Rogue + Jaye "Pent Up"
So yes, if you ever wonder what would happened if the lovely and talented Zach from Rogue Wave went on a journey to Nashville and got in the car with the lovely and talented Cortney Jaye well your wish has come true with Rogue + Jaye. Pent Up is like a road trip through America’s musical history! You will fall in love the Fleetwood Mac sounds of Golden Lady, and the beautiful Gram Parson/Emmylou Harris-esque duet of “Forces Of Decay.” Want to imagine what it would have been like if Elvis Costello wrote more songs for Linda Ronstadt to cover?? Dig into “Over And Over”. Singing and strumming the shit out their collaborative debut, Pent Up is the record to kick off your summer. Check out the aforementioned “Forces Of Decay.”
The Building "Reconciliation"
The Building is a new band from The War On Drugs’ guitarist Anthony LaMarca and his (I’m assuming) brother Angelo LaMarca. Reconciliation is a folk record in the same way that Neil Young is folk. The same way that Kurt Vile is a folk artist. Sure, it’s mostly guitar and vocals. Sometimes that guitar is acoustic, other times it’s distorted. But independent of the effects on the guitar, this is a lovely, pastoral album even when it’s in the red. Check out the Red Red Meat meets WOD strains of “If I.”
The Delta Saints "Monte Vista"
The Delta Saints have been doing their thing for years now. Rather than resting on their laurels (which has to be a horribly uncomfortable way to rest, if you ask me) the guys have decided to continue to push their sound forward. With a Zeppelin-esque push towards country-blues riffs, and a doubling down on sing-a-long-able choruses, this is as easily listenable as The Delta Saints have ever been (and that’s saying something). Monte Vista is a whiskey-soaked party, and the party starts with “California” so get going already!
Juliana Hatfield "Pussycat"
Those of you expecting Juliana Hatfield to be excited about the election of Trump have not been paying attention very well. Pussycat, her latest album, is as anti-Trump as it gets. Thankfully, besides bringing her well-deserved Trump vitriol to the album, she also brought a batch of tunes that are as catchy as anything she’s ever written. They are also surprisingly upbeat. Just because things suck, she isn’t gonna let that get her down. Look, I’m not gonna sit here and tell you what Juliana Hatfield sounds like, that’d be silly. Just check out “Impossible Song.”