CD Review: The Bright Light Social Hour — New Year’s Live; Play Masquerade May 10th

The Bright Light Social Hour
New Year’s Live
self-release

By Al Kaufman

Austin, Texas has more than earned its reputation as The Live Music Capital of the World. So when a band takes an unprecedented six trophies from last year’s Austin Music Awards, they must be onto something.

The fact is, Bright Light Social Hour aren’t on to anything new as much as they thrive on everything old. They produce high energy, jam-style, bluesy, classic rock with a hippie mentality. Their self-titled 2010 release went a long way in capturing their attitude, but it takes a live release like the EP New Year’s Live to truly flaunt their manic live energy.

New Year’s Live opens with two cuts off their 2010 release, “Shanty” and “Detroit.” The first features a Curtis Roush guitar solo that would make a 1970s Peter Frampton proud, while “Detroit” features A.J. Vincent’s swirling organ.

The last two cuts are covers of Mose Allison’s “Young Man Blues” and Muddy Waters’ “Mannish Boy.” Again, both songs are played with raw passion and power. Their version of “Young Man Blues” holds its own (but is still inferior) to The Who’s,  and they add some crude lyrics and the obligatory Joseph Mirasole drum solo to their ten-minute version of Muddy’s classic blues tune.

Recorded at the Parish in Austin, the band wisely leaves in all the crowd noises, which only enhances the sound. Both Roush and bassist Jack O’Brien reach deep down into their souls to release their guttural vocals. The sweat pours out of the speakers. It’s just a damn shame they didn’t release the whole concert. Four songs is nothing more than a tease.

The Bright Light Social Hour play The Masquerade with JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound on May 10th.

CD Review: Ron Pope — Atlanta; Playing Vinyl, April 28

Ron Pope
Atlanta
Hard Six Records

By Al Kaufman

Ron Pope is a sensitive romantic. He’s got a beard and everything. He writes straight from the heartlands anthems and lovely ballads that would make John Mayer cry. And he writes a lot of songs. Atlanta is his seventh album since 2008. … Continue Reading

CD Review: jENNiNGS — Take It or Leave; Playing Smith’s Olde Bar, April 17

jENNiNGS
Take It or Leave
Emerging Artists Music

By Al Kaufman

Singer/songwriter/pianist Mary Jennings is pretentious. A singer cannot use such a capitally-challenged moniker and not be thought so. She only enhances that perception on her live album, Take It or Leave. She includes an intro on every song because, you know, it’s like, important that you know where she was coming from when she wrote the song. And when she says “thank you” at the end of every song, she sounds like a teacher talking to her class of first graders.

What Jennings can do is sing and play piano. While her strong and sensual voice has been compared to flavor of the month Adele, it is most similar to that of ’90s pop star Paula Cole, as it goes from rich and honeyed to high-pitched and mighty in a matter of seconds. Her piano twinkles along and her band compliments her well. Her songs are not instantly accessible, but they borrow into the recesses of the listener’s brain and hang around for a while. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Tumbledown House — Fables and Falsehoods; Play Twain’s, April 19

Tumbledown House
Fables and Falsehoods
Silent Coyote Music

By Al Kaufman

Welcome to the Roaring ’20s, in all its sexy, boozy, violent glory.

Montana’s Tumbledown House are so fresh and exciting because they do old so well. Vocalist Gillian Howe and jazz guitarist Tyler Ryan Miller have surrounded themselves with all sorts of cool cats, including saxophonist Roger Lewis, trumpeter and flugelhornist Efrem (E.T.) Towns, and trumpeter Greg Davis, all of Louisiana’s Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The result is an old style, jazzy, swampy romp, just like they used to do back in N’awlins. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Say Anything — Anarchy, My Dear

Say Anything
 Anarchy, My Dear
Equal Vision Records

By Al Kaufman

First things first, these guys are nothing like the John Cusack movie. They are not going to play Peter Gabriel through their boom boxes up to their girlfriend’s window. No, their love songs have more of a Sid and Nancy feel to them. On the cut, “Say Anything,” Maxim Bemis spits out tortures he would go through for his girl: “I’d throw up every morning, pull my nails out, take a wrench to all my teeth.” Damned if that doesn’t make a girl feel special. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Will Hoge — Number Seven; Playing Vinyl, March 29

Will Hoge
Number Seven
Ryko

By Al Kaufman

Will Hoge is the type of guy you’d expect to see doing Chevy commercials. The guy is the heart of America. His songs are big and majestic with the right amount of twang, and they cover the topics that Americans care about; stuff like love gone sour, growing old, and failing to make it in life. It’s not exactly “Sexy and I Know It,” but you somehow feel good listening to it. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Fanfarlo — Rooms Filled With Light; Playing Vinyl, March 10

Fanfarlo
Rooms Filled with Light
Atlantic Records

By Al Kaufman

The indie-pop world took notice when Fanfarlo released their debut, Reservoir, in 2009. Now, three years later, Fanfarlo has gone back about 30 years to create their new sound. In listening to Rooms Filled with Light, one would not be unreasonable to believe the band sports Flock of Seagulls haircuts and wears day-glo suits. They don’t, but one could be forgiven for thinking as much. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Bruce Springsteen — Wrecking Ball; Playing Philips Arena, March 18

Bruce Springsteen
Wrecking Ball
Columbia

By Al Kaufman

The Boss is back.

I honestly never thought I would get a chance to write those words. A Springsteen fan since before my teen years, I have watched as Bruce slowly grew into a caricature of himself. It was like he had read all the hype about himself and realized he had to speak for the common man. Albums like The Rising, Working on a Dream, and Magic seemed a little too forced and contrived. Plus they employed too much organ and not enough screaming guitar. He showed some signs of life when he cut through the clutter with the Seeger sessions, but mostly he was just slowly slipping into middle, or old, age.

But Wrecking Ball has the anger of Darkness on the Edge of Town, the hope of Born to Run, and the carnival-like musical ride of The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle. This is primal Bruce, fueled by piss and vinegar, but tempered by hope and dreams. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Heartless Bastards — Arrow; Playing The EARL, March 2

Heartless Bastards
Arrow
Partisan Records

By Al Kaufman

Heartless Bastards answer the all important question: What if Adele was backed by a Texas band? Erika Wennerstrom, the vocal storm behind the band, has penned 11 songs that show off all her abilities. The soulful “Marathon” is followed by the poppy “Parted Ways,” until the song takes a turn and Wennerstrom demonstrates a  passionate growl worthy of Patti Smith,  accompanied by a drum and guitar frenzy. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Cloud Nothings — Attack on Memory; Playing The EARL, February 17

Cloud Nothings
Attack on Memory
Carpark

By Al Kaufman

Almost every band for the past five years has made the lead of song for their album, if not their best one, at least one that reaches out and grabs, that pulls the listener in. Dylan Baldi, the man behind Cleveland, Ohio’s Cloud Nothings, does just the opposite. “No Future/No Past” is a long, bass-driven droning number that seems to go on for much longer than its four-and-a-half minutes. But that’s sort of the point. On this Steve Albini-produced sophomore record, Baldi wants you to forget all about the Cloud Nothings more simplistic past. This is a new band with a new sound, even if that sound is Weezer on Quaaludes. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Red Wanting Blue — From the Vanishing Point; Playing Smith’s Olde Bar, February 27

Red Wanting Blue
From the Vanishing Point
Fanatic Records

By Al Kaufman

Red Wanting Blue plays slick, mainstream pop-rock songs. That could be the whole review right there, but it would leave the layout for this review wanting. It’s like Train or Hootie and the Blowfish, or, to a lesser extent, Counting Crows. It’s that kind of stuff that you know would sound good live, but loses something within the sterile confines of a recording studio. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Dare Dukes — Thugs and China Dolls; Playing Highland Inn January 21 and Grocery on Home February 4

Dare Dukes and the Blackstock Collection
Thugs and China Dolls
Starland Records

By Al Kaufman

When Savannah’s Dare Dukes released his debut, Prettiest Transmitter of All, in 2008, he established himself as a gifted songwriter who could write a catchy (but not obvious) hook. But, most importantly, he demonstrated that he has a penchant for the little guy, the guy a little left of center, the kid at school whose clothes never fit and who picked his nose, but you knew would grow up and be either a nuclear physicist or a psychopath. These are Dukes’ people. … Continue Reading

Supergroup Diamond Rugs Play First Ever Show at The EARL on December 29 – Win Tickets!

By Al Kaufman

Do you know how about 400,000 actually attended Woodstock but a few million claim that they did? Well, lower that down a notch or two and you have the situation at The EARL on December 29 when Diamond Rugs play their very first show. There will be a couple hundred people there, but years from now, thousands will have claimed to be.

Diamond Rugs is the creation of musical savant John McCauley. McCauley fronts the Rhode Island band Deer Tick*, who quietly put out one of the best CDs of 2011 with Divine Providence, a heartfelt, indie rock gem. McCauley also has a side project called Middle Brother, but he found himself with a few minutes of free time recently and decided to record a new CD. While doing so, he went backstage at a Los Lobos show and convinced Steve Berlin to come into the studio with him. Then things mushroomed and Ian Saint Pe of Atlanta’s Black Lips signed on. So did Hardy Morris of the Athens band  Dead Confederate and Bryan Dufresne of Rhode Island’s Six Finger Satellite. Fellow Tick Robbie Crowell rounded out the band on bass. The boys discovered they liked playing together and, instead of just serving as an incredible studio band for McCauley,  they began working on music together. Their album will be out in the spring of 2012 on Partisan Records. But while we wait, they have released “Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant,” a drunken and depressing acoustic Christmas song which, while fun, is not indicative of the harder edge sound that encompasses the rest of their forthcoming CD. However, it does answer the question of what kind of carol would Paul Westerberg and Shane MacGowan write after going off on a weekend bender together.

McCauley, like all of Diamond Rugs, writes music that pulls at your heart strings and your funny bone, but never forgets about your ears as well. These are great rock songs from what could be the next great rock band.

We have a pair of tickets up for grabs for their EARL show. Just fill out the form below for your chance to win.

*Fun fact — Deer Tick occasionally performs as a Nirvana cover band under the moniker Deervana.

CD Review: Sarah Siskind — Novel; Playing Eddie’s Attic, November 16

Sarah Siskind
Novel
Red Request Records

By Al Kaufman

It would be easy to write Sarah Siskind off as just another hippie chick. Just read some of the liner notes on Novel: “All drums and percussion were handmade or household objects.” Or how about, “Sarah makes unique jewelry made from beads, charms and the like that she finds on tour.”? And it doesn’t hurt that her singing and songwriting recall that ultimate hippie chick, Joni Mitchell. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Minus Ned — Are We Finally Fitting In?; Playing The Nest, November 10

Minus Ned
Are We Finally Fitting In?
Nedhead Records

By Al Kaufman

When guitarist Ned Bridges decided to form a band with fellow Connecticut friends Zach Guglin (vocals/drums) and Michael Martens (guitar), he probably thought the band would just break up when he took off for college. Instead, the two remaining members recruited guitarist Mark Pinkert and bassist Trevor Raffauf before moving out to L.A. and adding female singer (and sometimes actress) Marissa DuBois. The band was all together; except for one. The name was obvious. … Continue Reading