Short Rounds: Miller Anderson, The Heartsleeves, The Nervous Eaters, Old Town Crier, Orang-Utan, Roxercat & Bob Weir (March 2023)

Stuff I’m listening to this month…

Miller Anderson – Bright City (Esoteric Records, U.K.)
Scottish guitarist Miller Anderson was part of the British blooze boom of the late ‘60s and while he’s best known for his tenure with the Keef Hartley Band (four LPs from 1969-71), he also played with Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, and Dog Soldier during the 1970s and ‘80s and recorded with mates like Ian Hunter, Jon Lord (Deep Purple), and Dave Cousins (Strawbs). Anderson has also pursued an on-again, off-again solo career that began with this 1971 album, Bright City. Although ostensibly a bluesman, Anderson displays a deft hand here at several genres, like the proggy Goth of “Alice Mercy (To Whom It May Concern),” which carries its Procol Harum influences nicely, and ends with a folkie vibe that could easily pass for an Incredible String Band jam. The album’s title track offers a dreamy soundscape in the best British folk tradition, with a lofty string arrangement and Anderson’s filigree guitarplay.   

Bright City isn’t flawless, however…“The Age of Progress” is an underproduced trifle with tinny harpsichord and soulful backing vocals, the song never really picking a lane and sticking with it. “Grey Broken Morning” is a little too jazzbo for my tastes, crossing lanes into middle-of-the-road turf with syrupy instrumentation and treacly backing vox. Much better is the nearly eight-minute, fiercely-rockin’ “Hight Tide, High Water,” which fits all of its kitchen sink styles together into a singular, impressive performance that leans prog-rock but masterfully incorporates elements of blues, funk, and hard rock all fueled by Anderson’s nimble fretwork and a fluid line. Friends and former bandmates like guitarist Neil Hubbard (Juicy Lucy), bassist Gary Thain (Uriah Heep), keyboardist Mick Weaver (Wynder K. Frog), and flautist Lyn Dobson (Soft Machine) contribute to the album, but Bright City is otherwise a showcase for Anderson’s often-underrated six-string skills. Grade: B-   BUY!

The Heartsleeves – So Far, So What EP (self-produced)
Nashville’s Scott Feinstein has been kicking around the scene for so long that it’s easy to take the guy for granted. A member of popular local 1980s-era rockers Shadow 15, this recently-released five-song EP represents the first new music from Feinstein in memory. Clocking in at a too-short fifteen minutes, the tunes on So Far, So What nevertheless smack you in the face with what feels like an hour of high-octane, ultra-energetic rock ‘n’ roll and power-pop. EP-opener “Angie” is a ramshackle rocker with roots in the Replacements and absolutely no glass ceiling, with delightfully-discordant guitars and bold drumbeats courtesy of Music City veteran Brad Pemberton. “Things” follows a similar blueprint, tho’ maybe even rowdier, with a melodic edge partially driven by Feinstein’s fine vocal performance and stunning Bob Mould-styled six-string overkill.

The underlying melody of “Understanding Jane” is carpet-bombed with pulse-pounding, explosive, smothering instrumentation – a gleefully wicked, groove, indeed! – while “The Warning” swerves a bit, with ubiquitous local talent Jonathan Bright taking over the drum stool. Bright brings a different tempo to what is a more considered, but no less powerful rocker, but the EP closer “Hate” hits the auditory canal like Trent Reznor dropping acid with Timothy Leary, the performance a virtual chokehold of flexed muscle and tense sinew with tortured vocals and devastating instrumentation that lingers. It’s quite a stylistic departure from the previous songs, but also a showcase for the immense and often-overlooked talents of Scott Feinstein and fellow travelers. In the wise words of my pal Jeffersün Jëbëdiah Schmützig Schanchëz, “BUY IT! You can thank me later…” Grade: A   BUY!

The Nervous Eaters – Monsters + Angels (Wicked Cool Records)
Beloved Boston rockers the Nervous Eaters – whose hard melodic sound has more in common with, say, the Del Lords than with the Sex Pistols – were ‘one-and-done’ with a single 1980 Elektra Records album recorded by an unsympathetic producer (the better-suited Ric Ocasek was proposed by the band but rejected by the label); ultimately underpromoted to death by a clueless label. The band has soldiered on with founder, singer, songwriter, and guitarist Steve Cataldo carrying the torch through various incarnations and indie LPs like 1986’s Hot Steel and Acid. This 21st century version of the Nervous Eaters was formed in 2018 by Cataldo and a brace of Boston rock veterans, who recorded Monsters + Angels during the pandemic year. Released by Little Steven’s Wicked Cool Records, the foursome cranks through ten red-hot tunes that are guaranteed to scratch your rock ‘n’ roll itch. If FM radio wasn’t such a barren landscape of spineless cretin programming, Nervous Eaters tunes like the hard-rockin’ “Tear Me Up” or the throwback power-pop of “Superman’s Hands” would be dominating the airwaves. If guitar-happy, harmony-rich, big beat classic rock is your jam, you owe it to yourself to (re)discover the Nervous Eaters. Grade: A   BUY!   

Old Town Crier – A Night with Old Town Crier (self-produced)
Old Town Crier is the solo musical project of Middleborough, Massachusetts multi-instrumental talent Jim Lough, who has a pair of fine previous EPs under his belt. I wrote last year about You, a benefit EP raising funds for progressive political candidates. The results were so successful that Lough decided to release a full-length live album, A Night with Old Town Crier, with half of the proceeds donated to The Pine Street Inn, a charitable organization located in Boston with the worthy mission to end homelessness. Joined by talented young musicians like guitarist Garrett Jones, bassist Alex Bilodeau, keyboardist JennHwan Wong, drummer Avery Logan, and saxophonist Stephen Byth, Lough and band run through eight rockin’ tunes that could have just as easily been recorded in the early ‘70s as in the early 2020s.

Old Town Crier pursues a throwback sound that is famously diverse with a contemporary feel and nary a shred of musical revisionism. Reminiscent of such genre-blending, melting-pot bands as the Charlatans and Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Old Town Crier mixes rock, classic R&B, blues, jazz, and Americana in a huge cast iron cauldron and lets it boil over for our entertainment. For instance, “Before You Came Along” displays elements of 1950s-styled rock with period R&B, Lough’s soulful vocals accompanied by honky-tonk piano licks and blasts of icy saxophone. “Come Home Caroline” offers a more measured performance, cool blue sax providing a jazzy intro to a heartfelt love song with plaintive vocals and gorgeous instrumentation while “Della May” reminds of Leon Russell with its bluesy, jazz-flecked piano, loping bass lines, and mournful sax with Lough’s effective heartbreak vox the icing on the cake.

My fave performance on A Night with Old Town Crier is the jubilant “Everybody’s Somebody’s Baby,” a jaunty rocker with an old-school vibe and shades of jazzy ‘60s R&B. It’s just a great, up-tempo love song with simple yet brilliant lyrics, rampaging saxophone, big beat drums, and an overall “feel good” finish to the album. If you’d like to hear some fun, finely-crafted, and excellently-played music and support a good cause at the same time, head on over to Bandcamp and check out A Night with Old Town Crier. Grade: A   BUY! 

Orang-Utan – Orang-Utan (Sommor Records, Spain)
From musical trailblazers like John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Cream to one-shot wonders like Killing Floor and Black Cat Bones, England in the late ‘60s was wall-to-wall with blooze bands grasping at the brass ring. Orang-Utan (née Hunter) were one such outfit, a talented bunch o’ young punters who got a raw deal, literally drawn up in a back-alley by a fast-talkin’ producer-cum-label impresario, resulting in this lone self-titled album released in 1971*. There’s a lot of promise in these tunes, which fall into a psych-blues groove fueled by Mick Clarke’s imaginative fretwork and drummer Jeff Seopardi’s ahead-of-his-time songwriting chops. But there’s also a presage of skillful progginess that suggests a future evolution of the band’s sound that would never be. R.I.Y.L. Cactus, Mountain, The Groundhogs, et al. Grade: B+   BUY!

* Due to its obscurity and stateside-only release, Orang-Utan, the album, has long been a mid-priced collectible; an original vinyl copy in good condition will run you $50 or more. This 2022 CD reissue will cost you much less, and is the only authorized reissue of the album after decades of dodgy releases that didn’t pay the band a dime in royalties.

Roxercat – Pearls EP (9 Dog Records, digital release)
When I reviewed The Fortunate Few: The Rock Opera a couple of years ago, I mentioned that Nashville rock veteran Price Jones left the singing on the album’s songs to the capable hands of Ryan Greenawalt and Talisha Holmes. This evidently struck a chord with the talented singer, songwriter, and guitarist as, for Jones’ latest project with her new band Roxercat, she’s taken back the microphone with happy results. Collaborating again with legendary jazz guitarist Stan Lassiter and bassist Bill Francis, with various guest musicians pitching in, the six-song EP Pearls offers up gems of shimmering, gorgeous, guitar-driven rock ‘n’ roll.

The title track is a lovely, poetic song rife with imagery built around Lassister’s fluid guitar lines and Jones’ yearning vocals. “Crime” adds a bit of funk to the EP’s rockin’ framework, with Jones’ playful, buoyant vox doing the heavy lifting alongside a foot-shuffling, booty-shakin’ rhythm. “Baby I Tried” is a more traditional love song with guitar lines that perfectly capture the song’s emotions, Jones’ heartbroken lyrics backed by soulful harmony vocals, while “I Changed Today” highlights Lassiter and Francis’s jazz roots with a complex soundtrack that includes a few hard rock riffs and some funky Booker T-styled keyboard flourishes, atop of which ride Jones’ defiant vocals. The instrumentation is top-notch throughout the six songs on Pearls – creative, imaginative and, at times, edgy and adventuresome while Jones’ lyrical chops are as strong as ever.

As they were released digitally rather than in physical form, it’s hard to actually buy these tracks – only two songs are available from Amazon – but trippy, too-cool videos for four of the EP’s six songs are available on the Roxercat website and YouTube, and you can stream the entire Pearls EP on services like Spotify and Apple Music. The Rev sez “check it out!” Grade: A     

Bob Weir – Ace [50th anniversary edition] (Rhino Records)
Although Grateful Dead singer, songwriter, and guitarist Bob Weir wasn’t the first of the band’s members to release a solo album (Jerry Garcia’s Garcia beat him to the punch by a few months), Weir’s 1972 debut Ace was nevertheless the better-received of the initial Dead bandmember’s solo efforts, establishing Weir’s status as a standalone talent and Garcia’s creative equal. Although the core members of the band (Garcia, bassist Phil Lesh, drummer Bill Kreutzmann, and keyboardist Keith Godchaux) contribute in the studio, Ace is undeniably Weir’s show, the guitarist singing and co-writing all eight of the album’s songs (five of ‘em with hippie lyricist and Dead friend John Perry Barlow), several of which would subsequently become enduring staples of the full band’s nightly set list.

Nor is it a major surprise that a lot of the songs on Ace follow a similar roots-rock, country, and blues blueprint as the Dead’s 1970 American Beauty LP, Weir seemingly expanding on musical ideas he originally had for songs like “Sugar Magnolia.” There are a lot of great songs on Ace, from familiar tunes like “Mexicali Blues,” “One More Saturday Night,” and “Playing In the Band” (all also performed by the Dead) to overlooked gems like “Black-Throated Wind” and “Looks Like Rain.” This 50th anniversary reissue has been expanded to two discs, the second comprised of a 2022 live performance of Ace by Weir & Wolf Brothers with guests like Tyler Childers and Brittney Spencer. While the second disc is entertaining, revisiting the songs with younger albeit equally-talented musicians, there’s no denying the magic and immediacy of the original Ace, which launched Weir’s solo career and remains the best album the Grateful Dead never released. Grade: A   BUY!

Previously on That Devil Music.com:

Short Rounds, September 2022: Buzzcocks, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Charlie Daniels & Friends, Will Hoge, The Pretty Things & Walter Trout

Short Rounds, July 2022: Shemekia Copeland, Jade Warrior, Gwil Owen, Prince & the Revolution, Sour Ops, Supersonic Blues Machine & ‘Heroes and Villains’

Short Rounds, December 2021: Calidoscopio, Deep Purple, Tom Guerra, The Specials, The Wildhearts, Sami Yaffa & ‘I'm A Freak Baby 3’

Short Rounds: Buzzcocks, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Charlie Daniels & Friends, Will Hoge, The Pretty Things & Walter Trout (October 2022)

New album releases in 200 words or less…

Buzzcocks – Sonics In the Soul (Cherry Red Records U.K.)
British punk/new wave legends Buzzcocks built their reputation on Pete Shelley’s caustic, insightful lyrics; Steve Diggle’s livewire fretwork; and an overall melodic, high-octane pop-punk sound that became influential far beyond the band’s modest record sales. Since reuniting in 1989 after an eight-year hiatus, Buzzcocks has been firing on all cylinders, Shelley and Diggle ensuring that they remained a vital creative outfit and not a ‘nostalgia’ act. With Shelley’s death in 2018, the band’s first album without its charismatic frontman had to be a daunting challenge to record. Diggle proves with Sonics In the Soul that there’s still gas left in the Buzzcocks’ tank. Flanked by longtime bassist Chris Remington and drummer Danny Farrant, Sonics In the Soul is essentially a Diggle solo album, but one sporting the crucial ‘fast ‘n’ loud’ Buzzcocks sonic ethos. Diggle’s voice takes getting used to, and his attack-dog guitarplay pales somewhat by the loss of Shelley’s counterpoint. But songs like the locomotive “Manchester Rain” or the riff-littered “Bad Dreams” display a fierce creativity and musical deftness matching or surpassing the band’s previous post-millennial albums. Extra credit awarded for “Don’t Mess With My Brain”, a rifftastic stomped that blends typical Buzzcocks’ lyrical wit with stunning instrumentation. Grade: A-   BUY!

Creedence Clearwater Revival – At The Royal Albert Hall (Craft Recordings)
Just as CCR’s enormous success as a “singles band” (nine Top 10 singles in four years) often overshadowed their album-making prowess, so too did it obscure their strength as a live outfit. As proven by 2019’s long-overdue release of Live At Woodstock, and this recent At The Royal Albert Hall, Creedence was a white-hot live band, each performance bristling with fire and brimstone. This is the first release of the April 1970 show*, which straddles Willie & the Poor Boys and the upcoming Cosmo’s Factory, but the setlist is well-balanced across albums and includes all the “classic rock” radio hits – “Fortunate Son”, “Born On the Bayou”, “Proud Mary”, and “Travelin’ Band” – as well as gems like “Midnight Special” and an extended “Keep On Chooglin’” jam among its dozen tiki-torches. A few deep cuts stand out, notably their bluesy cover of “The Night Time Is the Right Time”, which is closer in spirit to Ray Charles’ version than to Nappy Brown’s original; the riotous, punk-fierce B-side “Commotion”; and the swamp-blues fever of “Tombstone Shadow”.  It’s a shame that no CCR live LPs were released during their heyday (Live In Europe was a posthumous release) as Creedence was a helluva performing outfit. Grade: A+   BUY!  

* The Royal Albert Hall Concert album was released by Fantasy Records in 1980 to cash in on the band’s lingering reputation, but mistakes were made and the tapes used were actually from a January 1970 show at the Oakland Coliseum. Fantasy recalled the album and reissued it months later as The Concert – same cover, same concert, different title…  

Charlie Daniels & Friends – Volunteer Jam 1, 1974: The Legend Begins (Blue Hat Records)
Southern Rock had been around for a half-decade by the time that Charlie Daniels held the first ‘Volunteer Jam’ at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville. It could be argued, however, that October 4th, 1974 was the day that Southern Rock burst into the mainstream, the first of 21 total Volunteer Jams held over the next 47 years, the event eventually outliving its creator. That entire 1974 show has never been released commercially (two live songs from the concert were included on the band’s 1974 Fire On the Mountain LP). Aside from Daniels’ crackerjack band, the performance includes “friends” like the Marshall Tucker Band’s Toy Caldwell and Paul Riddle and the Allman Brothers Band’s Dickey Betts and Jamie Nichol. The twelve-song tracklist skews heavily towards CDB’s upcoming Fire album, including the Top 30 hit “The South’s Gonna Do It”, and is fairly indicative of the talented band’s set at the time. Daniels was a skilled multi-instrumentalist, keyboardist/singer “Taz” DiGregorio could have fronted his own band, and guitarist Barry Barnes was the CDB’s secret weapon. Honestly, you either love Southern Rock and the 1970s-era CBD or you don’t; but for fans, this set is long-overdue document of a talented, hot-shit band. Grade: A   BUY!

Note: With this new CD, six of the first seven Volunteer Jams have been released on vinyl/CD, with 1976’s self-titled Volunteer Jam album comprised of a handful of performances from the 1975 Murfreesboro TN event. Jams III (1977) and IV (1978) were condensed onto a single double-LP set, while VI (1980) and VII (1981) received single-disc releases. The landmark 1979 (V) jam has never been released, although the show featured the reunion of Lynyrd Skynyrd for the first time since the 1977 plane crash that killed several band members; the event also included guests like Toy Caldwell and George McCorkle from the Marshall Tucker Band, John Prine, Link Wray, and the Winter Brothers Band, among many others. I was there and it was a pretty explosive moment when the surviving Skynyrd members hit the stage … so when will we see the show on CD?

Will Hoge – Wings On My Shoes (Edlo Records)
Nashville’s Will Hoge has long drawn inspiration as a lyricist from the late, great John Prine but, with the album-opening “John Prine’s Cadillac”, he picks up the songwriting legend’s mantle with an exquisitely-drawn story-song that offers up brilliant lyrical imagery while also serving as a reverent tribute to the fallen troubadour. It’s just the first of an album’s worth of fine material on Hoge’s Wings On My Shoes, and if the singer/songwriter has moved slightly away from his earlier power-pop, jangle-rock sound to a rootsier, Americana sound, it hasn’t lessened his poetic acumen or energetic delivery. Gorgeous love songs like “It’s Just You” and “The Last One To Go” are brimming over with romantic yearning while story-songs like “Dead Man’s Hand” and “Queenie” draw from the Prine/Guy Clark school of penmanship. The wonderful, nostalgic “Ain’t Like It Used To Be” is about my former hometown, contrasting the old, rural town with the new, upscale city while “Whose God It This?” is wickedly satirical, its humorous narrative hitting the MAGA bullseye. Each performance is infused with soulful vocals, ringing guitars, and a big drumbeat; if this is the sound of “new country,” then I’m all in… Grade: A   BUY!     

The Pretty Things – Live At the BBC (Repertoire Records U.K.)
Even if relatively obscure stateside, the Pretty Things were one of the better bands from the British Invasion and they enjoyed a lengthy career that spanned six decades and a couple dozen albums, right up to the tragic passing of longtime band frontman Phil May. The material included on this six-disc box set was originally broadcast by BBC radio and although a lot of it has been previously-released on a handful of collections, this compilation is the last word on the British rocker’s hometown performances. Live At the BBC packs a lot of energy and vitality into its six discs, which offer performances from as early as an October 1964 appearance on the ‘Saturday Club’ show through a July 1975 performance for legendary British DJ John Peel. There are a lot of stops in-between over the decade-plus documented here, capturing the band in its various guises, from R&B shouters to psychedelic pioneers to hard rockers. Sure, there’s a lot of duplication of songs from various shows, but where else are you going to hear turbo-charged live takes on great tunes like “SF Sorrow Is Born”, “Religion’s Dead”, “Belfast Cowboys”, “Defecting Grey”, “Rosalyn”, and “Singapore Silk Torpedo”, among many others? Grade: A+   BUY!

Walter Trout – Ride (Provogue Records)
At 70 years old, Walter Trout still performs with the energy and creative vitality of an artist half his age. The life-scarred blues veteran has been treading the bricks for nearly 50 years at this point and with Ride, his 30th album, Trout proves that there’s a lot of life left in the old road dog. The guitarist is always looking for ways to challenge himself musically, so Ride showcases Trout’s songwriting and instrumental skills in a variety of blues-based styles. Album-opening “Ghosts” is a hauntingly-brilliant (pun intended) blues-rock flamethrower while the biographical title track echoes the jazz-flecked, guitar-happy Southern rock vibe of the Marshall Tucker Band. Trout’s underrated skill at balladry is on display with the lush “Follow You Back Home” and the emotional “Waiting For the Dawn”, which offers up some of Trout’s most evocative six-string solos. Blues-rock fare like “High Is Low” (featuring Trout’s overlooked harmonica skills) and “Better Days Ahead” feature the guitarist at his incendiary, guitar-slinging finest while “Leave It All Behind” is a classic rock-styled raver complete with raging hornplay and heavy guitar. Altogether, Walter Trout’s Ride continues a string of excellence that began with 2008’s The Outsider and continues unabated to this day. Grade: A   BUY!
    
Previously on That Devil Music.com:
Short Rounds, July 2022: Shemekia Copeland, Jade Warrior, Gwil Owen, Prince & the Revolution, Sour Ops, Supersonic Blues Machine & ‘Heroes and Villains’

Short Rounds, December 2021: Calidoscopio, Deep Purple, Tom Guerra, The Specials, The Wildhearts, Sami Yaffa & ‘I'm A Freak Baby 3’

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

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

Short Rounds: Shemekia Copeland, Jade Warrior, Gwil Owen, Prince & the Revolution, Sour Ops, Supersonic Blues Machine & 'Heroes and Villains' (July 2022)

New album releases in 200 words or less...

Shemekia Copeland – Done Come Too Far (Alligator Records)
One of today’s finest singers in any genre, Shemekia Copeland has been on an impressive roll, delivering three consecutive career-making albums, the last two working with Nashville producer/musician Will Kimbrough. Third time’s a charm, Copeland returning to the Music City to collaborate with Kimbrough again on Done Come Too Far, which features talented friends like Sonny Landreth, Cedric Burnside, and Aaron Lee Tasjan complimenting the steady backing of bassist Lex Price and drummer Pete Abbott. The results are pure magic (again). Copeland blows the doors down with the defiant “Too Far To Be Gone,” her powerful vocals soaring atop Landreth’s serpentine slide-work. The African-flavored “Gullah Geechee” ties Delta field hollers to their deeper roots while the Cajun romp “Fried Catfish and Bibles” is a sheer delight. Socially-conscious songs like “Pink Turns To Red” are turbocharged by Copeland’s awesome, pissed-off, pummeling vocals while a cover of Ray Wylie Hubbard’s “Barefoot In Heaven” adds a blues tint to the Americana gem. The heavyweight title track is fueled by Copeland’s fierce voice and Burnside’s mesmerizing fretwork. Closing with her father Johnny’s “Nobody But You,” Copeland cements her blues bona-fides with blistering intensity. What are you waiting for; go buy it! Grade: A+  BUY IT!

Jade Warrior – Last Autumn’s Dream (Esoteric Recordings U.K.)
The third album from British art-rockers Jade Warrior, 1972’s Last Autumn’s Dream found the relatively obscure (stateside) band exploring much the same musical turf as fellow 1970s-era proggers King Crimson, Family, or Gentle Giant, but with loftier intent, more reliance on English folk traditions, and seemingly less of an eye on rock stardom. Which is to say that it’s every bit as interesting and multi-textured as any other prog-rock album released the time, its tracklist jumping from the pastoral, classicist beauty of “A Winter’s Tale” to the bristling, angry hard rock of “Snake,” and right back to the darkly-atmospheric ambient nightmare tones of “Dark River,” all in the course of a quarter-hour. That’s not even mentioning the exotic instrumentation, whiplash time signature changes, and oblique lyrics that inhabit each performance like a hallucinogenic fungus. Guitarist Tony Duhig and percussionist Jon Field were bandmates in 1960s psych-rockers July (their self-titled 1968 LP is a psych classic), and their combined vision drove Jade Warrior to maddeningly-delightful heights of creativity. The band’s self-titled 1971 debut may rock harder, and their sophomore effort, Release, is artier but, with Last Autumn’s Dream, they found the sweet spot in the eye of the hurricane. Grade: B   BUY IT!    

Gwil Owen – The Road To the Sky (self-produced)
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Gwil Owen is one of the many talented outsiders looking in on Nashville’s mainstream music biz, a DIY lifer making music on his own terms. The Road To the Sky is Owen’s follow-up to 2020’s excellent Flying Dream, and it follows a similar vein with touches of rock, country, and Little Feat-styled funk. Owen is accompanied here by talented friends like multi-instrumentalist Joe McMahan, keyboardist Tony Crow, and bassist Dave Jacques, and it shows in the grooves. “When the Songwriter’s Gone” displays a few Springsteen-esque flourishes within its loping backroads vibe and gorgeous guitarplay while “Ghost Town” rocks with brilliant poetic imagery. “Change” relies on minimal instrumentation and Owen’s gritty, twangy vocals (think Delbert McClinton) and the haunting, bluesy “Murder” reminds of Tom Waits. Owen uses a pre-recorded guitar coda from his late friend David Olney to fittingly punctuate the beautiful ballad “She Does It All With Her Eyes.” Owen is a gifted story-teller and a charismatic lyricist with an ear for melody and the ability to create deceptively-complex and lush soundscapes. An adventuresome, old-school tunesmith in the vein of Olney or Guy Clark, Owen is an artist worth your time to discover. Grade: A   BUY DIRECT!

Prince and the Revolution – Live (NPG Records/Sony Legacy)
If you’re a Prince fan (and who isn’t?), don’t let the nearly $40 price tag of this swanky set deter you from jumping, headfirst, into the deep end of the pool. Documenting an especially electric 1985 performance in Syracuse NY, Live offers 20 dynamite songs across two CDs and a Blu-ray disc with 5.1 surround sound, as well as a groovy 24-page color booklet with liner notes and rare photos. Prince and the Revolution were 93 shows into a 98-show tour in support of the chart-topping, thirteen-million-selling Purple Rain album and they’re firing on all cylinders. Prince’s trademark blend of psych-drenched guitar rock, slinky funk, and sizzling soul was on full display on a “greatest hits” setlist that includes crowd-pleasers like “1999,” “Little Red Corvette,” “When Doves Cry,” and a mind-bending, expanded reading of “Purple Rain” showcasing the Purple One’s justified ‘Guitar God’ status (and the band’s tight-knit musical chemistry).  There’s nothing here from Around the World In A Day, which was released a month after this show, but there are plenty of choice cuts from 1999 and Purple Rain alongside the deep cuts, making Live an invaluable snapshot of Prince and the Revolution at the peak of their powers. Grade: A   BUY IT!

Sour Ops – Deep Fake (Feralette Media)
Nashville rockers Sour Ops break up the crushing monotony of reality with another id-tickling album, Deep Fake, a collection guaranteed to scratch whatever musical itch is currently plaguing your fever-dream cerebellum. Ringmaster Price Harrison leads his crackerjack band through ten high-voltage, hair-raising performances that range from the bright, buoyant power-pop of “Navy Blue” and the jagged satire of the dark-hued “Doomsday Prepper” to the pop-metal edge of “Texas Punk 66,” which wears its gorgeous guitar tone like a magic cloak. The title track is a fierce mid-tempo rocker with brilliant lyrics about fleeting celebrity that is combined with stunning, chaotic fretwork while “Another Letdown” turns a keen eye towards modern society with 1960s-styled psychedelic pop and vintage ‘70s muscle car rock overkill, resulting in a bloody good time. The insightful “I Followed You Down” explores the dangers of falling prey to a cult of personality while Deep Fake closes its too-short 30-minutes with “Fall Into the Sky,” a shimmering, ethereal love song with yearning instrumentation. With Deep Fake, Sour Ops has moved beyond the obvious Replacements/Stooges/Cheap Trick references to truly find their own musical voice, one that masterfully blends everything that came before into something unique, personal, and entirely stunning. Grade: A+   BUY DIRECT!

Supersonic Blues Machine – Voodoo Nation (Provogue Records)
Supersonic Blues Machine is the trio of bassist Fabrizio Grossi, guitarist Kris Barras, and journeyman drummer Kenny Aronoff, the band showing itself to be a well-oiled, high-performance engine of destruction with Voodoo Nation, their third studio album (and the first to feature Barras, a British fretburner in the Rory Gallagher tradition). As with their first couple of blues-busting albums, Voodoo Nation offers up an inspired blend of blues, rock, and funk all delivered with no little heart and soul. Also as with previous LPs, they invited a slew of blues-rock axe-manglers along for the ride, with talents like Eric Gales, Ana Popovic, Joe Louis Walker, Kirk Fletcher, and Sonny Landreth jumping into the rumble seat. King Solomon Hicks brings a Hill Country vibe to the sonic-grind of “You and Me” and “Devil At the Doorstep” benefits from Gales’ fluid tones and imagination. Popovic is an underrated gem whose duel with Barras is pure blues-guitar heaven while the Supersonic guitarist lights a wildfire with the inspired “Too Late” and its Leadbelly licks. The title track is a swamp-rock masterpiece with swagger, stunning fretwork, and a dark-hued ambiance. Supersonic Blues Machine ain’t your grand-pappy’s blues, but they could be yours. Grade: B   BUY IT!

Various Artists – Heroes and Villains: The Sound of Lost Angeles 1965-68 (Grapefruit Records U.K.)
From pop, rock, and proto-Americana to blues, folk, and psychedelia, there’s no denying that the mid-‘60s L.A. music scene was bursting at the seams with creativity and vision. Leave it up to those madmen at U.K. archival label Grapefruit to document the history of this influential era. Heroes and Villains collects a whopping 90 (!) tunes on three CDs in a nifty clamshell, the accompanying guidebook offering comprehensive liner notes and rare photos. The “usual suspects” to be found here, well-known chart titans like the Monkees, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Steppenwolf, Sonny & Cher, and the Mamas and the Papas, among others, but not always the songs you might think you’d find. There are oddities like the Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart; talented obscurities like Tim Buckley and Ruth Friedman; and cult rockers like Love, Kaleidoscope, and Merrell Fankhauser’s various bands. Where the box set really shines, though, is with the too-cool unknowns like the Rose Garden, Children of the Mushroom, the Laughing Wind, or the Chyldren, et al. There’s a lot of meat on these discs, a myriad of musical possibilities and styles, more than a few of which are guaranteed to satisfy your musical needs... Grade: A   BUY IT!

Previously on That Devil Music.com:

Short Rounds, December 2021: Calidoscopio, Deep Purple, Tom Guerra, The Specials, The Wildhearts, Sami Yaffa & 'I'm A Freak Baby 3'

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

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: Calidoscopio, Deep Purple, Tom Guerra, The Specials, The Wildhearts, Sami Yaffa & 'I'm A Freak Baby 3' (December 2021)

New album releases in 200 words or less…

Calidoscopio – Get Ready! (Jargon Records)
Roaring out of the Flower City with sabers rattling and amps cranked up to eleven, at first blush Calidoscopio sounds like just another talented bunch of 1960s-styled garage-rock revivalists with six-string Sturm und Drang. Further spins of Get Ready! reveal hidden charms, however. The album is an international affair, members of Germany’s Golden Coats collaborating alongside Rochester NY’s Dave Anderson, with guest performances from Australia’s Joey Bedlam (Dollsquad) and garage-rock deity Sky Saxon (from beyond the grave). While the LP cover gives off serious Jack Kirby/psych-rock vibes, songs like the scintillating title track – with big beat drums, gang vocals, and twangy fretwork – evince a timeless, electric, rock ‘n’ roll sound. “The Lanky Gunman” mixes trembling ‘Spaghetti Western’-styled guitar strum with wall-of-sound instrumentation and an eerie story-song while a long-lost monologue from the Seeds’ frontman Saxon is integrated into “Green Forest,” a spacey, hippie-rock screed. “Demon Child” honors its shockabilly roots, benefiting from Bedlam’s breathless vox and Anderson’s jagged guitar licks while the punky “Koko the Gorilla” mixes Hasil Adkins with the Electric Prunes for a raucous good time. Calidoscopio’s Get Ready! provides a mind-bending trip back to the future with a timeless sound that is both familiar and yet innovative. Grade: A   BUY!

Deep Purple – Turning To Crime (Ear Music)
British rock legends Deep Purple are in their sixth decade as a band and although they’ve never been adverse to recording the odd cover song (their 1968 hit “Hush” comes to mind), they’ve so far resisted the urge to record an album exclusively of covers…until now. Turning To Crime is a collection of twelve of the band’s favorites, ranging from bluesy 1950s-era R&B (Huey ‘Piano’ Smith’s “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu”) and ‘60s psych (Love’s “7 and 7 Is”) to blues-rock (Cream’s “White Room”) and beyond. Although the current band is quite adept at playing any sort of music, Gillian’s aging pipes betray his intent at times. Still, Turning To Crime is quite the live wire, the band pulling off the performances more often than not. Fleetwood Mac’s classic “Oh Well” is given an altogether new coat of (hard rockin’) paint, the Yardbirds’ “Shapes of Things” is provided a stout psychedelic-pop sheen and, surprisingly, Little Feat’s “Dixie Chicken” is an excitingly funky strut. Bob Seger’s “Lucifer” is a deep-cut that mixes guitar-driven hard rock and Memphis soul, but it’s the album-closing Southern rock-inspired medley (with tunes by Booker T, Don Nix, Gregg Allman, and Steve Winwood) that will turn heads. Grade: B+   BUY! 

Tom Guerra – Sudden Signs of Grace (Casa del Soul Records)
Tom Guerra began his career nearly 40 years ago as a member of outfits like the Dirty Bones Band and the Mambo Sons. Guerra launched his solo career with 2014’s All of the Above and came to our attention with 2018’s acclaimed American Garden. Recorded during the pandemic, Guerra’s fourth solo effort, Sudden Signs of Grace, offers up everything that’s great about the artist – finely-crafted songs, hypnotic melodies, intelligent lyrics, and stellar guitarplay, all neatly packaged into three-minute, radio-friendly songs. Although Guerra dishes up a couple of nifty covers here – perfectly capturing the angst of Eddie Money’s “Gimme Some Water” with his fiery guitarplay while Harlan Howard’s country classic “The Streets of Baltimore” is provided a suitably melancholy, twang-drenched performance – it’s Guerra’s original material that really shines. “Lonely No More” is a gorgeous power-pop song with Duane Eddy-inspired guitar and winsome vocals; the jaunty “Lover’s Time” is a charming amalgam of the Byrds and Big Star; and the honky-tonk flavored “Down the Farm” rides on Guerra’s rapid-fire vocals, rollicking piano-play, and wiry fretwork. There’s not a duff track to be found on Sudden Signs of Grace, Guerra delivering an inspired collection of rock ‘n’ roll full of heart and soul. (See the video, below!) Grade: A   BUY!

The Specials – Protest Songs 1924-2012 (Island Records)
God bless ‘em, the Specials still crank it out 40+ years after the band’s exhilarating debut. Breaking up in the mid-‘80s, several members reunited in 1993, and they’ve carried on ever since, releasing a handful of albums since reuniting, including 2019’s critically-acclaimed Encore. Crucially, the current line-up includes Specials’ founders Terry Hall, Lynval Golding, and Horace Panter. Protest Songs 1924-2012, is an exciting collection of themed cover songs inspired by the George Floyd protests of the summer of 2020. An eclectic collection it is, too, including classic material by the Staple Singers, bluesman Big Bill Broonzy, Bob Marley, the Dixie Jubilee Singers, and Frank Zappa, among others. The Specials are a long way from their days as ska revivalists, pursuing a soulful, R&B-drenched sound as evinced by their reading of Pop Staples’ powerful civil rights ode “Freedom Highway.” The Mothers of Invention’s “Trouble Every Day” is provided an appropriately menacing tone, complete with scorching guitars, while Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” is sung in Cohen’s droll style. The Wailers’ “Get Up, Stand Up” offers a powerful, albeit subdued performance that emphasizes Peter Tosh’s defiant lyrics. Totally unexpected, but pleasantly surprising, the Specials’ Protest Songs is one for the ages. Grade: A-   BUY!

The Wildhearts – 21st Century Love Songs (Graphite Records U.K.)
Wildhearts founder Ginger got the gang back together in 2012 for a series of gigs that led to a live album, but the reformed band wouldn’t go into the studio until 2019’s acclaimed Renaissance Men. With the brand-spankin’-new 21st Century Love Songs, the band comes full-circle, delivering its 10th studio work. It’s a real banger, too, with plenty of the Wildhearts’ trademark melodic hard rock that often times teeters on the razor’s edge of heavy metal. For instance, the album-opening title track hits your ears like a sledge, combining an erudite Mott the Hoople-style of British rock ‘n’ roll with thrashy molten slag. Much of the rest of 21st Century Love Songs follows a similarly-skewed blueprint: “Institutional Submission” sounds, at times, like Killing Joke on steroids until the vocal harmonies and elegant fretwork chimes in while “Sleepaway” could pass for a harder-rocking Cheap Trick. Underneath the instrumental clamor you’ll unearth undeniable melodies, often accompanied by football hooligan harmonies running interference for Ginger’s sweeter tones. Ginger could have been a hella successful pop star if he’d chosen a less debauched path but, lucky for us, he’s walked a sleazier, obstacle-strewn road to rock ‘n’ roll nirvana for almost 30 years now. Grade: A   BUY!

Various Artists – I’m A Freak Baby 3 (Grapefruit Records/Cherry Red U.K.)
The late ‘60s and early-to-mid-‘70s provided an abundance of interesting rock ‘n’ roll as bands discovered their muse and experimented musically. This is the third volume in the U.K. archivists Grapefruit Records’ “Freak” series, exploring the exciting new sounds of 1968-1973, and it’s every bit as entertaining as the first two sets. Featuring 53 songs spread across three discs, they follow a simple blueprint – offer a few scattered obscurities by well-known bands (Free, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Mott the Hoople, Procol Harum) and mix in songs by lesser-known but period-essential groups (Hawkwind, Spooky Tooth, Stray, Trapeze, Nazareth, Tear Gas). It’s when the madmen at Grapefruit dig into the pits that it gets really interesting, though, and I’m A Freak Baby 3 also includes rare (collectible) 7-inchers from diverse artists like Quatermass, Mighty Hard, Curtis Knight Zeus, and Steam Hammer and then caps off the set with previously-unreleased music from folks like Stack Waddy, T2, Red Dirt, Wicked Lady, and the Yardbirds (!). Toss in toons by cult rockers like Leaf Hound, Killing Floor, Third World War, and Budgie and you have yourself a party, I’m A Freak Baby 3 providing a lot of bang for yer hard-earned buck! Grade: A   BUY!

Sami Yaffa – The Innermost Journey To Your Outermost Mind (Livewire Records)
After 40 years in the trenches, former Hanoi Rocks and New York Dolls bassist Sami Yaffa finally got around to recording a solo album and, as one might expect, it’s a flamethrower. Yaffa approaches rock ‘n’ roll with a fierce Johnny Thunders/Stiv Bators aesthetic and songs like the album-opening “Armageddon Together,” a devastating take on modern religion, reflect this crash ‘n’ burn style of hard rock. There’s more than meets the eye here, tho’ – Yaffa’s undeniable sense of rhythm adds melody to cod reggae tunes like the mesmerizing “Rotten Roots,” which crosses the Clash with Lee “Scratch” Perry or “You Gimme Fever,” which pairs a deep Sly/Robby groove with lusty lyrics and elegant fretwork to great effect. “Fortunate One” flat-out rocks (not dissimilar to Lords of the New Church), with Yaffa’s whiplash vox punctuated by Michael Monroe’s bleating saxophones while “Germinator” slaps yer eardrums like a nail-studded baseball bat, fueled by Monroe’s raging harmonica and guitarist Christian Martucci’s razor-blade licks. “Cancel the End of the World” sounds downright Pink Floydish, with lofty vocals and gorgeous, atmospheric instrumentation. Yaffa is no one trick pony, displaying the many facets of his enormous instrumental and songwriting talents with The Innermost Journey… Grade: A-   BUY!

Previously on That Devil Music.com:

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

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: 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 Black Keys, The Bummers, Michael Nesmith, Greg Stackhouse Prevost, Quinn Sullivan & The Vejtables (June 2021)

New album (and 45) releases in 200 words or less…

The Black Keys – Delta Kream (Nonesuch Records, CD)
The Black Keys’ much-vaunted “return to the blues” is really a musical sojourn through the Mississippi Hill Country with a collection that would feel right at home on Fat Possum Records, their former label. One of the punk-blues innovators of the early ‘00s, the Black Keys pairing of singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney dabbled in soul, pop, and mainstream rock with a modicum of success over the past decade. With Delta Kream, however, they enlist the six-string talents of Hill Country stalwart Kenny Brown and jump headfirst into the songbooks of Mississippi blues legends R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. Their hypnotizing reading of John Lee Hooker’s classic “Crawling Kingsnake” is patterned after Kimbrough’s recording rather than Hooker’s 1949 hit, and much of Delta Kream delivers a similarly-mesmerizing mind-trip with reverent but unique takes on songs like Burnside’s eerie “Going Down South” or Kimbrough’s powerful “Sad Days, Lonely Nights.” Auerbach’s vocals have never sounded better, and his guitar interplay with Brown is electrifying. Carney’s percussion is spot-on as well, providing nuanced timekeeping throughout and explosive locomotion when needed. Delta Kream isn’t the sound of rock stars “slumming” but that of bluesmen reviving their mojo. Grade: A   BUY!

The Bummers – “I Can’t Imagine” b/w “L.S.D. (Long Silent Dream)” (Mojo-Bone Rekkids, 7” vinyl)
If not for the good folks at Mojo-Bone Rekkids, Royal Oak, Michigan rockers the Bummers may have been lost to the ignoble grave of rock ‘n’ roll obscurity – as the label’s Birdman writes in the liner notes to this groovy 7” single, “a few grungy acetates recorded for $35…and one grainy photograph were all that remained of their visionary genius.” Boy howdy! The single’s A-side, “I Can’t Imagine,” is a dreamy, mesmerizing slab o’ late ‘60s psychedelic rock with cool vox, shimmering keyboards, and the occasional stab of guitar, the song a tale of love and betrayal, the musicianship years ahead of its time. B-side “L.S.D. (Long Silent Dream)” is a similar ballad, but with shoe-gazing harmonies, an engaging melody, and a lush instrumental backdrop against which singer/songwriter Ray Bane spits out his lyrics. Although re-mastered by the notable Alec Palao, the sound is fair-to-middlin’ (Palao can’t work magic every time), but the band’s youthful energy and enthusiasm simply jump out of the grooves and demand your attention. Mojo-Bone 45s ain’t cheap ($14 plus shipping for this pancake), but if you’re a collector of 1960s-era psych and garage-rock, you’re gonna want to get in touch with the Birdman by email: mbrekkids (at) gmail.com Grade: B+    

Michael Nesmith – Different Drum: The Lost RCA Victor Recordings (Real Gone Music, CD)
Michael Nesmith’s post-Monkees solo career has undergone reconsideration of late, various pundits nodding their heads in unison, agreeing on Nez’s status as a “serious musician.” Some of us grokked this 50 years ago, with the release of 1970’s brilliant Magnetic South, which was soon followed by two more trailblazing country-rock LPs displaying the engaging singer’s talent and charisma. Different Drum follows recent reissues of Nesmith’s trio of albums with the talented First National Band and is cut from similar cloth, i.e. finely-crafted country-rock performed with plenty of twang and soulfulness. The first 14 cuts here are alternative takes and studio outtakes that do a fine job in displaying the band’s immense talents and the dirty work of fine-tuning a song, and the contrasts are often stunning – Nesmith’s take on the title track is as different from Linda Ronstadt’s hit version as night is from day, and “Bye, Bye, Bye” is a rollicking cowpunk anthem. “Six Days On the Road” belches smoke and fire while rolling down the asphalt while an alternative “Some of Shelley’s Blues” is as wistful and charming as the original. Different Drum tacks on seven instrumental tracks that, while entertaining, lack the magic of the vocal performances. Grade: B+   BUY!    

Greg“Stackhouse” Prevost – Songs For These Times (Mean Disposition Records, Spain, CD)
With Songs For These Times, the third solo album from bluesman Greg “Stackhouse” Prevost, the singer, songwriter, and guitarist has crafted an impressive collection of material that not only defies previously-held expectations but also explores the possibilities of roots ‘n’ blues music. Working with guitarist Andrew Patrick of the Rochester NY band Dangerbyrd, Prevost makes old rock ‘n’ blues tunes sound contemporary while his handful of original songs sound positively antiquated. The guitarist’s “Free As the Wind” is a powerful acoustic-blues number with subtle, mournful harmonica while the folk-blues dirge “Distant Thunder Calls” reminds of Son House crossed with Johnny Winter (and features some mighty fine guitar pickin’). “Acid Rain Falling” is probably my favorite here, the folkish blues-rock tune offering elegant guitarplay and an overall intoxicating, exotic vibe. Covers of songs by bluesmen like Rev. Gary Davis and Big Bill Broonzy are appropriately reverent, but it’s when Prevost colors outside of the lines – like his haunting reading of Hoyt Axton’s “Snowblind Friend” or Piedmont-styled take on Donovan’s “Colours” – that Prevost’s talents and unique vision of the blues really shine. If you love the blues, you owe it to yourself to discover Greg “Stackhouse” Prevost and Songs For These Times! Grade: A    BUY! 

Quinn Sullivan – Wide Awake (Provogue Records, CD)
Blues guitar prodigy Quinn Sullivan is taking the Bonamassa road to riches – work with a legendary mentor (for Sullivan, it was Buddy Guy); make your bones by playing high-profile gigs (Quinn was the youngest musician to play the Montreux Jazz Festival); and work to find your voice over a number of records. Wide Awake is the 22-year-old’s fourth LP, and while he’s a skilled musician and better-than-your-average-Joe songwriter, he’s clearly still forging a unique sound to hang his hat on (to be fair, it took Joey Bones until Sloe Gin, his fifth LP). When letting his instrument do the talking, Sullivan is a stunning six-string talent who plays with great imagination and energy; he’s also miles ahead of where Bonamassa was at this age as a singer, Sullivan imbuing his material with great soul and emotion. The songwriting – mostly co-written by Sullivan with producer Oliver Leiber – is the weakest link here, largely treacly R&B-infused pop with the slightest of bluesy undertones. The album’s production is so maddeningly slick and glossy that I’ll never question Kevin Shirley’s choices again. There’s nothing on Wide Awake that’s horrible, it’s just that with a talent of Sullivan’s caliber, it could have been SO much better… Grade: B-   BUY!   

The Vejtables – “Hide Yourself” b/w “Good Things Are Happening” (Mojo-Bone Rekkids, 7” vinyl)
Another small record with a big hole from the good folks at Mojo-Bone, the Vejtables are, perhaps, one of the label’s better-known bands, and although the cover art here is mind-numbingly bad, the four-panel insert with Birdman’s liners, rare photos, and cool cartoon drawing of the band make up for it. Musically, the Bay Area rockers were on the cutting edge of psychedelic rock, these two 1966 tracks show a band whose talents could hang with big boys like Blue Cheer, the Other Half, or Jefferson Airplane. “Hide Yourself,” the single’s erstwhile A-side, is the next best thing to dosing yourself and bouncing off the walls for a few hours, the song’s ringing instrumentation, Bob Bailey’s half-buried vox, and Frank Smith’s scalpel-sharp leads defining “psychedelic” while Richard Fortunato’s 12-string brings an exotic feel to the recording. “Good Things Are Happening” is a similar banger, a bluesy, harmonica-drenched rave-up around the corner from “Tobacco Road” with snotty vocals, sleazy fretwork, and a locomotive rhythm that would have been right at home on a Nuggets or Pebbles compilation LP. Equally adjacent to both psych-rock or garage-rock, the Vejtables were on the cusp of something big. Extra credit for the cool mono sound! Email the Birdman for info: mbrekkids (at) gmail.com Grade: A

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Previously on That Devil Music.com:

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, October 2020: Elvin Bishop & Charlie Musselwhite, The Hangfires, Kursaal Flyers, Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Toots & the Maytals, and Crawling Up A Hill