The Reverend's Guide to Record Store Day 2026

For those of you who celebrate the holiday, Record Store Day is rapidly approaching, and if you haven’t scanned the list of available hot wax at least a dozen times by now, what sort of record collector are you? It’s shaping up to be one of the best RSD events in recent memory – sure, there are a bunch of major label retreads, reissues of albums you didn’t want to buy when they were new, and gimmicky picture discs and 3” records (really…this is something we needed?) – but this spring’s sale also includes a bunch of previously-unreleased studio and live gems worth your time and money.

What follows below is the Reverend’s carefully-curated list of Record Store Releases that I’ll be spending my hard-earned coin on buying. There are other titles of merit on this year’s list – your tastes may vary – as well as more than a few albums that I already own on vinyl and/or CD and see no reason to part with a dollar to get the newest and hottest version of such. The below-listed flapjacks are those that I think will provide the most bang for your buck, and to buy every LP here will run you a cool $300+ so if you haven’t been saving your pennies (do they still exist?), well, shame on you… 

Marshall Crenshaw - The Bootleg Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw: 1984-87 (Yep Roc Records)
    Crenshaw is a helluva songwriter and performer, so The Bootleg Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw: 1984-87 promises to be a real banger. Marshall personally dug through his archives to assemble this special vinyl release, which includes unreleased recordings, demo tapes, and live takes recorded during the noted time period that resulted in acclaimed LPs like Downtown, Mary Jane & 9 Others, and Good Evening. The 14-track album includes a bunch of original tunes as well as covers of Gene Pitney’s “Town Without Pity” and Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day,” recorded with Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg of the E Street Band. Fun fact: Crenshaw portrayed Holly in the 1987 Ritchie Valens biopic La Bamba, performing Holly’s “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” in the movie and on the soundtrack album. 

The dB’s - Cycles Per Second: US Tour 2024 (Propeller Sound Recordings) 
    Peter Holsapple and the dB’s have enjoyed a modicum of “rediscovery” these past few years, and justifiably so…the band’s power-pop flecked, old school indie rock sound is unique to the dB’s, one of the finest bands from the 1980s ‘college rock’ era. Propeller Sound Recordings reissued the band’s first two albums – 1981’s Stands for deciBels and 1982’s Repercussion – a couple years back, which resulted in a 2024 reunion tour featuring all four original band members (yes, even Chris Stamey!). Cycles Per Second is a document of that tour, a baker’s dozen of classic dB’s tunes including fan faves like “Black and White,” “Love Is For Lovers,” “Lonely Is,” and the scorching “Amplifier.” The album has been pressed on ‘firework splatter’ vinyl for RSD and includes a full-color inset of tour photos.

The Dream Syndicate - Sketches For Medicine Show (Fire Records)
    The Dream Syndicate released a wonderful, deluxe four-CD box set of the band’s 1984 sophomore album Medicine Show late last year, and fans thought that was about all that the archives held for that period of the band’s history. Come Record Store Day 2026, however, a new chapter will be written with Sketches For Medicine Show, a collection of rare recordings circa 1983-84 that includes a handful of rehearsal recordings and live tracks including the band’s unique version of Bob Dylan’s “Knocking On Heaven’s Door” and Bonnie Dobson’s anti-war folk classic “Morning Dew.” Syndicate frontman Steve Wynn has assured fans via social media that none of the seven tracks on Sketches were included on the deluxe box set, so this LP offers all new munchies for your ears. This may also be the rarest of this year’s RSD releases, with only 600 copies distributed regionally.

Freddie King - Feeling Alright: The Complete 1975 Nancy Jazz Pulsation Concerts (Elemental Music)
    There aren’t that many blues releases on this spring’s RSD slate, but this triple-disc Freddie King live set should make up for the lack of quantity with a collection of unparalleled quality. Capturing the legendary blues guitarist performing before 50,000 fans at France’s Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival in October 1975, the album is previously unreleased. Produced by award-winning reissue wizard Zev Feldman, and sourced from original ORTF (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française) recordings, the discs are pressed on 180-gram vinyl and the title is authorized by King’s estate. The release includes appreciations of the artists from his daughter Wanda King and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons as well as extensive liner notes from music journalist and historian (and a friend of mine) Cary Baker. If a three-LP set is a bit too rich for your bank account, budget-friendly CD and digital versions will be released on April 24th. 

Ngozi Family - Gate Crash ’78 (Now-Again Records)
    This Zamrock stuff scratches a 1970s-era rock ‘n’ roll itch you didn’t know you had, and everything I’ve heard from the Ngozi Family, Paul Ngozi, Chrissy Zebby Tembo, Witch, and other bands from Zambia’s ‘70s rock scene is of uniformly high quality and high energy. Gate Crash ’78 is a long-lost Ngozi Family/Chrissy Zebby Tembo album that was test-pressed but never released back in the day. This is number one on my RSD hit parade, and once you’ve heard guitarist Paul Ngozi, it’ll be high on your list too. Now-Again Records has done an admirable job in documenting this obscure corner of rock ‘n’ roll history, and Gate Crash ’78 carries on the tradition with an eight-page booklet featuring rare photos and details on the Ngozi Family’s amazing history.

The Ramones - Live In San Francisco (Rhino Records)
    Another year and another live Ramones disc hits the shelves – and we have Rhino Records to thank! The tracklists on all these authorized live hubcaps, as well as most of the recent glut of bootleg vinyl, don’t vary by that many songs and, well, they’re the Ramones, so they mostly all deliver the same electrifying tightrope walk of sound. But we fanatics buy ‘em up anyway, like good little lemmings collecting baseball cards, and since this is a long overdue authorized release of the band’s 1979 City Hall Plaza show in San Francisco for the End of the Century tour, we’ll probably buy this one as well. Often bootlegged (notably as City Hall by Bad Joker Records and Live 1977 & 1979 by Live Wire Productions), the legit release offers up 27 songs on two LPs pressed on 140-gram ‘neon pink’ vinyl. 

Runt w/Todd Rundgren - The Necessary Cosmic Frenzy (Rhino Records)
    This is another title high on my “buy” list, the first ever solo performance by rock legend and innovator, Todd Rundgren. Runt was Rundgren’s first band after the Nazz – it was really a solo joint to begin with – and he’d be billed under his own name soon after the release of the lone, self-titled and excellent Runt album in 1970. This live performance from Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios took place on June 30th, 1971 and was broadcast by WMMR-FM radio. Rundgren was backed for the occasion by his future Utopia bandmember “Moogy” Klingman, bassist Stu Wood, guitarist Tom Cosgrove, and drummer Norman “N.D.” Smart. Rundgren would leave Runt in the rearview mirror with the release of the expansive Something/Anything? two-album set in 1972 and the rest, as they say, is history.

Thin Lizzy - Live In Cleveland 1976 (UMR/Vertigo Records)
    After several years spent treading the boards, British hard rock band Thin Lizzy, fronted by an Irish singer, songwriter, and bassist – the musical genius that was Phil Lynott – broke through to stateside audiences in 1976 with a pair of acclaimed albums, Jailbreak and Johnny the Fox. This FM radio broadcast was originally included as part of 2024’s six-disc 1976 box set, broken out here as a stand-alone 2-LP set pressed on transparent vinyl. The May 1976 concert, broadcast on Cleveland’s WMMS-FM, includes most of the songs from Jailbreak as well as a handful of earlier tunes. I have personal knowledge of the depth of WMMS’s tape archives, and if they’re starting to produce these live shows for vinyl reissue, we collectors are in for a treat!      

Honorable Mention (i.e. other groovy RSD releases to consider): Dr. Feelgood’s Oil City Confidential, the soundtrack to director Julien Temple’s 2009 film about the influential 1970s British R&B band; The Gits’ Etcetera, an odds ‘n’ sods collection of rarities and live tracks from the ill-fated but influential punk rock band; The Mooney Suzuki’s People Get Ready, a 25th anniversary reissue of the Detroit sound-adjacent rockers’ classic album with a bonus 1999 concert disc; John Prine’s BBC Sessions, a nine-song collection of material from the acclaimed singer/songwriter’s first two albums, performed live on BBC radio; Terry Callier’s At The Earl of Old Town, a cool live show from the 1970s-era folk/jazz/blues guitarist (who found a modicum of fame in the 1990s in the U.K.); and SRC’s Milestones, the Detroit rocker’s acclaimed sophomore album, a masterful mix of hard rock, prog, and British Invasion influences. 

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...

 

Short Rounds: Marshall Crenshaw, Crack The Sky, Donna Frost, Mark Harrison & the Happy Tramps, Christone Kingfish Ingram, The Rubinoos & Jon Savage's 1972-1976 (September 2021)

New album releases in 200 words or less…

Marshall Crenshaw – The Wild, Exciting Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw (Sunset Blvd Records)
American major labels are scouring the archives for uncut gems to pump up their expensive “deluxe” anniversary reissues of best-selling back catalog titles. These sets are often luxury purchases for well-heeled boomers and they offer little in the way of value with their seemingly endless studio outtakes and they-shoulda-remained-demo-recordings. The legendary Marshall Crenshaw, on the other hand, delivers on the dollar, his archival release The Wild Exciting Sounds of Marshall Crenshaw a reasonably-priced two-disc set comprised of previously-unreleased live performances. What do you get for your double-sawbuck? Disc one offers 16 tracks with Crenshaw’s early band circa 1982-83 featuring delightful performances of some of his best-known songs like “Whenever You’re On My Mind,” “Rockin’ Around In NYC,” “Cynical Girl,” and “Someday Someway,” all of ‘em performed with energy and youthful enthusiasm. Disc two stirs in a couple of lovely solo acoustic numbers and a 1991 performance of “Walkin’ Around” with friends like Mitch Easter and Brad Jones. Crenshaw lovingly covers the Bottle Rockets’ sublime “Kit Kat Klock” before the disc closes with six songs performed with the Bottle Rockets themselves and recorded by Eric Ambel (The Del-Lords), the engaging performances sitting comfortably at the intersection of Beatlesque power-pop and Americana. Grade: A   BUY! 

Crack The Sky – Between the Cracks (Carry On Records)
Rust Belt rockers Crack The Sky have been dancing on the hard edge of progressive sounds for better than 45 years now and, with roughly two-dozen studio and live albums to their name (including this year’s wonderful Tribes), CTS has a rather sizeable back catalog of music. Between the Cracks is an odds ‘n’ sods collection of songs chosen by the band members, material they collectively consider to be “sleeper tracks that fell between the cracks.” It’s a heady collection, to be sure, with deep cuts dating back to the early ‘80s, but the bulk of the dozen songs here are from the new millennium (my guess is that they couldn’t license any of the 1970s-era Lifesong label tracks). What you hear is a mature, veteran band with significant musical chemistry as shown by songs like the mesmerizing “Zoom,” the ghostly Goth-prog of “We’re All Dead,” the Kraut-rockin’ “The Box,” and the stunning guitars and biting social-commentary of “Immigration.” Crack The Sky’s sound is equal parts guitar-rock and proggy ambition, performed with imagination and no little skill. Early CTS fans should check out Between the Cracks for a taste of what this talented band has been doing in recent years. Grade: B+   BUY!

Donna Frost – The Quarantine Sessions (self-produced)
Like many of us, Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist Donna Frost spent much of 2020 locked in the house, trying to avoid the plague raging outside our doors. She did what a lot of restless musicians did – she wrote and recorded a bunch of songs, five of which are featured on Frost’s The Quarantine Sessions EP. With a gorgeous voice that straddles the line between folk and country, Frost looks for the positive with songs like “I’m Keeping the Faith” and “Love and Kindness,” her performances anchored by a gentle guitar strum and unadorned, emotionally-impactful vocals. With “Quarantine Blues” Frost displays a deft hand with Piedmont-styled blues guitar, her spry inspired-by-real-life lyrics cleverly documenting America circa 2020 while “When This Is All Over” is an uplifting look towards the future. The Quarantine Sessions closes out with “Welcome To Our New World,” a frank appraisal of our predicament that is musically jauntier than the lyrics. Overall, Frost faces the pandemic and quarantine with hope and humor with these five carefully-crafted and entertaining songs. Grade: A-   BUY DIRECT! 

Donna Frost – The Quarantine Sessions, Volume 2 (self-produced)
Sadly, the pandemic didn’t go away as quickly as a certain self-absorbed segment of our political leadership believed, and singer-songwriter Donna Frost experienced the loss of her mother to Covid. As such, the nine songs on Frost’s The Quarantine Sessions, Volume 2 are a shining example of faith in the presence of grief and tragedy. Frost’s wonderful vocals are accompanied only by her guitar, both instruments displaying a greater sense of urgency than previously with many of these songs. The positive lyrics of “Here and Now” and “I’m Gonna Take This Day” are nevertheless plagued by the same doubt and uncertainty that many of us are still experiencing, while the bluesy shades of “Bitter But Better” are entirely appropriate considering the song’s see-sawing emotions. Frost’s beautiful and touching “Mama’s Prayers” is a wonderful reminiscence of a loving, supportive relationship that deserves a place on country radio and, by closer “Press On,” the singer has regained her determination to face down adversity. The songs on The Quarantine Sessions, Volume 2 are more complex and pissed-off performed more aggressively than its predecessor, but Frost’s lyrics still display the hopefulness and optimism we’ll need to get through this three-ring circus we call life. Grade: A   BUY DIRECT!  

Mark Harrison and the Happy Tramps – Way Out! (Twister Records)
With Nashville rockers Sour Ops, Mark Harrison and brother Price weld Detroit sonic overkill with modern power-pop to create a fresh throwback sound. Way Out!, the debut from Mark and his band the Happy Tramps, veers away from the guitar-happy crash ‘n’ bang of Sour Ops in favor of a chill retro sound that’s heavy on 1960s-styled pop-rock-soul atmospherics. Opener “Believe It Or Not” melds Booker T-inspired pop-soul and a lush backing soundtrack to Harrison’s trembling, emotional vocals. It’s a heady musical moment, one of many on Way Out! Harrison’s vocals remind of Roy Orbison by way of Chris Isaacs, songs like “Where The Wild” and “Want You” displaying haunting beauty while tunes like “Mindbender” and “Shake It” roll down the tracks with a drunken bluesy swagger (“Shake It” displaying some of Harrison’s fiery git-licks). “Down The Line” and “Leaving Now” evince a sort of folkie singer-songwriter vibe with an emotional heartbeat and those ethereal vocals. Harrison is a pretty good lyricist in a Dylanesque manner, and it’s to his and the band’s credit that they stamp their trademark on the disparate styles described above and, much like Sour Ops, make it a sound uniquely their own. Highly recommended! Grade: A+   BUY DIRECT!

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram – 662 (Alligator Records)
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram turned more than a few heads with his stunning 2019 debut, Kingfish. By the time of that album’s release, the talented 20-year-old guitarist had already performed at the Obama White House and opened for legends like Buddy Guy and the Tedeschi Trucks Band. The ambition and beauty of Kingfish does nothing to prepare you for Ingram’s spectacular sophomore effort, 662 (named for his Clarksdale, Mississippi area code). Working with producer Tom Hambridge, Ingram has delivered a mature, multi-faceted work that shines like a jewel in the sunlight. The guitarist masterfully blends contemporary blues styles with blues-rock and throwback R&B for a sound that will have your stereo speakers jumping. The title track is a juke-joint rave-up with flamethrower guitar while the socially-conscious ‘70s-styled funk-soul sound of “Another Life Goes By” displays Ingram’s smoky, Curtis Mayfield-styled vocals. The “bonus” track “Rock & Roll” is just hauntingly beautiful, with languid vocals and elegant fretwork that sticks in your brain for days. Ingram has upped his game throughout 662, his vocal phrasing meeting the needs of each song and supported by his fluid, diverse, and electrifying guitar style. Alligator Records’ founder Bruce Iglauer discovered a rare talent in Christone Ingram. Grade: A+   BUY!

The Rubinoos – The CBS Tapes (Omnivore Recordings)
Power-pop pioneers the Rubinoos shock and awe with The CBS Tapes, a collection of demo recordings evincing an anarchic attitude and adorable pop-punk energy almost two decades before Green Day and the Offspring made their mark. Recorded at CBS Studios in San Francisco in 1976, prior to the band’s signing with Berserkley Records (home to Earth Quake, Greg Kihn, and Jonathan Richman), this eleven-track collection features the band’s original roster, including guitarists Jon Rubin and Tommy Dunbar, galloping through a 30-minute set that approximates their live show at the time. So, you get ripping original tunes like the bouncy, glam-rock “All Excited” and the young, loud, and snotty “I Want Her So Bad” delivered with the subtlety of a stick of dynamite alongside cover songs both serious (The Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand”) and not (The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar”). The band displays an unexpected instrumental deftness on their cover of the Meters’ classic “Cissy Strut” while their take on friend and labelmate Jonathan Richman’s “Government Center” is provided a sophisticated pop-rock arrangement. The CBS Tapes preserves the sound of happy music guys making a joyful noise. Reforming in 2010, the current touring band includes three original members. Bravo! Grade: B+   BUY!

Various Artists – Jon Savage’s 1972-1976: All Our Times Have Come (Ace Records U.K.)
After releasing a handful of personally-curated compilation albums covering the essential years of the 1960s (one each from 1965 to 1968), British rock critic Jon Savage jumped to a multi-year period for 2019’s Rock Dreams On 45 (1969-1971) comp. This year’s model stretches a little further, All Our Times Have Come spanning 1972-1976 across two discs and 44 songs. This sort of collection can be scattershot, but Savage has excellent musical taste and an ear for primo-grade rock ‘n’ roll. Thus, you get the expected hit singles from folks like Alice Cooper, Roxy Music, John Lennon, Andy Pratt, Blue Öyster Cult, and Blondie as well as classic deep cuts from beloved rockers like the Byrds, Mott the Hoople, Free, Lou Reed, the Sweet, Patti Smith, and Big Star. Throw in cult rockers the Move (“Do Ya”), Flamin’ Groovies (“Slow Death”), Eno (“Third Uncle”), the Ramones (“Blitzkreig Bop”), and Grin (“End Unkind”) alongside lesser-known artists like Faust, Sparks, the Hammersmith Gorillas, the Count Bishops, and the Wackers and Savage has once again assembled an entertaining and electrifying period playlist. The diverse musical selection and a profusely-illustrated 28-page booklet with extensive liner notes raise the set miles above your average “hits” collection. Grade: A   BUY!  

# # #

Previously on That Devil Music.com:

Short Rounds, June 2021: The Black Keys, the Bummers, Michael Nesmith, Greg “Stackhouse” Prevost, Quinn Sullivan, and the Vejtables

Short Rounds, April 2021: Peter Case, The Fortunate Few, David Olney & Anana Kaye, Sour Ops, Joe Strummer, and the Thieves

Short Rounds, December 2020: Dave Alvin, Blue Öyster Cult, Shemekia Copeland, Coyote Motel, The Fleshtones, Little Richard, Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, Midnight Oil, The Pretty Things, Walter Trout, and Brown Acid: The Eleventh Trip

Short Rounds: The Bluefields, Dave Clark Five, Marshall Crenshaw, Gary Moore, Gwil Owen & Watermelon Slim (2020)

New album releases in 150 words or less…

The Bluefields – Day In the Sun (Underground Treehouse Records)
Veterans of Nashville’s country and rock scenes, the Bluefields include singer Joe Blanton (Royal Court of China), guitarists Warner Hodges (Jason & the Scorchers) and Dan Baird (Georgia Satellites), and drummer Brad Pemberton (Steve Earle). Day In the Sun is the band’s fourth album, their first in six years, and the Rev is here to tell you that it’s a real slobberknocker! The band achieves a solid, often funky groove on songs like “Bottom of the Barrel” and “Somewhere Down the Road” on top of which Hodges lays down his shimmering leads. Blanton is a soulful shouter with a hint of twang shaping his vocals as on “Born To Let You Down,” an unbridled rocker that hits your ears like a freight train teetering off the tracks. Offering a rib-ticklin’ meat ‘n’ taters buffet, Day In the Sun provides a musical feast for long-suffering fans of Southern rock ‘n’ roll. Grade: A   BUY!

Dave Clark Five – All the Hits (BMG)
British rocker Dave Clark was years ahead of his time in business savvy, holding onto all of the DC5’s rights long before most bands realized that their record labels could (and would) do them wrong. This has resulted in a deficit of DC5 reissues, and although beat-to-hell copies of old Dave Clark Five LPs can be found easily enough, it’d be nice to reintroduce this stuff to a new century. Hopefully All the Hits is the first salvo in a full-fledged reappraisal of this important British Invasion band’s legacy as the only outfit to serious challenge the Beatles for chart supremacy. More popular stateside than at home, the DC5 scored hits like “Glad All Over,” “Bits and Pieces,” “Any Way You Want It,” and “Over and Over” between 1964 and 1967, all of which are among the 16 red-hot tracks included here. It’s time to rediscover the Dave Clark Five! Grade: B+   BUY!

Marshall Crenshaw – Miracle of Science (Shiny-Tone Records)
The first in a series of reissues of Marshall Crenshaw’s 1990s-era Razor & Tie albums (on Crenshaw’s own Shiny-Tone Records label), Miracle of Science finds the rock icon expanding his signature power-pop sound in pursuit of a wider musical palette. Mostly recorded in Nashville with talents like Bill Lloyd, Brad Jones, and Pat Buchanan manning various instruments, Miracle of Science ranges from the shimmery, Smithereens-styled pop of “What Do You Dream Of?” and the honky-tonk flavored “Who Stole That Train” to Crenshaw’s trademark power-pop on “Starless Summer Sky.” A cover of Grant Hart’s “Twenty-Five Forty-One” is spot-on, the gorgeous soundtrack emphasizing the lyrics while oldie “The In Crowd” offers an imaginative blend of the song’s jazzy roots with bluesy overtones. I could do without the backwards “Seven Miles An Hour,” though. Criminally underrated when it was originally released, Miracle of Science will appeal to the discerning rock ‘n’ roll aficionado. Grade: A-   BUY! 

Gwil Owen – Flying Dream (Rambler Records)
Nashville’s Gwil Owen has been making great music in the Music City since the 1980s with bands like Fur Trade and the Thieves. For Flying Dream, he’s assisted by the cream-of-the-crop of local talent like guitarist Will Kimbrough, multi-instrumentalist Jim Hoke, and singer Brydget Carrillo, whose heavenly backing vox balance Owen’s whip-smart lyricism. Gwil’s no slouch in the musical department, and his instrumental talents shine throughout Flying Dream. It’s Owen’s sense of melody, however, combined with his skill as a wordsmith and the ability to create in various musical styles that make the country, rock, and blues of songs like the twangy rocker “I Would Lie” (with greasy Kimbrough guitar); the jazzy, eclectic “Hamster Wheel” (written with the late David Olney); or the soul-infused “Moth Without A Flame” (think Memphis 1970) stand out even in a city rich with talent; Owen is one of the best Nashville has to offer. Grade: A   BUY!

Gary Moore – Live From London (Provogue Records)
Guitar wunderkind Gary Moore left us too soon in 2011 at the too-young age of 58 years but, as proven by the 2009 show documented by Live From London, Moore was still performing at an impressively high level. Over a career that spanned five decades, Moore explored blues, jazz, hard rock, and heavy metal styles and all are represented to some extent on Live From London, but it’s Moore’s affinity for the blues which resonates the loudest. The guitarist imbues original material like the melancholy “Still Got the Blues” or the beautiful, flowing instrumental “Parisienne Walkway” with unbelievable amounts of emotion and energy. Choice covers like Otis Rush’s “All Your Love,” J.B. Lenoir’s “Mojo Boogie,” and a particularly heartfelt reading of Al Kooper’s “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know” are all painted various shades of blue and, as showcases for Moore’s immense talents, perfectly display his peerless abilities. Grade: A-   BUY!

Watermelon Slim – Traveling Man (Northern Blues Music)
For decades now, Watermelon Slim (a/k/a Bill Homans) has been one of the great, underrated talents of the blues. He’s not a soul crooner or a flash guitarist or a slick stylist, but Slim is a helluva songwriter and a fine slide-guitarist and his raw vocals are perfectly suited to his poetic, slice-of-life lyrics. The double-disc Traveling Man is Slim’s first live album, just the man and his guitar and the occasional blast of harmonica, and the solo setting does justice to lively and effective performances of gems like the Delta-inspired “Blue Freightliner,” the unique perspective of “Let It Be In Memphis,” and the haunting “Devil’s Cadillac.” Slim’s Okie patois imbues the songs with an undeniable authenticity while his erudite working-class blues strikes a chord with almost any listener. If you’re not familiar with the talents and charms of Watermelon Slim, Traveling Man is a great place start! Grade: A+   BUY!

Previously on That Devil Music.com:
Short Rounds, February 2020: Beach Slang, The Bar-Kays, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Delaney & Bonnie, Mott the Hoople, Television Personalities
 
Short Rounds, January 2020: The Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dana Gillespie, Manfred Mann, Mick Ronson, An A-Squared Compilation
 
Short Rounds, December 2019 (Holiday Gift Suggestions): Cindy Lee Berryhill, Black Pumas, Alice Cooper, Robyn Hitchcock & Andy Partridge, Handsome Dick Manitoba, The Muffs, Harry Nilsson, The Rosalyns, Bobby Rush 

New Music Monthly: January 2020 releases

Howdy and Happy New Year to y'all! The holidays have passed, a new year has dawned, and the record labels will launch another season of trying to separate we music lovers from our hard-earned coin. January doesn't offer a lot of new releases, but it's quality over quantity with new albums from folks like blues-rock guitarist Tinsley Ellis, punk-rock legends Anti-Flag, Southern rockers the Drive-By Truckers, British art-rockers Wire, and the enigmatic ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, among others. Plus long-awaited reissues from Marshall Crenshaw and Paul Kelly. Enjoy!

Release dates are subject to change and nobody tells me when they do. If you’re interesting in buying an album, just hit the ‘Buy!’ link to get it from Amazon.com...it’s just that damn easy! Your purchase puts valuable ‘store credit’ in the Reverend’s pocket that he’ll use to buy more music to write about in a never-ending loop of rock ‘n’ roll ecstasy!

JANUARY 10
Paul Kelly - Songs From the South 1985-2019   BUY!

JANUARY 17
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - X: The Godless Void And Other Stories   BUY!
Anti-Flag - 20/20 Vision   BUY!
Marshall Crenshaw - Miracle of Science   BUY!
Holy Fuck - Deleter   BUY!
Of Montreal - UR FUN   BUY!

JANUARY 24
Black Lips - Sing In A World That's Falling Apart   BUY!
Breaking Benjamin - Aurora   BUY!
Wire - Mind Hive   BUY!
Wolf Parade - Thin Mind   BUY!

JANUARY 31
Destroyer - Have We Met   BUY!
Drive-By Truckers - The Unraveling   BUY!
Tinsley Ellis - Ice Cream In Hell   BUY!
Squarepusher - Be Up A Hello   BUY!
Theory of A Deadman - Say Nothing   BUY!
Ben Watt - Storm Damage   BUY!

Album of the Month: Marshall Crenshaw's Miracle of Science is the first in a string of long-overdue reissues of the power-pop genius's 1990s-era Razor & Tie label releases. Miracle of Science, originally released in 1996, marks a return to Crenshaw's earliest albums with the artist providing most of the instrumentation on an underrated selection of original tunes and a few choice covers. If you missed this one the first time around, here's another chance to get Crenshaw's Miracle of Science on either CD or vinyl...