milessmith1

John Moreland muddies the waters of his considerable singer-songwriter talent in a ho-hum new album

It’s worth noting that John Moreland’s previous album, LP5, had four songs with first person titles and here there are none. The songs on Birds in the Ceiling tend toward the outward- rather than the inward-looking. On balance, they’re more observational than introspective, and for my money, I prefer the latter. Songs like “Cheap Idols Dressed in Expensive Garbage” ... read more

Ashley McBryde’s latest endeavor gets bonus points for being authentic in a genre that has focus grouped authenticity out of existence

Lindeville shouldn’t work, but Ashley McBryde’s sheer talent and vision will it into success. In lesser hands, this would be a half-hour of back-to-back cliches and artificial sentiments; in McBryde’s, it’s endearing and, in its pathos, inspiring. She’s created a mainstream country concept album, but, a picture being worth a ... read more

In which Say It Anyway discover time travel by recording an album in 2002

The nice thing about pop punk, if you like pop punk, is that it’s pop punk. It’s always pop punk. When it’s bad, it’s pop punk. When it’s good, it’s pop punk. Say It Anyway are pop punk. On their debut EP, Picture Frames, they deliver exactly what’s expected of them, complete with quiet acoustic departure. That departure aside, it’s upbeat, energetic, slick, and ... read more

Clanging, haughty, energetic proclamations of joyful English discontent make for a decent debut album

On Delusion Spree, Eades populate their songs with disillusioned ne’er-do-wells bouncing aimlessly from empty endeavor to empty endeavor, then set it all to a danceable beat, caffeinated hooks, and shouted melodies. They’re bored as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore. Or rather, they are going to take it, but they’re going to have as much fun as possible ... read more