Album Review: Drive By Truckers- English Oceans

Drive By Truckers

English Oceans

***and/12 out of *****

The consummate southern rocking songwriters are at it again on English Oceans. The bands 10th proper studio album finds the group still in fine form. The band has morphed over the years with various song writers entering and exciting like Jason Isbell and Shonna Tucker but now just Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley stand tall as original members and songwriters.

The most exciting new development is Cooley going toe to toe with Hood regarding the amount of tunes contributed on English Oceans. In the past Cooley always had 1-2ish songs per album with sly lyrics and fun picking, here he is full on equal if not forerunner writing 6 of 13 and hitting a special groove.  Cooley's "Shit Shots Count" opens things on the highest of notes with a fantastic horn outro but not before the classic couplet: "Pride's what you charge a proud man for having/Shame is what you sell to a whore".

The other obvious highlight is Hood's disk closer "Grand Canyon". Gloriously spacious, echo filled and touchingly dedicated (like the whole album) to the bands lost friend Craig Lieske. Apparently it was a last second decision to record and include the song but the album is much better off because of this captured moment.

In between these gems the DBT's do what they do best, craft cinematic tales around southern rock riffs and strums. Damaged politics, poisonous relationships, broken dreams and old age seem familiar territory for the group yet they still manage to mine fertile songs. The one downside (and it can be said for a lot of the bands output) is it feels almost too much for one disk, the band comes at you with interesting lyric after interesting lyric via the same guitar attack and at the end you feel wiped out.    

There are moments though like the piano/sustain combo in "Paulina Hawkins" where the beauty just rises amongst all the heartaches, headaches and broken dreams the band sings about. It is doubtful they ever stop and when they continue to put out this quality of tunes why would they even consider it?
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Great to see Cooley on even footing with Hood, his track "Cartoon Gold" was our favorite on Go-Go Boots. This band is really great, a southern version of The Hold Steady in our eyes, since we are NY'ers the Steady hit home more, but the Truckers are fantastic.

Dylan Cover #129 The Hollies "Just Like A Woman"

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a live cover by The Hollies playing "Just Like A Woman"

This month we are doing another special focus on Dylan covers, we have focused on The Byrds and the lesser known Coulson-Dean-McGuiness-Flint. Now the spotlight shines on The Hollies and their Hollies Sing Dylan album.

Thoughts on Original:
There are a lot of songs about the greatest muse known to man, woman. This one may top the 60's generation when it comes to dealing with Mars and Venus. Respectful in one breath and slightly mocking the next Dylan can sense the pain, and I think there is a clear honesty in there, well maybe "clear" is the wrong word to use, nothing is ever clear with this subject matter. Treating the subject honestly Dylan tackles the differences between the sexes and the difficulties of relationships. Bob nailed this one making it one of his all-time greats. 
Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:
So not knowing much of The Hollies before this month, I have been listening to them a lot and while they are not really my cup of tea there are some songs I like, mostly their early stuff. So far my favorite tune of theirs might just be "Look Through Any Window" as it has an obvious Beatles feel but also something a little deeper behind it. Give it a listen if you haven't and if you are a Hollies fan what is your favorite tune of theirs?
Thoughts on Cover:
Well the group amps up the drama again screaming a bit and banging on the drums. It fits better for "Just Like A Woman" then it did last week, and while I am not totally sold on the style, it is a unique way to tackle it. I do respect unique.

Full Show Friday: Lenny Kravitz Rock in Rio 2011

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's.  These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Lenny Kravitz!

Here is a pro-shot, pro sound full concert from Lenny Kravitz from Rock in Rio back in 2011. He is a great showman as his full band gets rocking and funky through out. Very impressed with his full band and genre defying sound. Makes he hope he plays Jazzfest one of the years in the near future as he would be a perfect fit.  
Enjoy:

NYPL Blog Post: Black 47 Fire of Freedom

Hey all, we got our latest post up over on NYPL Blogs Channel. Read it Right C'here! It is our newest installment in the Great Albums You Might Have Missed series with a focus on Black 47's Fire of Freedom.

We love this album on so many levels and with the band ending their run this year we felt the fellas needed some love on their early 90's masterpiece.

We wrote a ton on it going into every song, and have a bunch of links so we won't do much more here, go read the piece. Pumped to catch them live with Ed and the crew come Paddy's Day and are looking forward to the new album. Cheers Fellas!

If you want to see more NYPL posts just go here.

Album Review: Biblical -Monsoon Season

Biblical

Monsoon Season

*** out of *****

The metal/hard-rocking quartet from Toronto Biblical, have put fourth an expansive album in Monsoon Season. Only 6 songs are here but the band feels confident mixing guitar solos, tight rhythms and mid range vocals.  Meshing up a two guitar attack with organs adding to the texture of things, the band has succeed in crafting some heavy soundscapes.

The first single and disk opener "Second Sight" is upbeat traversing lots of terrain. "All Justice, No Peace" puts a hangman to the forefront with a "Hey-Ho" chorus, Nick Sewell's vocals aren't your screaming variety (and also stay away from Glam excess) they are direct except in "The Quiet Crooks" where things get spacey and a touch falsetto before a noisy guitar injection.   

"Married Man" picks up the pace with a swinging drum beat as Jay Anderson puts the skins in the spotlight, providing a killer groove making it a highlight. The expansive title track closes things by pushing the boundaries at over 11 minutes as it ebbs and flows through a cosmic adventure.  For fans of hard rock and bands like Kyuss, give Biblical a listen.
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Interesting band, we dug this disk.

Support the group here, buy the album here and peep some video below:

Album Review: Karl Denson's Tiny Universe- New Ammo

Karl Denson's Tiny Universe

New Ammo

***and1/2 out of *****

Jambands bane of existence is a studio recording; the genre lives for the live show. Fans, promoters and artists alike all get rich in different ways off of those peaking communal moments late at night and when it is time to hit the studio that recording is mostly just fodder for better versions on the next tour.  New Ammo is more then that, sure it is new ammunition for Karl Denson's Tiny Universe to crisscross the country with, shooting the sounds into its fans ear holes but the band expanded its scope and sound. Having not recorded since 2009 KDTU has crafted an engaging mix of original funky workouts and unexpected covers that fans will want to hear as production and playing are top notch.

Denson and an expanded horn lineup are most successful when slapping their funky craft onto a wide array of covers. The groups unexpected outings into indie rock with the Cold War Kids "Hang Me Out To Dry" turns the Californian's storytelling original on it's ear, but it is the unique use of flute and Robert Walters key work that amplifies The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" into a must hear. Jack White would have to admire the direction and it would be a treat to hear him contribute a jamming guitar to that track live but as is Denson and crew are having a blast, you can even hear Denson yelling into his flute towards the end of things. A tribute to the Beastie Boys via "Sure Shot" finds Denson's flute fronting a jazzy instrumental take on one of the legends best tunes, tastefully done.

Two covers the band kick major ass on are songs people probably never experienced before. "The Duel" is head banging, fist pumping and hip-shakingly fantastic all at once.  The original by Lenny Stack was for a soundtrack to 70's B-Movie CC and Company (starring Joe Namath!) sounds gloriously filthy here while (speaking of filthy) the slinky opener "Grenadiers" is the theme to Russ Meyer's Cherry, Harry& Raquel, va-va-voom indeed. Both are fantastic instrumentals that are the true highlights of Denson and crew; performers who can find the rarest of tune and make it their own.

Of course in Shane Handler's interview with Denson he stated "the band has finally figured out how to capture in the studio what the Tiny Universe does live" and he is certainly on the right path a bit more tightening could only improve things. For instance "My Baby" was Denson's first duet (with Nicki Bluhm) and it is a solid vocal take but trimming it from its 6:12 run time would yield better results.  "Odeyssus" brings things back to Denson's easy grooving roots but after all the new directions previous it feels just an average way to end things.

Really though it matters little for the groove hounds this disk is targeted for, when they can't make a live gig here's their New Ammo for staying in, turning it on and getting down
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We like Denson, seen him a bunch back in the day and loved his Stones tour with Anders, this surprised us a bit, not what we were expecting, in a good way. We hold Jack White, The Beasties and even that first Cold War Kids album in very high regard. While those covers were cool (especially the Stripes) it is the 70's b-movie tracks that are the real stars.

Support the Artist here, but the disk here, make sure to catch him live here, and peep some video below:

Dylan Cover #128 The Hollies "Blowin In the Wind"

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a cover by The Hollies playing "Blowin' In the Wind"

This month we are doing another special focus on Dylan covers, we have focused on The Byrds and the lesser known Coulson-Dean-McGuiness-Flint. Now the spotlight shines on The Hollies and their Hollies Sing Dylan album.

Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune:
The classic Dylan song, if you asked 100 people to name you the first Bob Dylan song they thought of, or his best known song, I am guessing 95-99 of them would answer "Blowin' In The Wind".  It is an epic, vital song in the history of recorded music. The lyrics tell a stirring tale, the melody is enchanting, it is pretty spot on perfect, and when it originally came out if announced to the world the greatness that was Bob Dylan. 
Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:
We come into this series knowing little about The Hollies, when I hear Holly I think Buddy. The one thing I do know off the bat is that they wrote "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress" and that was the first song Phish ever played live. There's some trivia for you....Other then that I am not sure how much I know or how many songs I have heard from the group. Guess I will dip into that over the month.
Thoughts on Cover:
What the hell is with the creepy couple semi getting it on in this video?!? Man the 60's were weird. That aside I guess (if I can put it aside) The Hollies get the couple off the screen and turn up the schmaltz with the horns an ooh and ahh's. The extended blooo-oh-oh-ing in the wind pushes it over the top for me to pure cheese ball. It is hard to get behind this one especially when the offending parts to these ears goes on for much too long, lets not talk about the return the freaky couple.