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...

 

The View On Pop Culture: R.L. Burnside, Skip James, Walter Trout, Furry Lewis (2003)

V2.63

THE YEAR OF THE BLUES

By now you’ve watched every episode of the PBS documentary on the blues and you’re ready to celebrate the Congressionally-declared “year of the blues’ with a few new CD purchases. Well, you could choose from among the officially-sanctioned CD tie-ins to the PBS series, titles from deserving folks like Muddy Waters, Son House, and the obscure J.B. Lenoir. But if you really want to expand your musical vocabulary, look beyond the hype and marketing and discover these artists who offer several different shades of blue.

There are very few of the classic Mississippi bluesmen remaining, R.L. Burnside one of the last of a dying breed. Perhaps the best known of modern-day blues stylists, Burnside’s work has crossed over to a rock-oriented audience via collaborations with garage-rocker Jon Spencer and through the groundbreaking Come On In album. Remixed with an edge by Thom Rothrock and Alec Empire, the studio effects and loops enhancing Come On In only intensified Burnside’s already powerful performances, the resulting songs familiar to many listeners from movie and TV soundtracks.

The long-overdue reappearance of First Recordings (Fat Possum) on CD shows Burnside in a different light. Captured live in Mississippi by producer George Mitchell, these 1968 recordings – just R.L. and a beat-up acoustic guitar – preview the power and grace that will become Burnside’s legacy. Performing traditional juke-joint country blues in his Mississippi Fred McDowell-influenced “hill country” style, Burnside blazes through red hot readings of “Poor Black Mattie,” “My Time Ain’t Long” and his trademark “Goin’ Down South.” The recordings have been cleaned up to please modern ears, but Burnside’s hypnotizing vocals and strong, percussive guitar style are always a joy to listen to, First Recordings a welcome addition to the blues lexicon.

Country bluesman Skip James is considered by historians to be one of the most important figures in the history of the Delta blues. A troubled man haunted by the dichotomy of sin and salvation represented by the blues and gospel music, James’ unique guitar style and songwriting skills have inspired and influenced musicians across decades and genres, from Robert Johnson to Eric Clapton. A long-lost collection of previously unreleased material, Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased (Vanguard Records) had the potential to be a real gem, the sort of rare find that escapes the vaults from time to time. Unfortunately, it is only mildly interesting to the most hardcore of blues fans.

Recorded in 1967 near the end of his life, the collection offers an obviously world-weary James spinning through a selection of mostly Gospel-oriented tunes. There are times when James’ haunting, otherworldly vocals soar – most notably on “One Dime Was All I Had” – and his bordello learned piano playing takes flight on numbers like “Omaha Blues.” The purchase of Studio Sessions should be reserved until the newcomer to James’ unique talents has digested the artist’s Complete Early Recordings (Yazoo) from 1931 or the latter-era collection Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Biograph) from the early-60s. Then you’ll know what all the brouhaha over Skip James is all about.    

Walter Trout is a blues-rocker of the Stevie Ray Vaughan school, mixing lightning-quick fretwork with traditional boogie styling, appealing to fans of amped-up guitar pyrotechnics. Trout earned his bones backing legends like John Lee Hooker and Big Mama Thornton; he played in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and propped up Canned Heat for a while in the ‘80s. I must admit that I’ve found much of Trout’s studio work to be a snooze, but the recently released Relentless (Ruf Records), which captures Trout and his fine band the Radicals performing live in Amsterdam, has prompted me to reconsider.

The stage is obviously Trout’s element, the guitarist filling every song with incredible energy and, well…relentless six-string riffing that would please any blues-rock enthusiast. Trout’s whiskey glass vocals are appropriately suited to the music and what he lacks as a songwriter he more than makes up for with power, sweat and passion. The rocking declaration “The Life I Chose,” the Hendrix-inspired ballad “Cry If You Want To” or the anthemic “Collingswood” showcase an artist seriously in love with the blues. A lifer who may never get rich from his craft, Trout is nevertheless determined to make his mark playing the music that he loves and Relentless is a fine step in that direction.        

Walter “Furry” Lewis was a fixture on the Memphis blues scene for years beyond count, recording his first songs in the ‘20s, retiring from music in the ‘30s and being rediscovered in the ‘50s. While most of the original country bluesmen had fled the Delta for Chicago, Detroit and other points north, Lewis remained on Beale Street, traveled the Southeast in medicine shows and, along the way, forged a musical legacy that stands up with the greatest artists of the genre. The timing of the release of Good Morning Judge (Fat Possum Records) couldn’t come at a better time as it is one of the strongest collections of Lewis recordings that is currently available.

Recorded by producer George Mitchell in Memphis circa 1962, Good Morning Judge offers Lewis in fine form. The opening title cut is hilarious, Lewis stating that “I got arrested once,” and then going on to deny accusations of murder, fraud, forgery and even loitering, his light-hearted lyrics covering the deadly seriousness of institutional racism, his vocals accompanied by slinky bottleneck guitar. In fact, much of Good Morning Judge showcases Lewis’ unique and intriguing six-string style, the elder bluesman filling songs like “Blues Around My Bed” and “Roll and Tumble Blues” with spry energy and soulful performances. “Don’t You Wish Your Mama Had Named You Furry Lewis” and “Furry Lewis Rag” revisit these traditional blues tunes with more braggadocio than any hip-hop microphone fiend could muster. A wonderful introduction to the lively wit, musical talent and immense charisma of Furry Lewis, Good Morning Judge should be on the shelf of any serious fan of the blues. (View From The Hill, 2003)

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

Archive Review: Walter Trout’s Blues For the Modern Daze (2012)

Guitarist Walter Trout has always been a working bluesman, a journeyman musician that dutifully put in his time with bands like Canned Heat and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, as well as playing behind legends like Big Mama Thornton and John Lee Hooker before launching his own solo career in 1990. Through the years, and despite the ups-and-downs that a lengthy career will bring, Trout has seemingly remained humble, and always excited to climb on stage and perform.

A few years back, however, Trout began a transformation, subtle at first, but picking up steam through albums like 2008’s The Outsider and the 2009 compilation Unspoiled By Progress, featuring the new track “They Call Us the Working Class.” With the release of his 21st album, Blues For the Modern Daze, Trout’s evolution seems complete – the singer, songwriter, and guitarist is now the populist voice of the blues, following in the footsteps of artists like Big Bill Broonzy, J.B. Lenoir, and Blind Willie Johnson, whose influence on these songs Trout has frequently cited.    

Walter Trout’s Blues For the Modern Daze

Blues For the Modern Daze opens with the scorching “Saw My Mama Cryin,” a high-flying bit of bluesy social commentary that provides anguished insight into the working class struggle. Trout’s tortured vocals convey heartfelt emotion while his guitar weeps and moans and screams with some intensity. Trout’s solos here cut deep as the band delivers a solid groove, and the song rocks and rolls itself to an inevitable conclusion. By contrast, “Lonely” is no less powerful a performance, the mid-tempo ballad-like rocker featuring a nuanced vocal turn and mournful guitar licks. Although it’s a fine showcase for Trout’s exemplary six-string skills, it’s also a solid example of his songwriting chops and underrated, potent vocals.

The doom-and-gloomish “The Sky Is Fallin’ Down” is a cautionary tale with a bonfire soundtrack that nearly rages out of control as Trout levels accusations and proffers his advice in the face of impending disaster, his dark lyrics matched by incendiary fretwork that threatens to ignite your speakers with its red-hot riffs, notes sparking from the fretboard. Trout’s “Blues For My Baby” is a more traditionally-styled tune, with gorgeous piano tinkling behind the guitarist’s smoky string-pulling. Close your eyes while listening to this one and you could easily believe that you’re sitting in a West Side Chicago club circa 1964 or so listening to Magic Sam or Otis Rush wail on the blues.   

Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous

For old-school classic rock fans, “Recovery” is a real find, Trout channeling his inner Robin Trower with a phenomenal six-string performance that matches Trower’s swirling, Jimi Hendrix-inspired psychedelic-blues sound with a 1970s-styled, openly atmospheric blues-rock sound. A tale of romantic woe, “Recovery” literally wears its heart on its sleeve, the song drenched in the pathos of Trout’s effective, emotional vocals and imaginative fretwork. “Turn Off Your TV” is both insightful and humorous, Trout delivering a rollicking vocal performance above a slight boogie refrain, his lyrics pointing to the hypocrisy of commercialization and the overall absurdity of much of what one witnesses on the tube. Trout’s guitarwork here is more upbeat and less provocative, delivered with energy and vigor while his hoarse vocals reinforce the song’s themes.

Trout continues in his populist vein with “Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous,” a slow-burning blues tune with deliberately-paced guitar riffs and the constant joyful din of rolling piano notes on this reverse “rags-to-riches” tale that cautions the wealthy1% that life isn’t always a bowl of cherries, and that what goes up may one day come back down to earth. Trout’s solos on the song are stunning, rich with tone and sharp-edged, infused with the spirit of the blues while still rocking hard.   

Pray For Rain

The odd, albeit poetic spoken word piece “Puppet Master” offers Trout’s somber vocals hauntingly applied above an evil keyboard riff, the brief interlude leading into the rampaging “Money Rules the World,” a spot-on lyrical condemnation of the effect of unbridled wealth and corporate interference on the fate of the average person. A virtual theme song for the “Occupy” movement, Trout layers on the blues with delightfully-tortured guitarplay which frantically fire-dances above the song’s locomotive rhythms. It’s a 21st century rocker worthy of Hendrix but offering a contemporary blues edge. “Brother’s Keeper” is in a similar vein, a mid-tempo rocker with a gospel frame of mind that calls out the self-righteous in no uncertain terms, Trout’s flamethrower guitar solos throwing fuel on an already out-of-control blaze.

The title track of Blues For the Modern Daze displays the Blind Willie Johnson influence that Trout mentions in talking about the album; the song an effective bit of intelligent social commentary delivered with an undeniable Delta blues vibe and gospel fervor. Trout’s acoustic guitar strum gives way to squalls of cyclone-strength electric riffs, the singer shouting and screaming above an apocalyptic tango that reminds of Charley Patton’s “High Water Everywhere” with its doomsaying lyrics and powerful instrumentation. The album ends with “Pray For Rain,” a comparatively gentle performance delivered in an acoustic country-blues style that is no less effective for its seemingly innocent nature. Beneath Trout’s spirited guitarplay and wailing vocals, however, you’ll real concern and some metaphorical hard questions without easy answers.    

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

In the spring of 2012, a lot of words have been spilled out in print and online talking about Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball and the album’s frequently vague political and social commentary. While I’m not going to diss on the Boss, I’d argue that another New Jersey native has delivered the essential protest album of the year.

Walter Trout’s Blues For the Modern Daze is smart, insightful, and 99% to its core, displaying an undeniable populist viewpoint while retaining the guitarist’s trademark turbocharged blues-rock sound. As a songwriter, Trout has never been better, and his voicing of his social concerns – bolstered by an unbridled six-string rage – is delivered with plenty of heart and soul. This is Walter Trout at his very best, and we should all be listening… (Provogue Records, released April 24th, 2012)

Buy the CD from Amazon: Walter Trout’s Blues For the Modern Daze

Archive Review: Walter Trout’s Luther’s Blues: A Tribute To Luther Allison (2013)

If you stop to think about it, Walter Trout is the perfect candidate to record a tribute album to the late blues guitarist Luther Allison. As a friend, mentor, and musical influence, Allison obviously had a profound effect on Trout. Both men are incredibly talented guitarists and, much like Allison, Trout pours it all out on stage every night, leaving his audience as wrung out and satisfied as Allison famously did.

Walter Trout’s Luther’s Blues: A Tribute To Luther Allison

Even the best of intentions can fall short, however, but I’m happy to report that Trout’s tribute to his friend – Luther’s Blues – rocks like a proverbial hurricane. Working with producer Eric Corne, who helped Trout shape his acclaimed 2012 album Blues For the Modern Daze, the guitarist unleashes decades of pent-up blues mojo on eleven tracks written, or made famous by Allison, as well as an inspired, brand new original. The results are breathtaking, with Trout investing the same sort of blood, sweat, and tears to the re-creation of these songs as Allison did when first recording them.

Allison’s “Cherry Red Wine” is, perhaps, the guitarist’s best-known song and, in Trout’s hands, it’s a burning mess of emotion that underlines its crying vocals with devastating fretwork that takes the heartbreak from pity to anger to sorrow in an amazing four minutes plus. Allison’s “Big City” is a potent, muscular rocker with scorched earth guitar licks while “Freedom” showcases Trout’s often underrated vocals with a stunning performance that does justice to the song’s socially-conscious lyrics. Trout cuts loose on his original “When Luther Played The Blues,” tearing up the strings with an inspired reading that is both reverent and a showcase of the lessons learned from watching Allison perform.    

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Walter Trout has built a career that he can be proud of but, with Luther’s Blues, he has delivered a powerful tribute to a great, but frequently overlooked talent. If Trout’s efforts get just one young blues fan to pick up a copy of Allison’s Bad News Is Coming or Soul Fixin’ Man, then he can consider his mission accomplished. (Provogue Records, released April 13th, 2013)

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Walter Trout’s Luther’s Blues

Short Rounds: 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 & Brown Acid

New album releases in 200 words or less…

Dave Alvin – From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings (Yep Roc Records)
This “odds ‘n’ sods” collection of rare, unreleased, and barely-released songs by Americana pioneer Dave Alvin stands with any of the artist’s albums due to his talent and passion. Offering the listener every shade of American music, from acoustic and electric blues to country, folk, and rock ‘n’ roll, Alvin mixes original songs with those written by friends like Peter Case and Chris Smithers as well as tunes by musical idols like Doug Sahm, Bob Dylan, and Willie Dixon. There’s really no ‘hard sell’ needed here – if you’re already a fan of Alvin’s charms as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist then you’re going to pick up From An Old Guitar no matter what I write. But whether it’s the energy provided a spry reading of “Highway 61,” the heartbreaking cover of Waylon Jennings’ “Amanda,” or the exciting, electrifying guitar-play of “Variations on Earl Hooker’s Guitar Rumba,” Alvin knows his way around a song. Originals like the swinging, bluesy romp “Albuquerque” or the country blues-flavored instrumental “Krazy and Ignatz” display other facets of Alvin’s immense skills. A true legend of American music, the performances documented by From An Old Guitar are a welcome addition to an often-varied, always-impressive Dave Alvin catalog. Grade: A   BUY!

Blue Öyster Cult – The Symbol Remains (Frontiers Records)
BOC’s first studio album since 2001’s Curse of the Hidden Mirror was pronounced ‘D.O.A.’ has been hailed by many critics as a “return to form,” but is it really? The 1970s/’80s-era Blue Öyster Cult is long gone, although the (arguably) two most important old guys remain – guitarist Buck Dharma and singer Eric Bloom – backed by a longtime touring band with chops honed to a razor edge by a thousand nights on the road. So, The Symbol Remains offers a new sort of BOC sound, the guitar-driven slab o’ granite released by Italian hard rock specialists Frontiers Records. Whether there’s a market for this sort of rock ‘n’ roll two decades into the new millennium is beside the point, as aging fans will eat up the jagged power-pop of “Box In My Head” or the haunting Goth-metal palace intrigue of “The Alchemist.” All 14 tunes here are originals, written, co-written, sliced & diced with collaborators like musician/cyberpunk author John Shirley and rockcrit legend Richard Meltzer. The results are a crazy-quilt of ‘70s-inspired classic rock with a contemporary sheen. Dharma’s guitar cuts like a knife, the vocals-by-committee approach works, and the album rocks. Hard. What more could a po’ boy ask for? Grade: B   BUY!

Shemekia Copeland – Uncivil War (Alligator Records)
Returning to Nashville to record a follow-up to her award-winning 2018 album America’s Child, blues singer Shemekia Copeland is working again with producer, songwriter, and musician Will Kimbrough, who collaborates with Copeland’s longtime creative foil, John Hahn, to put together a helluva slate of songs for the talented singer. Musicians like guitarists Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jason Isbell, Steve Cropper, Duane Eddy, Webb Wilder, and Kimbrough himself as well as steel-guitar maestro Jerry Douglas and mandolin wizard Sam Bush add to the bluesy gumbo that is Uncivil War. Make no mistake, though – this is Copeland’s show, and her confident, inspired vocals make for transcendent performances. The blues-gospel title track is a gem with heavenly vocals grounded by Douglas’s dobro and Bush’s mandolin while “Walk Until I Ride” is a gospel-tinged treasure with Copeland’s soulful vocals displaying a powerful defiance in the face of discrimination. The wonderful “Dirty Saint” displays a nuanced New Orleans mojo in tribute to the late Dr. John and “Apple Pie and A .45” is a devastatingly powerful blues-rock dirge. Copeland doesn’t ignore straight blues here, as the smoky “In the Dark” will attest, Copeland proving once again that she’s among the best the blues has to offer. Grade: A+   BUY!

Coyote Motel – Still Among the Living (Dolly Sez Woof Records)
I’ve heard enough of ‘em over the past 50 years that it’s a rare live disc that really makes me wish that I’d been at a particular show. As for actually going to shows anymore, I’ve paid my dues several hundred times over in clubs with bad air, muddy sound, and overpriced beer. After listening to Coyote Motel’s Still Among the Living, documenting a February 2020 performance at The 5 Spot in Nashville, damn if I don’t wish that I’d been there that night. Pursuing what he calls “cosmic roots music,” musician and scribe Ted Drozdowski leads Coyote Motel through songs from their self-titled 2019 debut, offering a unique hybrid of blues, rock, and roots music. The guitarist imbues opener “Still Among the Living” with otherworldly fretwork and haunting vocals while Luella Melissa Mathes’ ethereal vocals offer a nice counterpoint to Drozdowski’s wiry vox, taking a song like the devastating “The River” into a higher dimension. An appearance by jazz legend Stan Lassiter on the classic “Tin Pan Alley” compliments Drozdowski’s scorched-earth approach to the song. Overall, Still Among the Living captures a truly electrifying performance by a talented band as scary as the wrong end of a .44 revolver. Grade: A   BUY!  

The Fleshtones – Face of the Screaming Werewolf (Yep Roc Records)
Although I found the band’s previous album (2016’s The Band Drinks For Free) somewhat tepid (by the Fleshtones’ lofty standards), I’m happy to say that your fave “super rock” garage band is back in the groove with the rowdy Face of the Screaming Werewolf. Released on CD and vinyl for this year’s third Record Store Day “drop” in October, the album is the rock ‘n’ roll tonic we need for 2020. Featuring Keith Streng’s stellar fretwork, Peter Zaremba’s haunted vocals, and lusty, deep-throated bass drums, the title track will have you hiding under the bed from monsters, but tapping your toes nonetheless. The tribute “Alex Trebeck” takes on a new look with the beloved TV host’s recent death, pairing erudite lyrics with a throwback ‘60s rock vibe (trembling guitars and jangly rhythms) for a respectful homage. Much of the rest of Werewolf offers different shades of guitar-happy, reckless rhythm rawk, from the harmonies of “Child of the Moon,” which reminds of the Stones’ “We Love You,” to the Kinks-styled buzz and hum of “You Gotta Love, Love,” the Fleshtones leave no tasty musical stone unturned, putting their own signature on nearly 60 years of rock ‘n’ roll cheap thrills. Grade: A   BUY!

Little Richard – Southern Child (Omnivore Recordings)
Signed to Reprise Records in 1970, Little Richard decided that his third effort for the label would be a country album. After all, if Ray Charles could pull it off, so could the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer. The result – 1972’s Southern Child – was produced by longtime friend Robert “Bumps” Blackwell and featured a brace of original songs…and it was promptly shelved by Reprise until finally appearing as part of a 2005 box set. Hindsight is 20/20, but I think that if the label had released the album, it may have gotten some traction. As shown by Omnivore’s CD reissue of this lost gem, Mr. Penniman sings country as effortlessly and with the same charisma as he does rock, soul, and gospel. Some of the material – notably “Burning Up With Love” or “California (I’m Comin’)” – are really just rockin’ soul tunes with a bit of added twang. But others, like the slow-rolling “Ain’t No Tellin’” or the raucous title track certainly could have found a home on country radio in the pre-playlist days of the early ‘70s. Altogether, Southern Child is a successful experiment in style, Little Richard proving (again) that he was the best at whatever he chose to do. Grade: B+   BUY!  

Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets – Live At the Roundhouse (Legacy Recordings)
I had my doubts about Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason reliving his glory days with live performances of the band’s classic psych-era tunes, but my fears were erased soon after slapping this sucker on the turntable. Mason does his old mate Syd justice with Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets and their Live At the Roundhouse album and concert film. Documenting performances from two nights in May 2019 at the historic Roundhouse in London, England, Mason’s talented band rip and roar through almost two-dozen tracks that pre-date Floyd’s commercial ‘monsterpiece’, Dark Side of the Moon. Mason’s band includes former Floyd touring bassist Guy Pratt, guitarists Gary Kemp and Lee Harris, keyboardist Dom Beken, and Mason himself on the cans; they honed these songs with theatre dates across North America, Europe, and the U.K. The musical chemistry shows, gems like “See Emily Play,” “Arnold Layne,” and “Saucerful of Secrets” hewing close enough to the originals to please the hardcore faithful but offering enough originality to entertain any classic rock fan. FYI, the vinyl packaging is gorgeous, a cardboard slipcase with a cut-out revealing the colorful gatefold double-LP cover beneath, the two albums sheathed in full-color paper sleeves and thick slabs o’ vinyl. Also available as a double-CD set with concert DVD…buy ‘em both! Grade: A-   BUY!

Midnight Oil – The Makarrata Project (Sony Music Australia)
The first full-length studio album from Australian rock legends Midnight Oil since 2002’s Capricornia, The Makarrata Project is a special collaboration, a meeting of minds whose ponderous description may scare off the casual listener (and even a few hardcore fans). Don’t buy into the ignorance – The Makarrata Project is every bit a Midnight Oil album, from Peter Garrett’s stunning vocals and Jim Moginie’s razor-sharp fretwork to the thunderous rhythms of bassist Bones Hillman and drummer Rob Hirst. Where it differs from the usual politically-charged Midnight Oil joint is its worthy cause and inclusion of indigenous voices from ‘First Nation’ artists like Jessica Mauboy, Alice Skye, Tasman Keith, Sammy Butcher, Frank Yamma, and others. So, you get some spoken word passages, tribal chants, and other singers, all united in service of the ‘Uluru Statement of the Heart’ which, basically, calls for Constitutional power and protection for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. It’s a powerful use of rock ‘n’ roll for social change, and the band is donating its royalties (matched by Sony) from the album to organizations seeking to elevate the Uluru Statement. Midnight Oil has always “walked the walk;” with The Makarrata Project, they’ve upped the stakes. (Bones Hillman, R.I.P. November 2020) Grade: A   BUY!     

The Pretty Things – Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood (Madfish Music)
The final recording from these British rock legends is pretty much a collaboration between Pretty Things founders Phil May and Dick Taylor, with occasional instrumental contributions from friends and fellow bandmates. An acoustic collection of blues, rock, and folk music that places an emphasis on May’s expressive, soulful vocals and Taylor’s deft fretwork, Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood masterfully blends songs like the PT’s George Woosey’s haunting title track or Will Varley’s “To Build A Wall,” which features May’s gorgeous, fragile vocals with traditional blues tunes by Robert Johnson (“Come Into My Kitchen”) and Willie Dixon (“I’m Ready”), the likes of which the PTs cut their teeth on five decades ago. A cover of folk songwriter Gillian Welch’s hillbilly dirge “The Devil Had A Hold of Me” displays another facet of May’s immense talent while Sheryl Crow’s “Redemption Song” benefits from May’s nuanced vocals and Taylor’s elegant guitar playing. Tragically, May’s death earlier this year ends the 55-year musical partnership between the singer and guitarist but, as swan songs go, Bare As Bone is a hell of a note to go out on. Grade: A+   BUY!

Walter Trout – Ordinary Madness (Provogue Records)
The blues-rock maestro returns with Ordinary Madness, a quick follow-up to 2019’s critically-acclaimed Survivor Blues. There are no signs of rush recording here or a drop-off in song quality, though – the guitarist’s tone, tenor, and tenacity have never been fiercer. The title track is a smoldering jam with gorgeous guitar and lyrics that barely hide their menace. The production on “Wanna Dance” (by longtime Trout collaborator Eric Corne) is spectacular, lush tones and power chords pumping up the instrumentation, underlining Trout’s mournful vocals; forty years ago, this would have been a chart-topper. Much of Ordinary Madness follows the same blueprint – electrifying blues-rock with scorching guitar, soulful vox, and a stout backing band. Trout’s guitar talents often overshadow his vocals, which are displayed nicely on the ballad “My Foolish Pride,” Walter capable of expressing great emotion. “The Sun Is Going Down” may be the best performance of Trout’s lengthy career, Robert Johnson’s hellhounds picking up the scent again, the guitarist facing the passage of time with unflinching defiance. Since his near-death experience six years ago, Walter Trout has been making the best music of his life, Ordinary Madness an album so good that I bought it twice (on CD and vinyl!). Grade: A+   BUY! 

Various Artists – Brown Acid: The Eleventh Trip (Riding Easy Records)
The folks at RidingEasy Records scour the back rooms, under-the-shelf crates, and other dark record store crevasses to find the most far-out psychedelic garage-rock cheap thrills possible and slap ‘em on vinyl as part of their “Brown Acid” series of rock ‘n’ roll obscurities. One would think this well-trodden turf to be mined out, what with all those Nuggets, Pebbles, and Back From the Grave compilations clogging up the shelves, but here’s Brown Acid: The Eleventh Trip with ten more roller-coaster time machine trips circa 1969-1977. Like every LP of this kind, there are hits and misses – some 7” wax should remain lost– so I’ll only mention the winners. Adam Wind’s “Something Else” is a cool psych-blues jam with flanged guitars while Grump’s “I’ll Give You Love” is a raucous R&B rave-up with swirling instrumentation. Larry Lynn’s “Diamond Lady” is a slab o’ guitary blues-rock with prog tendencies, old faves Zendik deliver a shimmering bit of chaotic hard rock, and West Minist’r offer a red-hot, Brit-sounding rocker. Kudos also to Debb Johnson for a brassy, soul-blues romp. Since six outta ten ain’t too shabby a batting average, I’ll happily recommend The Eleventh Trip for any fan of old school-dropout psych-cum-garage-rock. Grade: B   BUY!

Previously on That Devil Music.com:

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

Short Rounds, May 2020: The Burrito Brothers, Richie Owens & the Farm Bureau, Webb Wilder, Lucinda Williams & X

Short Rounds, April 2020: Datura4, Dream Syndicate, Drivin’ N’ Cryin, Bryan Ferry, Game Theory & Supersuckers

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

New Music Monthly: August 2020 releases

Is it hot enough for ya?! Yeah, it's August and the summer has been every bit the slog we thought it would be. Half the country is eat up with the Covid and the other half is trying to avoid the virus. The good news is that while the month starts out slow, it picks up by week three with a slew of new music from folks like King Buzzo, Cidny Bullens, Guided by Voices, the Lemon Twigs, Chuck Prophet, Deep Purple, reggae legends Toots & the Maytals, and blues giants Walter Trout and Bobby Rush, among others. Throw in a live sets from Iggy & the Stooge and Nils Lofgren and reissues from the Flamin' Groovies, the Tom Tom Club, and Collective Soul and August is starting to look pretty good! 

Release dates are probably gonna 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! If you're boycotting Amazon and don't have an indie record store close by, may we suggest shopping with our friends at Grimey's Music in Nashville? They have a great selection of vinyl available by mail order, offer quick service, and if you don't see what you want on their website, check out their Discogs shop!

AUGUST 7
Collective Soul - Collective Soul [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Collective Soul - Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Deep Purple - Whoosh!   BUY!
The Flamin' Groovies - Jumpin' In the Night   BUY!
Glass Animals - Dreamland   BUY!
The Stooges - Live At Goose Lake: August 8th, 1970   BUY!

AUGUST 14
Biffy Clyro - A Celebration of Endings   BUY!
King Buzzo - Gift of Sacrifice   BUY!
Robbby Krieger - The Ritual Begins At Sundown   BUY!

AUGUST 21
Cidny Bullens - Walkin' Through This World   BUY!
The Georgia Thunderbolts - The Georgia Thunderbolts EP   BUY!
Guided By Voices - Mirrored Aztec   BUY!
The Killers - Imploding the Mirage   BUY!
The Lemon Twigs - Songs For the General Public   BUY!
Nils Lofgren - Weathered [live album]   BUY!
Old 97's - Twelfth   BUY!
Chuck Prophet - The Land That Time Forgot   BUY!
Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Various Artists - Willie Nile Uncovered [tribute album w/Nils Lofgren, Graham Parker, Elliott Murphy, others]   BUY!

AUGUST 28
My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall II   BUY!
Dan Penn - Living On Mercy [Memphis soul legend]   BUY!
Bobby Rush - Rawer Than Raw   BUY!
Savoy Brown - Ain't Done Yet   BUY!
Toots & the Maytals - Got To Be Tough   BUY!
Walter Trout - Ordinary Madness   BUY!

Album of the Month: It's no secret that we're big Willie Nile fans 'round these parts (Willie is from WNY, after all!), but even in a month with new albums from the great Walter Trout and a live Nils Lofgren set, the tribute compilation Willie Nile Uncovered would stand out. Nile is an extremely gifted songwriter, and this two-disc, 26-song set features other very talented folks like Elliott Murphy, Graham Parker, Dan Bern, Richard Barone, Nils Lofgren, John Gorka, and Lucy Kaplansky, among many others, interpreting songs from across the four decades of Nile's critically-acclaimed career. If you're unfamiliar with Mr. Nile, you owe it to yourself to check out Willie Nile Uncovered!   

Short Rounds: Pete Berwick, Big Star, Ted Drozdowski, Walter Trout & Watermelon Slim (2019)

New album releases in 150 words or less…

Pete Berwick – Island (Shotgun Records)
Second-generation country outlaw Pete Berwick made his bones playing the honky-tonks and juke-joints that existed on the fringes of late 20th century Nashville. Berwick’s intelligent wordplay has always been his strength and previous albums like Ain’t No Train Outta Nashville show that he could rock a bit as well. Island is a departure for Berwick, a collection of mostly-introspective, insightful mid-tempo tunes that lean more country than rock, more blues than folk. You can’t argue with the results, songs like “Anyway” and “Island” speaking to the heartbreak of love and loneliness while “The Streets of Pasadena” is country tear-jerker worthy of George or Merle. “One Setback At A Time” gallops by comparison, the song a statement of defiance set to a lush soundtrack that would make it a hit single in a more enlightened era. Island is Berwick’s most melodic and mature album yet, a masterwork from a unique craftsman. Grade: A+   BUY! 

Big Star – Live On WLIR (Omnivore Recordings)
After the release of 1974’s sophomore effort Radio City, power-pop pioneers Big Star sojourned to Ultrasonic Studios in Long Island, NY to record this live-in-the-studio radio broadcast. Although this performance was previously released by RykoDisc as Live, it’s been out-of-print for the better part of a quarter-century until rescued by the good folks at Omnivore. Working from the original studio session tapes, the often-bootlegged performance captured by Live On WLIR displays all the rawness and immediacy of the radio broadcast but provided a modern-sounding sonic clean-up. The then-new line-up of Alex Chilton, John Lightman, and Jody Stephens crank out an energetic 14-song set that includes “September Gurls,” “Mod Lang,” “Thirteen,” and “I’m In Love With A Girl,” classic tunes upon which the Big Star mythology would later be built. If you’re a fan of Big Star and/or power-pop and don’t have Live On WLIR, what are you waiting for? Grade: A   BUY! 

Ted Drozdowski – Coyote Motel (Dolly Sez Woof Records)
Nashville-by-way-of-Boston blues guitarist Ted Drozdowski steps aside from his regular band the Scissormen to explore the outer edge of Americana with Coyote Motel. Not surprisingly, given his status as a well-respected music journalist, Drozdowski is a superb, if underrated lyricist and his intelligent story-songs here are accompanied by apt, imaginative music and wickedly effective six-string play. The based-on-a-true-story “Still Among the Living” benefits from Drozdowski’s devastating fretwork, somber vocals, and an overall ominous vibe. The “whimsical” apocalyptic tale “Los Alamos” is deceptively poetic with a maddening riff. The heartfelt “My Friend” is a powerful tribute to R&B great “Mighty” Sam McClain while the anti-racism ode “Jimmy Brown” is an artistic maelstrom, roaring with a punkish fury. Altogether, Coyote Motel is a hell of a lot of fun, a near-perfect fusion of blues, country, rock, and folkish elements that shouldn’t work but instead sounds like Drozdowski invented the entire Americana genre. Grade: A   BUY!

Walter Trout – Survivor Blues (Provogue Music)
Contemporary blues artists stand on the shoulders of giants, and the great Walter Trout pays tribute to some of these legendary talents with Survivor Blues. Not your run-of-the-mill covers album with predictable results, the guitarist digs deep into blues history to unearth long-hidden gems by often-overlooked talents like Sunnyland Slim, Luther Johnson, and J.B. Lenoir, among others, each performance provided Trout’s unique creative spin. Trout inhabits Chicago bluesman Jimmy Dawkins’ “Me, My Guitar, and the Blues” with soaring solos while Floyd Lee’s “Red Sun” is a potent blues-rock stomp with classic rock riffs. Guitarist Robbie Krieger of the Doors sits in on Mississippi Fred McDowell’s country-blues classic “Goin’ Down To the River,” providing elegant solos above Trout’s hypnotic riffs. The twelve tracks chosen by Trout for Survivor Blues serve as a primer for the genre, each performance imbued with the passion and sincerity that has long been the guitarist’s trademark. Grade: A   BUY!

Check out the Reverend’s interview with Walter Trout on the Rock and Roll Globe website!

Watermelon Slim – Church of the Blues (Northern Blues Music)
Erudite singer/songwriter Watermelon Slim worships at the Church of the Blues, delivering his typically droll brand of roots-rock and traditional blues music with whip-smart lyrics and no little insight. Slim is fronting a trio here, but he’s joined in the studio by a wealth of musical talent including legendary guitarists Bob Margolin and Joe Louis Walker and soul-blues singer John Nemeth. The results are stunning, Slim layering his half-spoken, half-sung Okie drawl and greasy slide-guitar atop original tracks like the topical “Charlottesville (Blues For My Nation),” “Too Much Alcohol,” and “Post Modern Blues” as well as covering gems from legends like Muddy Waters, Allen Toussaint, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Howlin’ Wolf. Church of the Blues provides the listener with an entertaining, spiritual experience that rocks like a tent revival, Watermelon Slim a true believer preaching the power of the blues. Grade: A   BUY!

Previously on That Devil Music.com:
Short Rounds, January 2019: Badfinger, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Billy Bremner, Dave Davies & Midnight Oil
Short Rounds, December 2018: Doug Deming, Tom Guerra, Handsome Jack, Tom Morello, NRBQ & Unicorn
Short Rounds, November 2018: Joe Bonamassa, Peter Holsapple & Alex Chilton, Winston Jarrett, Permanent Green Light, The Posies & Rolling River Royalty   

New Music Monthly: January 2019 Releases

Meager pickings await the music lover with the passing of a new year, but January often means quality over quantity, and while there’s not an abundance of fresh tunes coming your way this month, who can complain about new albums from Walter Trout, the Flesh Eaters, and Watermelon Slim as well as archive releases by Soul Asylum and Big Star? January will be easier on your bank account, but will tickle your ears nonetheless!

If we wrote about it here on the site, there will be a link to it in the album title; if you want an album, hit the ‘Buy!’ link to get it from Amazon.com...it’s just that damn easy! Your purchase puts money 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 4
Gaye Adegbalola - The Griot   BUY!

JANUARY 11
The Delines - The Imperial   BUY!
Eric Schenkman - Who Shot John?   BUY!
Soilwork - Verkligheten   BUY!

JANUARY 18
Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?   BUY!
The Flesh Eaters - I Used To Be Pretty   BUY!
Guster - Look Alive   BUY!
Juliana Hatfield - Weird   BUY!
Joe Jackson - Fool   BUY!
Pedro the Lion - Phoenix   BUY!
Soul Asylum - While You Were Out/Clam Dip & Other Delights   BUY!

JANUARY 25
Big Star - Live On WLIR   BUY!
Michael Franti & Spearhead - Stay Human, Vol. II   BUY!
Steve Hackett - At the Edge of Light   BUY!
Rival Sons - Feral Roots   BUY!
Walter Trout - Survivor Blues   BUY!
Watermelon Slim - Church of the Blues   BUY!

Album of the Month: Walter Trout’s Survivor Blues. The talented fretburner follows up on 2017’s critically-acclaimed album We're All In This Together with an inspired collection of vintage blues tunes. Trout doesn’t settle for the low-hanging fruit, however, eschewing the usual blues standards in favor of more obscure tracks by legends like Jimmy Dawkins, Sunnyland Slim, J.B. Lenoir, and Otis Rush, among others. Silk-toned soul-blues vocalist Sugaray Rayford guest stars on Luther Johnson’s “Woman Don’t Lie” while Robbie Krieger of the Doors appears on Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Goin’ Down To the River.” I’ve heard Survivor Blues and suffice it to say, Walter has another hit on his hands!