The Essex Green "Hardly Electronic (Merge)"
It’s been about a decade since the sweet sounds of The Essex Green went silent. Once Brooklyn’s premiere leaders of the Elephant 6 Collective sound, they all just sort of disappeared from our turntables. What happened? Well, the trio decided to give the band a break for a while and peruse some separate interests, all the while knowing that they would reform in secret in in 2015 under the blood moon eclipse at Lake Champlain. And they did! No one turned into a werewolf or anything (as far as this blurb writer knows) but they did start writing music again then and over the next two years, and lo and behold we have Hardly Electronic (Merge). Back are the pastoral throwback classic rock and British folk rock sounds that they were known for. In an instant, the last decade disappeared and how lovely would that be? Oh well… Until I work the kinks out of my time travel machine, give a listen to “The 710.”
The Rock*A*Teens "Sixth House (Merge)"
The first album by the Rock*A*Teens since 2000! They are back in full Rock*A*Teen mode bringing their very distinctive sound, kinda like Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, Flying Burrito Bros, and Delaney & Bonnie & Friends all jamming on a train together. Could you imagine if that really happened? If only if someone would have documented THAT! Regardless of such fantasies NPR just said “Turn Around A Smile” is “ the kind of darkly cinematic screenwriting that made those old Rock*A*Teens records so weirdly vibrant.” Thanks NPR, at least you are good for something… In the meantime check out and “Go Tell Everybody” and hear what all the liberal hub-bub is about.
The 4th Movement "The 4th Movement (Drag City)"
By now, you all know the story of the band called Death (especially if you watched the documentary A Band Called Death). The Detroit proto-punk band has had their rightful place in rock history reassessed over the last few years. But did you know that in 1980, the band pivoted to become a Christian Rock band called The 4th Movement? (Again, if you watched the doc then your answer is “yes”). Thankfully, the crew at Drag City knows all about this, as they are reissuing this lost gem. If all Christian Rock sounded like this, people would not scoff at the genre. Sounding a little like the funky rock of Jesus Christ Superstar, a little like KISS, and a little like-you guessed it-Death. Save your soul and check out “Always At Your Door.”
Tim Rutilli & Craig Ross "10 Seconds To Collapse (Jealous Butcher)"
Honestly, I didn’t even look at who the artist was before I started listening (I don’t have all day to wait for those iMessages previews to load APPLE!) to 10 Seconds To Collapse (Jealous Butcher) and as soon as it started I exclaimed (in google chat form) “OH! THIS IS TIM FROM CALIFONE” (and then I said “sorry about the caps lock”) because Time sure has one of those voices that you know instantly. Tim Rutilli & Craig Ross have teamed back up to bring us another round of their “early 70’s Am radio pop and deconstructed folk songs built up from drones and loops” (thanks Tim for the ultra-accurate PR). Check out the first single from the album, the Red Red Meat-y “The Day Before The Peaches Rot.”