Jack Blocker’s “Big Jefe” & Cowboy Country
Good news and bad news. Bad news: I’ve been at a record low of my usual listening activity (yes, I’m obsessive and keep track on Spotistats). My usual favorites haven’t been hitting, the new stuff seems like it’s been done before, and a general malaise has been hanging heavy like a cloud above my Spotify. […]
Retrospective: Blaze Foley’s Last Show “Live at the Austin Outhouse”
The first thing I regret about writing a Blaze Foley retrospective is that it is, by nature, retroactive—that is, that I am yet another in a long string of fans, reviewers, and artists who have come to know and appreciate his talent when it is far, far too late. No amount of good things I […]
Noah Gundersen’s “Swim” & Old Souls
Noah Gundersen is no rookie on the scene. And even when he was, the high praise he received as a rookie was often laced with reference to his spectacularly grounded vocals and battleworn songwriting, often called “old school.” But there is, whether you listen to his older stuff or the freshest single, something about Gundersen’s […]
The Japanese House’s “In the End It Always Does” & Cycles
When I was in middle school, I wrote a science paper from the perspective of a water droplet to prove I understood the water cycle: evaporate, rise, cool & condense… I got rave reviews back about the emotional turmoil of my water droplet as she was ripped from her family’s river current to the sky […]
Shi Lu Atom’s “Morning or Night” & Shinigami
Shi Lu (石璐) “Atom” has been on the scene for awhile. Which, for a lot of people, is pretty surprising: packed in a tiny body and a face full of youthful exuberance, Shi Lu’s status as a single mother nearing 40 flies in the face of what the traditional idea of a rocker looks like […]
J Lind’s “Oxford Sweater” & Simple Joy
This is what J Lind writes on his instagram about his newest single: “Oxford Sweater” is about turning off your phone and noticing the world but here are some things I’ve noticed with my phone on, no regrets” What follows is a photo carousel of the quirky, the heartwarming, the mundane—an action figure on a […]
Elizabeth Hume’s “August” Unveils a Different Side to Summer
Well. How about we get honest? Like a lot of people in this world, I struggle with depression. Severe for awhile, now it’s just severe anxiety and moderate depression (woohoo!). It’s super… well, not fun, a lot of the time. Even now I’m about three minutes away from a beach and I struggle to get […]
Bad Tiger’s “Enough” and Timing
Bad Tiger is a story about timing. I was impressed beyond belief when I read that San Fran-based Bad Tiger debuted the week lockdown started. Because that one fact tells a story of its own: of pure resilience. I can’t think of much else that would so fully overshadow or outdo something so precious, so […]
Bridget Rian’s Single “Milk” is Saccharine Sweet
Saccharine love songs are always a bit of a hit or miss. And by that I mean, it’s totally contextual to the exact moment you find it, not its inherent worth. When Bridget Rian intros into her newest single, “Milk” with, “If my skin were milk, you would drink it,” there are those of us […]
Elizabeth Hume’s “Somewhere in Arizona” is Like Seaglass
Maybe it’s summer approaching, but I can’t get it out of my head that Elizabeth Hume’s music is rather like seaglass. There’s something translucent, but hued – hazy and rounded, but inherently sharp – a sensation that until the moment her song washed up on shore, it was quietly but violently roiling, roiling beneath opaque […]
