Album Reviews (Page 32)

Widowspeak – “Almanac”Captured Tracks-out Jan. 222 / 5 Rock and Roll duo Molly Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas roll out their second album here, a dreamy-sounding, laid-back rocking affair. While they have a flair for awesome western-frontier enrobement (as evidenced by their cover), we’re not huge fans of their rocking and rolling here. The tracks have enough solid guitarwork to recommend that aspect, as on the opener “Perennials” and “The Dark Age,” but we have to fault the sweet lass on lackluster vocals; a Stevie Nicks she is not. She comes off dull instead of sparkly-dreamy, and her voice doesn’t pull us in, entice, makeRead More →

Trixie Whitley – “Fourth Corner”Strong Blood Records-out Jan. 293 / 5 The opener captivates us: “Irene,” a metallic, steam-engine of a track hits all the right notes that a power female vocalist should – passion, drive, soul. Belgium-born Whitley has a strong voice and presence on her debut solo, intimate, immediate, and capable, but we’re going to shy from giving it our full-on approval. Yes, she’s got pipes, and yes, she knows how to use them; yet, as good as her performances here, we feel she’s a bit too in control. These songs are here to showcase her vocals, which are composed of equal partsRead More →

On an On – “Give In”Roll Call Records-out Jan. 29 3.5 / 5 As much as we held out against On an On’s debut, our will has finally collapsed and we are officially fans of the Chicago electronic pop group. It’s slow, dreamy, at times celestial-inspired pop that comes on more subtly than our usual bang-a-drum rock tastes, but that’s a good thing. Those tastes are somehow sated with the ELO-tinged vocals on “The Hunter,” a joyous, bang-a-drum pop song that seems like it should be slow as molasses, but blasts smoky, infectious sound wrapping us not unlike a pig in a blanket. Much ofRead More →