Alice PeacockLove RemainsRocket Science/Adrenaline By Al Kaufman After 2005's introspective and piano-laden Who I Am, Alice Peacock moved to Nashville from Chicago and reinvented herself as a country girl with rock tendencies. There's plenty of twang on Love Remains. And there's plenty of Peacock's vocals. Strong, sexy and soulful sum them up quite well, but […]

Chris KnightHeart of StoneDrifter's Church By Al Kaufman Chris Knight should be doing Chevy Truck commercials. He's that type of guy. He's one of those straight ahead Americana type of singers; a little too country for rock radio, and way too rock for country radio. He falls into the cracks where Steve Earle and James […]

The Starter KitsBacksliding BabyGhostmeat Records By Al Kaufman The Starter Kits is essentially Mikey Dwyer. Dwyer has played bass and drums with various bands over the last 10 years. But while recovering from back surgery, he found he had a lot of time on his hands and was able to pump out a nice batch […]

The Hot RodsThe Hot Rods GlassMaster Records By Al Kaufman The Hot Rods is what they is. Basically, they're a bunch of Atlanta rednecks in black Harley shirts and tattoos who listened to the Ramones a lot. They like their women hot, their beer cold, and their cars fast. Unlike 2007's Super Sport, which gave equal […]

Tom NorthropDestination Love by Al Kaufman Tom Northrop loves his wife and child. Of that, nobody can deny, at least not after listening to Destination Love. Paeans of love abound in this CD, including a song for his new son Justin, called, of all things, "My Baby Justin." In fact, Justin is the reason Northrop […]

Michelle MaloneDebrisSBS Records By Al Kaufman The first four songs on Moanin' Michelle Malone's new CD, Debris, are the four best blues songs you'll hear this year. It is, quite possibly, the best four-song combination ever put together in a blues album. If someone teaches a Modern Blues 101 class, that person should start with […]

Glenn Tilbrook & the FluffersPandemonium EnsuesE1 Music By Al Kaufman Glenn Tilbrook's voice is mellifluous. It is both familiar and exciting. With Chris Difford in Squeeze, he created pop songs so ingenious it drew the band comparisons to a little songwriting team known as Lennon and McCartney. Alone, Tilbrook still has the voice, and he […]

Peace of Mind Orchestra Still Awake at Dawn, Part I By Al Kaufman When most people imagine an orchestra, they imagine more than two people playing in it. Peace of Mind Orchestra consists of Ari Leopold and Matt Engel. Engel plays bass and synthesizer, while Leopold handles the guitar, drumming and singing duties. And they […]

Scotty Don't Songs from the Back Porch By Al Kaufman It's a tricky thing about tribute bands. They are great ways for musicians to make money and pay homage to bands they idolize. But for true musicians, tribute bands do not allow them to create. Some are able to break out. Marshall Crenshaw managed to […]

The Takeover UKRunning with the WastersRyko by Al Kaufman The Takeover UK are one of those garage bands with punk attitudes, but enough music sensibility to fill their songs with monster hooks. They're like some of the great British bands that came out in the '70s second wave of the British Invasion. You know, bands […]

Matt Duke Kingdom UndergroundRykodisc By Al Kaufman Matt Duke stares out from the cover of his current CD with a mop-haired head, wide open puppy dog eyes, and enough scruff to make the girls think he has a dangerous side. Or maybe he's been too busy saving drowning kittens to shave. He exudes that kind of sensitivity. […]

  Griffin HouseFlying Upside DownNettwerk By Al Kaufman Many a musician has made a living playing music from the heartland. It is a sound that is full and majestic, while simultaneously speaking in the voice of the regular guy. Griffin House has thatsound down, thanks largely to producer Jeff Trott (Sheryl Crow), who called in […]

Pierce PettisThat Kind of LoveCompass Records by Al Kaufman Pierce Pettis came out of that '80s folk movement that brought us the likes of Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman and Bill Morrissey. Like the three aforementioned songwriters, Pettis does not waste his time navel gazing or spouting platitudes. He writes honest little stories and slices of […]

  The Love WillowsHey! Hey!Decca by Al Kaufman It must be the dour economic times that makes people want to listen to unabashedly happy music. Last year we had the Submarines out of LA, and this year it's time for Atlanta's Love Willows. The duo of singer Hope Partlow and multi-instrumentalist and singer Ryan Wilson are […]

Ying QuartetDim SumTelarc **** by Al Kaufman Ah, these Ying kids. Three brothers and a sister make up a classical quartet consisting of two violins, a viola, and a cello. But this is not the classical music your stodgy old grandmother listens to. The CD is named Dim Sum because, like the food, these are […]