the mix, barely separating themselves from the alt-country legends. 

For one thing, the Damnwells fill their guitar pop with traces of psychedelic instrumentation, the brightly shining guitar of Dave Chernis adding swirls of texture behind Alex Dezen’s appropriately morose vocals. The rhythm section of bassist Ted Hudson and former Whiskeytown drummer Steven Terry are solid, if underutilized. 

The band’s songwriting tends to lean towards Tweedy’s minimalist lyricism and, lacking the Wilco frontman’s ability to create emotional architecture, the Damnwells come across as less-interesting travelers on an already familiar road. The band should emphasize the aspects that elevate their sound, allowing themselves greater freedom with its instrumentation and pumping up Dezen’s vocals. 

Pmr + 1 is a 2002 reissue of an earlier six-song disc self-produced by the Damnwells, so they may have already outgrown their Wilco fascination and moved onto something else entirely. The Damnwells are worth keeping an eye on just to see what they do next. (In Music We Trust, released 2002)

Review originally published by Jersey Beat music zine...

The Reverend's Favorite Reissues & Archival Albums of 2025

As a child of the '70s, although my musical tastes didn't calcify after the decade like so many of my contemporaries, the exciting and adventuresome music I heard during my teenage years left an indelible imprint on the development of my musical preferences. My purchases of archival and reissue albums tend to be of the classic rock and blues genres, which is why the following list of my favorites in this category for the year tend to lean towards albums released during the 1970s, '80s, and '90s...

A lifelong curmudgeon, I bitch and moan and avoid pricey box set reissues that load multiple discs down with demo tracks and alternate takes...there's a reason why a lot of this stuff remained unreleased for decades and they largely bore me to tears. In many cases, unless a reissue provides a sonic upgrade on the CD or vinyl that I already own, or the value-added inclusion of an unreleased live set, I'll spend my money on graphic novels or music bios instead. But show me a long-lost rock or blues LP from the '60s and I'm all in. 

This year provided a wealth of archival releases, as well as a few surprises like the Dream Syndicate Medicine Show box and previously-unreleased live performances by Galaxie 500, Hüsker Dü, The Meters, and The Ramones. Here are my favorite reissue and archival albums of 2025...

Dream Syndicate - Medicine Show: I Know What You Like box set
Galaxie 500 - CBGB 12.13.88
Buddy Guy - This Is Buddy Guy!
John Lee Hooker - The Standard School Broadcast Recordings
Mississippi John Hurt - Today!
Hüsker Dü - 1985: The Miracle Year
Iron City Houserockers - Blood On the Bricks
Lonnie Johnson - Blues & Ballads
Furry Lewis - Back On My Feet Again
Mississippi Fred McDowell - I Do Not Play No Rock 'n' Roll
The Meters - Live At Great American Music Hall
Montrose - Live 1973-KSAN Radio Session
New Order - Low Life
The Ramones - Live at CBGB, 1977
The Replacements - Let It Be [deluxe]
The Rolling Stones - Black & Blue [deluxe]
Salem 66 - Salt
Sex Pistols - Live In The U.S.A. 1978
Sly & the Family Stone - The First Family: Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967
Spirit - Sea Dream import box set
Talking Heads - Live On Tour 1978
Chrissy Zebby Tembo & The Ngozi Family - I’m Not Made of Iron
Various Artists - Motor City Is Burning: A Michigan Anthology 1965-1972 box set
Various Artists - Rollin' & Tumblin' box set
War - Live In Japan

Links are to That Devil Music album reviews...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Reverend's Favorite New Albums of 2025

Much like the swallows return to Capistrano, each year I check out the various "best of" album lists in different publications. As I've stated before, I'm old as dirt, and a lot of today's pop music isn't being made for me. I'm OK with this...my tastes are pretty eclectic, anyway. 

Much of today's disposable pop music does little but enrich the bank accounts of record label execs, and few of those featured on today's lists will forge long-term careers. I see few legit new "rock" LPs on young writers' lists, and absolutely no blues grooves. So I thought I'd put together my own danged list. 

Yeah, because I'm a rockin' geezer, my list tends to skew towards classic rock and blues musicians. These aren't necessarily the 25 "best" albums of the year to anybody but me, and the list largely reflects the new music I bought or acquired in 2025...

The Black Keys - No Rain, No Flowers
Steve Boyd - King of the Losers
Tommy Castro - Closer To the Bone
Bootsy Collins - Album of the Year #1 Funkateer
Alice Cooper - The Revenge of Alice Cooper
Marshall Crenshaw - From the Hellhole
Guided By Voices - Thick Rich and Delicious
Buddy Guy - Ain't Done With the Blues
Luke Haines & Peter Buck - Going Down To the River To Blow My Mind
Curtis Harding - Departures & Arrivals
Peter Holsapple - The Face of 68
Cristone "Kingfish" Ingram - Hard Road
Jason Isbell - Foxes In the Snow
Jethro Tull - Curious Ruminant
Willie Nile - The Great Yellow Light
Old Town Crier - Peterson Motel
Richie Owens - Redemption
Rich Pagano & the Sugarcane Cups - Hold Still Light Escapes
Piper & the Hard Times - Good Company
Robert Plant - Saving Grace
Mitch Ryder - With Love
Todd Snider - High, Lonesome & Then Some
Dave Specter - Live At SPACE
St Paul & the Broken Bones - St Paul & the Broken Bones
Superchunk - Songs In the Key of Yikes
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited
Walter Trout - Sign of the Times 
William Tyler - Time Indefinite
Webb Wilder - Hillbilly Speedball
Tommy Womack - Live A Little

Links are to That Devil Music album reviews...

 

Nashville Cats: Richie Owens & Steve Boyd (2025)

Back in 1966, the Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian sang “there’s thirteen hundred and fifty-two guitar pickers in Nashville” later adding “and any one that unpacks his guitar could play twice as better than I will.” That loving ode to the Music City, “Nashville Cats” would peak at #8 on the Billboard singles chart, the seventh Lovin’ Spoonful song to hit Top Ten in the U.S. 

As Sebastian told writer Jeff Tamarkin (note: a former editor of mine) of the Best Classic Bands website, he drew inspiration for the song after he and Spoonful guitarist Zal Yanovsky were shocked by a talented unknown guitarist playing in their hotel’s bar, concluding that “how is it that this guy that doesn’t even have a stage can take us to town, and just kill it, in 20 minutes?” Although Nashville has long been known as the home of country music, there’s never been a lack of über-talented “Nashville cats” playing rock, blues, and jazz music. As I posited in my 2012 book The Other Side of Nashville, the Music City’s “rock era” started with the release of R. Stevie Moore’s Phonography album in 1976.

Back in the mid-‘70s, Moore and his friends – notably Roger Ferguson and Victor Lovera – were among the few artists making original, non-country music in Nashville. Moore later lit out for New Jersey and made a name for himself as the “Godfather of Home Recording.” But others would follow, diverse rockers like David Olney & the X-Rays, the White Animals, and Cloverbotton who would later be followed by Jason & the Scorchers, Afrikan Dreamland, and many others. The city’s rock scene thrived throughout the 1980s and ‘90s through today with talents like Sour Ops and William Tyler representing the city alongside immigrants like Jack White and Dan Auerbach.   

Richie Owens’ Redemption

New albums by a couple of the city’s O.G. rockers – Richie Owens and Steve Boyd – show that there’s still plenty of great music being made by the first generation of Music City rockers. Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Richie Owens grew up in a musical family (he’s Dolly Parton’s cousin and has toured as a member of the country legend’s band) and played around town during the ‘80s in beloved bands like Placid Fury, The Dayts (with my old high school buddy Norm Rau!), The Resistors, and The Movement. Most recently, he’s fronted Richie Owens & the Farm Bureau, the band creating an inspired blend of roots-rock and twangy country on albums like 2011’s In Farm We Trust, 2014’s Tennessee, and 2020’s Reconstruction. Owens has also worked in the studio with bands like Jason & the Scorchers, the Georgia Satellites, and Raging Fire.

Redemption, however, is credited to Owens by himself, and billed as “a gutter gospel for the damned,” so don’t let the poppy, melodic album-opener “Welcome To the Evening Show” fool you…this is a deeply-insightful (and disturbing) take on our apocalyptic days delivered by Owen with a smile on his face and a preacher’s fervor as his warm vocals and gorgeous guitar-play support an otherwise devastating message. The song also sets the stage for Redemption, the album, as a sort of rock ‘n’ roll parable, a clarion call for the faithful who have been conned and confused and debased for their empathy and humanity. “Sacrifice” carries the message into blues turf, with Owens’ Delta-dirty guitar lines punctuating his somber vocals. 

“The Hammer” digs even deeper, Owens’ voice warped and obscured by an electronic haze, the song’s deep blues roots modernizing the John Henry myth for a chaotic era. The somber “Muddy the Water” plays like a dirge slotted between “The Hammer” and the up-tempo “All That Matters,” which buzzes like the parasocial hum we find ourselves in daily, the song’s dire message buoyed by a glammy rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack with some tightwire guitar and a driving rhythm. It’s back to the hammer and tongs for “Nameless,” a bruising, metallic, Biblical message with oblique lyrics and a menacing vibe fueled by the flames of a dozen burning bushes.

The electrifying spaghetti western-styled guitarplay of “Trouble” is accompanied by a galloping arrangement and vocals that ride hard above the relentless rhythm to deliver the ‘Sturm und Drang’ while the late night bluesy feel of “Note To Self” offers up an exotic ambience that reminds of Santana’s Caravanserai. Featuring fluid, jazzy guitar lines that soar and dip across the musical landscape, it’s a joyful noise that flows as a counterpoint to the song’s lyrical struggle. “Fighting For Our Sins” is an unbridled rocker with taut guitar lines and a Beatlesque melody which creates a deceptively sunny soundtrack for an otherwise stormy lyrical journey.

“Miggido” is another brilliant, western-flavored romp with twangy guitar and a wide rhythm that strides the same dark side of the street as some of the best work from Luther Perkins, James Burton, or Hank Garland to ride alongside Owens’ brilliant, provocative, and poetic lyrics. Album-closer “The Last Song Written” is a bigger and bolder rocker than anything previous with the sound of a guitar army marching lockstep to Owens’ reflective albeit reflective lyrics, one final sermon for the end of the world. It’s the perfect closer for Redemption, a masterpiece painted with Owens’ effortless mastery of rock, blues, and country music to deliver a timeless message. “Redemption” is on the horizon, but we’re going to have to keep walking through hell to get there…

Steve Boyd’s King of the Losers

The White Animals were one of the most popular local bands during the first half of the ‘80s, releasing five studio and a live recording on their own independent Dread Beat Records label circa 1981-1987. Bassist Steve Boyd was along for the ride from the very beginning, and while fat-string players generally get short-changed on receiving credit for a band’s success, Boyd was integral to the Animals’ heavy rhythmic sound, playing off drummer Ray Crabtree like Entwistle and Townshend in the Who, or maybe Aston Barrett and Carlton Barrett in the Wailers.

Boyd also had a hand in the band’s songwriting, contributing fan favorites like “Constant Attention,” “Such A Long Time,” and “This Girl of Mine” to the Animals’ songbook. He brought similar pop/rock sensibilities to the Claimstakers’ self-titled 1988 album; a well-regarded side project Boyd recorded with White Animals bandmate Rich Parks. Boyd’s solo debut, King of the Loners, starts up front with a wry bit of humor…credited to Boyd and “The Loners,” in reality, the talented musician wrote all the songs, played all the instruments, and produced the album save for cameos by guitarist Will Kimbrough on two songs. By definition, Boyd would be “King of the Loners” as he was largely alone when he created this stunningly impressive solo debut effort. 

“Drowning” kicks off the album, the song reflecting more than a little Tom Petty influence; although Boyd’s vocals are slightly more flexible than the late rock superstar’s, they’re every bit as engaging. The folkish influences evident on “Scattered Down the Road” only add to the song’s enormous charm, Boyd’s wistful vocals accompanied by a filigree acoustic guitar strum. The mournful harp-play evokes Dylan, but with less grandiosity and more humility. The result is an overall gorgeous performance with intricate lyrics and wonderful vocal/guitar interplay. The title track is an upbeat rocker with a rollicking arrangement and a melody that’s two lanes wide and supported by wiry fretwork and power-pop vocals.

The loping rhythm that opens “Sands of Idle Time” draws you in with effortless grace, offering vocals that verge on melancholy accompanied by gossamer guitarplay that delights even as it mesmerizes. By contrast, the country twang of “Now I Understand” brings a bit of honky-tonk authenticity to a deep personal song that delves into the ages-old father/son divide. The languid “Lazy Tuesday” pairs swampy, Creedence-styled guitar twang to a slow-rolling lyrical feast while the ballad “The House Where Blue Light Lives” showcases a different facet of Boyd’s talents, lyrically and musically capturing an innocence too-often lost in the void of social media-driven “content,” relying instead on heartfelt, plaintive vocals and immaculate guitarplay. The lilting “A Prison Song” – originally recorded by the White Animals – offers a sublime 1960s-era country-rock vibe with weeping pedal-steel guitar and a gentle acoustic strum; “Up For Air” closes King of the Losers with an up-tempo performance that echoes the ‘Laural Canyon’ sound of the 1970s with glimmering vocals and guitar.

While I’ve always enjoyed and respected Boyd’s contributions to the White Animals, the bassist’s first solo shot at the brass ring is simply stunning in the heart and soul displayed by King of the Loners’ delicate wordplay as well as Boyd’s carefully-crafted instrumentation that wields either a velvet glove or brass knuckles, depending on which best serves the song. These are intelligent, carefully considered songs akin to artists like Dwight Twilley, Peter Case, and Big Star-era Alex Chilton as well as another Nashville cat, Bill Lloyd. Boyd’s ability to fuse classic pop and rock to a contemporary sound is a welcome breath of fresh air.

With apologies to John Sebastian, there’s more to Nashville than just “guitar pickers.” As these albums from Owens and Boyd – as well as recently releases by Tommy Womack and the late Todd Snider (R.I.P.) and a 2024 album by the White Animals – prove, the Music City is teeming with talent, even if it’s not always recognized.