Wasted Shirt might not immediately hit the expected highs, but the anything-can-happen jam session feeling hints that the duo has more to offer in the future and Fungus II is just the cap and stem of a larger organism underneath.

A Bit of Previous stands alongside the earlier works as a cohesive full-band effort. This latest effort surely should be counted alongside B&S beloved classics If You’re Feeling Sinister and Tigermilk. It feels good to go home again.

The collective clarity of mind on cuts such as “Monaco” keeps them focused and to the point. And while both the musicianship and the material In songs such as “Last Frontier” sound distinctly of that time in the mid to late Nineties when Ride pioneered what is now described as ‘shoegaze music,” it’s also pertinent to that period when it took courage to leave the home even as it was psychically suffocating to stay inside. No question there is a tangible confidence suffusing Interplay.

Angel Du$t miraculously showcased their maturity while keeping a keen eye on the elements that make them such a unique voice, all while writing incredibly moving songs.

This forty-fifth studio album of Neil Young’s may not rank as one of his greatest, but it may well be the most true-to-life effort he’s ever released.

It is a flood of art at its most naked that won’t relent until you are submersed.

Endless Rooms bristles with a creative spirit, which is clearly displayed in the twinkling folk-rock of “Open Up Your Window” and the building/banging dance-pop of “Blue Eye Lake”. The upbeat finale, “Bounce Off The Bottom”, keeps the tone bright with synths and chimes augmenting the sound of Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever who seem to be expanding into a new era as a collective.

The songs here are a perfect continuation of Walking Proof, especially the musically breezy title track with deeper lyrical meaning, summing up the exhaustion and loneliness many felt over the past year.

There is not a single track on the album that doesn’t deserve to be there. Even more so than any of his previous records, Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! is his the most consistently satisfying album yet.

Cone is a crusader for patience and that steadfastness and fastidiousness comes across.

Taylor wrote and recorded the 10 tracks that makeup Terms of Surrender, and ended up with something that feels nothing like anything he’s made before it.

The recording of Somewhere Under The Rainbow (by Pete Long who also contributes an essay on the four-page insert) radiates palpable resolve and despair in almost equal measure, plus an air of genuine catharsis, all this despite the murky audio quality remaining in the wake of mixing and mastering by the artist himself and long-time technical collaborator Niko Bolas.

SKELETÁ is a fascinating concept album with tight melodies and carefully crafted arrangements, enough to satisfy day one Ghost fans, but might fall short of bringing new fans into the band’s ever-growing sonic realm.

The funky hip-hop moments sit beside some truly gorgeous passages, especially Kuroda’s flugelhorn on the Hancock piece.

Count on this unbridled phenom to be with us for a good long time. This is her auspicious beginning.

As the avid completists and longstanding fans decide whether they need the whole of The Later Years 1987-2019 for the sake of the books and peripherals the mammoth compendium contains, more than one music lover who aspires to maintain a grasp of contemporary rock history may find this Pink Floyd title is more than just a sampler album. Its instantly-recognizable cover imagery and the kinetic photo array in the enclosed booklet are more than just cosmetic inclusions, but a reflection of the music inside.

Catspaw ultimately belies its title and instead achieves multiple tangible goals for Matthew Sweet. He’s fulfilled his lifelong ambition to play lead guitar on one of his own records, further distinguished the ongoing expansion of his discography, and, last but not least, reaffirmed the eternal appeal of the noisy musicality in pure rock and roll.

The album is as good, maybe even a little better than Vagabonds, if not musically, certainly lyrically.

The beauty of this creative work is that you’ll hear different sounds almost every time you play it. The melodies are infectious, and the playing is immensely inspired. It’s a risky concept that succeeds brilliantly.

This new one smolders but never truly catches fire. Perhaps as a measure of the emotional disarray in which Young found himself at the time—he sounds almost as distracted at times as on that Seventies LP delayed some forty-five years–he couldn’t really cut loose, even in the comfortable company of Crazy Horse.

Tare achieved something magical on 7s. The collection of music presented on the album changes with every listen, almost like watching a plant grow. The more your surrender yourself to the album’s intensity, the more you find solace in the hecticness.

It is a very groovy record, full of disco and funk beats. It was also brought to life with the help of Sonic Boom, a former member of Spaceman 3, who has also worked with Beach House. Any fan of Moon Duo or psych-rock will not be let down by Stars Are the Light.

72 Seasons is an impressive metal album, not just for a band 11 albums and 41 years into its career, but for anyone. It packs a punch and doesn’t let up on the assault for over an hour of menacing guitars and head-banging rhythms. In the end, that’s what we want from a Metallica album, and that’s what 72 Seasons delivers.

What makes Send A Prayer My Way so compelling is that – song for song – you have two superb singers working together rather than competing over the vocals singing some of the smartest lyrics the genre boasts.

The songs on this album may not end up on rock radio stations, but they would fit right in with a lot of the classic rock that is played incessantly on stations across the country.

Boulevards puts a pep in your step. Keep this one handy for that first spring or summer barbecue but be sure that your guests control themselves. Your gathering could easily get out of hand.

On his fifth studio effort, Brent Cobb has never sounded more relaxed. And the calm, self-assured flow of his vocals is not particularly out of place for this always-on-the-cusp-of-making-it-big Americana artist, but there is a laid back flow to Southern Star that is hard to ignore and nearly impossible not to love.

For all the celebrated figures accompanying him, Ian makes Fiction his show, one that’s as (thankfully) understated as it is penetrating.