Music
Jimmy Carpenter, The Louisiana Record (Gulf Coast Records)
Covers albums always have a couple of built-in booby traps. You play it too close and there’s no point; you take too many liberties, and you may wind up trashing the songs you love. The best way out is just to assemble a good band and play it like you mean it, not worrying too much about whether you sound like someone else’s record. That’s what saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter and his crew have done on this set of oft-recorded (mostly) Louisiana classics.
Sonia Tetlow, Better Days (Independent)
The post-COVID landscape should be a fertile one for a thoughtful singer-songwriter, but it still seems that few have been willing to jump in. When Sonia Tetlow writes a song called “Kicked the Covid”—and includes the line, “But it’s true, it kicked me the first”—she proves to be the perfect one for the job.
Craig Cortello, Dog Tales (Independent)
Craig Cortello is a cheerful alt-rock guy who called himself the “Canine Crooner” and does indeed fill this CD with songs about dogs. And if that sounds like a cue for a novelty album, guess again: Though mostly lighthearted, this set celebrates the good hearts and nobility of dogs. In other words, it’s an album of love songs.
Serabee, Hummingbird Tea (Rabadash Records)
Though you’ve probably never heard of Serabee, she’s already had quite the career: in the early 2000s she had three major-label albums (under the name Sera Buras); two were produced by Gary Katz of Steely Dan fame and one track was co-produced by Peter Gabriel.
Tyron Benoit, Waitin’ on Friday (Independent)
Tyron Benoit’s debut is without doubt the best swamp-rock album ever to open with a Cure cover. His version of “Just Like Heaven” is surprisingly faithful—even with his accordion taking […]
Dave Easley, Byways of the Moon (Big Ego)
The best way to approach this one is to forget everything you knew about how a pedal steel is supposed to sound, and how these songs are supposed to sound. […]
Dash Rip Rock, “It Ain’t a Party ’Till Somebody Dies” (Single) (Independent)
Dash Rip Rock hasn’t done an outright party record in some time, usually putting their serious roots-rock side up front on CD releases. But this one makes up for lost […]
Champion: Earl Falconer and Matt Doyle of UB40
The legendary British reggae band UB40 is coming to town—one version of it is, anyway. Bands evolve and change over time, but UB40 is a more unusual case because there […]
Zita, Hardly Alive (Independent)
Whoa! Better check the label on this one. Is this really a new album from an indie band, or some long-lost hard rock gem that I misplaced? Maybe it’s the […]
Ever More Nest, Out Here Now (Independent)
As that great philosopher Geddy Lee once sang, tough times demand tough songs. The second album by Ever More Nest—the band project of singer songwriter Kelcy Wilburn—is pretty well steeped […]
