Pride Month 2012: Sleater-Kinney
No celebration of queer rock is complete — nay, valid — without a nod to Sleater-Kinney. As far as I’m concerned, they’re the heartbeat of riot grrl. Part of that is because they’re the first riot grrl band I…
Pride Month 2012 — High Dive (Redux)
Howdy, readers! In case you haven’t noticed, it’s June. And June is Pride Month. For our first Pride Month entry I’m re-posting my review of High Dive. Why? The long and the short of it is that even though things…
The Successful Failures — Here I Am
Something happened in the ’90s. I guess as a reaction to grunge, slacker-rock bands like the Refreshments made bank. The songs should have been sad — they were about alcoholism, service economy-induced unemployment, and dysfunctional relationships. But things were going…
LP – Into the Wild
I know it’s hard sometimes, but remember how pop music is supposed to be good? Like, the whole point is that it’s inoffensive and catchy. These days, the lyrical vapidity is what offends me most about pop music. (Though I…
Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires — There Is A Bomb In Gilead
As I wrote back in February, this is a serious Southern rock album. I believe the words were “blistering declaration of intent.” I’m going to go as far as calling it a Southern rock manifesto. I will go even further…
Scott Alan Simmons — The Life and Death of Warren Peacemaker
Perhaps the comparison is really not particularly apt, but there’s something about Scott Alan Simmons that reminds me of Warren Zevon — without the dark sense of humor, or the raspiness (so, really, not at all.) But there’s something about…
Mercyland — No Feet on the Cowling
As some of you know, I’m currently student teaching in an eighth grade social studies classroom. One of my kids is, like, really obsessed with the Beatles. She will only read books about the Beatles. Her English Lit teacher suggested…
Cowboy Mouth: This Train
With little fanfare, Cowboy Mouth released its eleventh studio album on Friday. I have to admit, I was a little nervous — I wasn’t all that into their most recent release, Fearless. As I mentioned earlier, the band’s sound has…