rock

A collection of 77 posts

punk

68. AHEAD OF THE LIONS by Living Things

Punk rock quartet Living Things includes 3 brothers from St. Louis, Missouri and their childhood friend. This record, released in 2005, was my introduction to them after seeing them open for The Cult. With politically-oriented lyrics paired with a guitar heavy sound, the band has been compared to the likes

indie

66. WEIRD GLOW by Sarah Bethe Nelson

Ethereal indie-rock is what San Francisco-based musician Sarah Bethe Nelson peddles and she does it well. With understated, somewhat muffled vocals and simple guitars throughout, this is a great back to basics record in the indie realm, released in 2019. ‘Weird Glow’ and ‘Paralyzed Waltz’ are worth checking out (the

folk

64. FLUTTERBY by Butterfly Boucher

Australian multi-instrumentalist Butterfly Boucher released her debut album in 2003 and then toured with Sarah McLachlan in 2004 - that’s how I first heard of her. She comes from a musical family with many of her siblings members or former members of bands. On this record, Boucher plays bass

psychedelic

63. SUMMERLONG by Rose City Band

Fans of the Moon Duo record I discussed here [https://auditorymusings.ghost.io/stars-are-the-light-by-moon-duo/] will no doubt find something to like on this 2020 release. Why? Because Rose City Band essentially consists of one half of the duo - Ripley Johnson. Although he calls this endeavor a “band” he sings

pop

62. MINT by Alice Merton

This record by Canadian-German-British pop singer Alice Merton came out in 2019. The album is laced with hints of 80’s pop and rock with every song being a potential ear worm. Merton sounds best when she sings in her natural, deep register (she’s been compared to Florence Welch

indie

55. DRESSY BESSY (self-titled)

The history of this band and its various members is too long and complicated to get into here. I mention this, however, because due to the lineup changes and resulting changes in the sound of their music, I’m really more a fan of this record rather than a fan

alternative

50. VISIONS OF A LIFE by Wolf Alice

2017 brought us London-based alt-rock (Britrock) band Wolf Alice’s second record. A four piece band with lead singer Ellie Rowsell at the helm, “Visions of a Life” variably alternates between punk (the powerful ‘Yuk Foo’), synthpop (‘Don’t Delete the Kisses’), pure rock (‘Space & Time’) and, well, a

blues

49. HINDU LOVE GODS (self-titled)

Fans of the band R.E.M. surely already know about this 1990 record. If on the off chance that you don’t, then you’re in for a treat. Hindu Love Gods = R.E.M. - Michael Stipe + Warren Zevon. So, that leaves you with Mike Mills, Bill Berry,

indie

47. ON THE LINE by Jenny Lewis

You may know Jenny Lewis from her time fronting the band Rilo Kiley, but she’s actually had quite the prolific solo career, with this 2019 record being her fourth. Lewis has one of those voices that sounds great, but is hard to pick out in a crowd. It’s

indie

46. CRAZY ON THE WEEKEND by Sunhouse

This is the most amazing record you’ve never heard, by a British band that was here and gone in a flash - other than a couple of EPs, this was their only long play, released in 1998. Bandleader Gavin Clark, shy and uncomfortable, never got over the fact that

alternative

44. CAGE THE ELEPHANT (self-titled)

Kentucky’s Cage the Elephant announce themselves within the first few notes of their 2008/2009 debut record and then keep their foot on the gas for the next 40 minutes or so. Alternatively described as alt rock, punk blues and funk, lead singer Matt Shultz and his brother, rhythm

hard rock

42. 28 DAYS IN THE VALLEY by Dorothy

I came across the hard rock/blues rock band Dorothy (fronted by lead singer Dorothy Martin) when they opened up for Greta Van Fleet several years ago. With her hard pounding vocals, Martin reminds me a lot of Ann Wilson from Heart. In fact, this whole 2018 record sounds like

alternative

41. WELCOME TO WHEREVER YOU ARE by INXS

Released in 1992, in the shadow of their two previous platinum sellers - Kick and X - this record already had an uphill climb before the first single was ever released. It also didn’t help that the band had decided not to tour in support of it, having just

alternative

39. POP by U2

Though much maligned when it was released, this 1997 U2 record is actually my favorite. The band was rushed in completing the album as their manager had already committed them to a huge worldwide tour in support of it. Consequently, many of the songs were not completely fleshed out in

rock

36. LOVE STINKS by The J. Geils Band

This 1980 album came out a little less than 2 years prior to their commercial smash, ‘Freeze-Frame,’ and foreshadowed the direction the band was heading in. It’s hard to believe that ‘Love Stinks’ was actually their 9th studio album - the J. Geils Band had been grinding since the

rock

30. FACE DANCES by The Who

I would be remiss if I didn’t feature the album containing this blog’s namesake. Released in 1981, this was the first album the Who released after drummer Keith Moon’s death in 1978 and featured Kenney Jones (the Faces, the Small Faces) as Moon’s ‘replacement’ (as if

alternative

28. THE BENDS by Radiohead

For me, this 1995 record is the Radiohead I know and love. This was their last ‘mainstream’ album before they climaxed with 1997’s ‘OK Computer.’ While that one was still listenable, everything after represented a direction I wish Radiohead had not taken. But, the critics would disagree. Regardless, getting

indie

25. YOUNG THE GIANT (self-titled)

Another debut album, this from 2010, is from the Southern California indie/alt-rock outfit, Young the Giant. With the members of the band coming from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, this record was bound to be eclectic. Lead singer Sameer Gadhia’s evocative vocals (which he delivers using two mics

rock

22. HATE FOR SALE by The Pretenders

Couple of things about Chrissie Hynde - her voice sounds essentially as good today as it did when she first started the Pretenders; second - she basically is the Pretenders (and it’s really been that way for many years). But, there’s nothing wrong with that. She’s always

indie

20. LOVE / IDLENESS by Wardell

This 2015 record by the sibling duo known as Wardell is probably one of my favorite discoveries of the past 5 years - and it all started out when iTunes offered their track, ‘Love / Idleness,’ as the free single of the week (remember those?). I immediately fell for lead singer

pop

19. A SIMPLE TRICK TO HAPPINESS by Lisa Loeb

Those of us of a certain age probably only think of one thing when we hear the name ‘Lisa Loeb’ - the song ‘Stay (I Missed You)’ (sorry - two things…those glasses too). That was the lead track off the Reality Bites soundtrack and essentially defined Loeb’s career

rock

15. DEAR LIFE by Brendan Benson

You may know of the White Stripes and Jack White. You may even know of the Raconteurs, but do you know who Brendan Benson is? His name doesn’t exactly roll off one’s tongue, but he’s the other ‘half’ of the Raconteurs - co-frontman with Jack White. His

rock

12. ELVIS’ GOLDEN RECORDS, VOL. 3 by Elvis Presley

Granted this is not a regular studio album, I still think it's worth discovering (or rediscovering) this compilation. Elvis compilations are a dime a dozen these days, but this series (which eventually encompassed 5 volumes) was the first. Growing up, I remember either having or being exposed to

synth

11. NIGHT TIME, MY TIME by Sky Ferreira

I only discovered this album a few years ago, though it was released back in 2013. I can't remember exactly how I happened to stumble on it, but I think the mixture of styles is what originally attracted me to the music. Variously described as synth-pop, indie rock,

psychedelic

10. STARS ARE THE LIGHT by Moon Duo

This record is hard to describe. I think you just have to put it on, sit back and soak it in. If I had to put words to the sounds, it would have to be psychedelic and undulating but with melody and shimmer. I know, that doesn't help