Reviews

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June 4, 2021

Rob Ray - Yours is the Night

Rob Ray’s latest EP follows in the path of his latest release, Yours is the Day. And while the two EPs were written concurrently, much in the manner of say Thrice’s Alchemy Index, there’s certainly enough distinction between the two. Much like its predecessor, there are strong spiritual truths and three singles preceded release of the full EP. But Yours is the Night feels more quieted and barren. It’s not necessarily deeper or more solemn than its counterpart, but the stripped-back, acoustic-driven nature results in a mood akin to laying awake at night, restless ruminations coursing through your mind.… Continued →

April 30, 2021

J Lind - The Land of Canaan

The downside to being involved in music “news” is there’s a certain urgency to be the first to the plate with coverage on new releases. Full transparency – my involvement is fully of volunteer nature. But I do prefer to cover releases when they’re most timely and need the boost. The obvious drawback in instances where I don’t have a pre-release copy is that I have to make make some quick judgments. Typically I can glean through things pretty quickly nonetheless. But I know that I surely won’t be able to do J Lind’s latest effort the full justice it needs here.… Continued →

April 26, 2021

April 24, 2021

Rob Ray - Yours Is The Day

Rob Ray is the kind of artist that has the rare ability to instantly capture listeners’ attention. Blending what could best be classified as a mix of Josh Garrels, John Mayer, and Macy Gray, Ray crafts punchy tracks with instant appeal. More practically, it’s a soulful mix of R&B-tinged indie. Yours Is The Day meets the biblical classification of “spiritual songs” in no time flat. This is an upbeat, fun EP with a bit of gospel bravado to keep the energy high throughout its 21-minute runtime.… Continued →

April 19, 2021

Gr8frt - Half Life Carbon Fourteen

Gr8frt‘s sophomore release is not one of vanity. From its raw vocals to quirky cover, this is not the type of EP meant to fly off the shelves. And it’s clear this is the artist’s intention as well: These five songs were painstakingly recorded over the course of two years. The songs survived a catastrophic computer failure, getting sober, a relapse of a different sort, suicidal thoughts, and a whole lot of upheaval. We started this album as farm workers and ended it as missionaries.… Continued →

Song of the Day: Rich Mullins - While The Nations Rage

Indiana’s Richard Wayne Mullins is a vital part of the Christian music industry. Besides penning & performing one of the best worship songs of all time, “Awesome God”, he also was a very talented musician who was proficient with the piano & the dulcimer which can be heard on many of his songs. His first couple albums did not gather much radio play, but The World As Best As I Remember It Vol 1 & 2 garnished many songs heard all over the radio at the time.… Continued →

April 17, 2021

Song of the Day: Common Children - Skywire

Arkansas’ Common Children reminded me plainly of a cross between The Prayer Chain & Skillet. Why, might you ask? Well, CC has some serious ethereal atmospheric music akin to The Prayer Chain. And Skillet due to the obvious grunge influences and the three male band members when they first formed. Skywire came out in 1996 as did Skillet’s S/T. As far as the band’s name, well Jesus Freak Hideout’s site interview vocalist Marc & it is “because we are all common children in the sense that we all live together, in a broken world, in need of grace—beggars attempting to tell other beggars where to get bread.”… Continued →

February 25, 2021

Andy Squyres - Poet Priest

Poet Priest dropped earlier today, but it’s already making waves. Even the most casual affirmations seem to eclipse anything I might have to say here. The press is quick. And trying to add something to the conversation here is certainly a challenge, indeed one that usually doesn’t show up. To say this album has been highly-anticipated is an understatement. Cherry Blossoms was my first taste of Squyre’s work this past year, and “The Pestle and the Mortar” was easily my most-played track from any artist for 2020, serving as my emotional crutch in large part for many moments of fear and anxiety.… Continued →

February 8, 2021

Song Review: New Song From Earth Groans! Band Covers Deftones' "My Own Summer (Shove It)" (Song In Post)

Earth Groans is a metal band with an explosive, thundering sound that grips its listeners with their sound. Interest in the band in the past few years seems to have skyrocketed among fans of the genre and for good reason. So when you hear news of something new from them headed your way, you pay attention.   In a rather ambitious endeavor, the band has chosen to cover a song from the one and only Deftones. “My Own Summer” was the first single of the Deftone’s second album release, “Around the Fur” and was in instant hit and an instant classic.… Continued →

January 18, 2021

Captain the Sky - Butterfly Effect

Crowdfunding campaigns have a record of being notoriously unreliable; even so, I’d admittedly forgotten about this album I contributed to two and a half years ago. Captain the Sky publicly announced their hiatus years ago it seems, so things have understandably been quiet with a number of side projects taking precedence. But this is most certainly a proper swansong. It’s an eleven-track record of arguably the most upbeat take on post-hardcore you’ve heard in a hot minute. This is a good-vibes album that bridges some of the technical elements of broodier genres with hints of indie pop.… Continued →

January 17, 2021

Chase Tremaine - Development and Compromise

Chase Tremaine’s Unfall made mild waves in the independent community in 2020, garnering his upwards of 4,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. That might seem like an insignificant statistic, but I’d willingly admit I listen to bands who’ve been at it for years with less visibility. Something definitely clicked with listeners here. Now, for some reason or another, I didn’t actually listen to Unfall from front to back. Maybe it was lack of time. Maybe it was the pressures of the past year. The downside: I can’t comment on how Tremaine has progressed since his last release.… Continued →

January 12, 2021

Kendra Blethen - Pilgrimage

Kendra Blethen is one of a host of singer-songwriters I found this past year, and it seems like North Carolina is churning out artist after artist. Blethen brandishes a unique blend of southern grit and spiritual ruminations across Pilgrimage, her debut EP. The core concept came to her during a drive to what I can only assume might be Audiofeed – a reminder that the voyage matters as much as the destination. Or, as Miley Cyrus put it, “It’s the climb”. Admittedly, there’s a certain simplicity here, both in song structure and lyrics.… Continued →

January 9, 2021

Several Other Ghosts - Ghost Stations

From the opening notes of “Just Breathe” all the way to its creaky end, this track seems to live up to the “ghostly” vibe of this Washington-based act. Rest assured, this band is neither post-rock nor needlessly-morose. Ghost Stations is instead more coffee shop than haunted house. It shimmers with a certain tender warmth, though vulnerability is around every corner. The ghosts here are not external tormentors; they’re vestigial memories. “(I Can’t) Save Your Soul” is the first point where we see the full band – complete with buttery bass, tight drumming, and some jazzy piano.… Continued →

December 26, 2020

Domestic Terminal - I Could See Midnight Sky

Undeniably, 2011 was a critical year for my musical taste. It’s the year I discovered Hands and A Hope for Home, bands still cemented as life-changing artists with some of my favorite albums of all time. Over the course of the next two years, due to bands like Gracer and Moving Mountains, my taste trended further from metal into atmospheric, emo-adjacent rock I’ve emphatically christened crescendocore. I began collecting these types of acts into a rather lengthy playlist called “Feels fo’ Realz” (which still exists). I was hyped on that type of sound.… Continued →

December 21, 2020

Verlaine - Don't Wake Them From Their Sleep

There’s something about that mid-00s Christian emo sound. Spotify calls it “dreamo” and it encapsulates bands like The Myriad, Poor Old Lu, Fair, Copeland, and a fair number of Tooth & Nail artists. Of course, the appeal of this sound is not purely nostalgic; Subways on the Sun proved that for us last year. Chill, melodic, emo-adjacent rock is refreshingly-dynamic. Pour on a healthy dose of ethereal falsetto for full effect. It’s cinematic in the truest sense. It borrowed some of the highlights of bands like The Goo Goo Dolls and Coldplay and added in a higher degree of artisan craftsmanship.… Continued →

December 5, 2020

Make Sure / Ezekiel Songs - Split EP

Splits seem increasingly-rare; indeed, in a single-friendly, me-first musical culture, artists collaborating in mutual benefit is undeniably counter-cultural (as a side, it’s odd something even so simple seems adverse to some). But splits live on, if only solely as a remnant of DIY punk culture. There’s a raw, communal, anti-corporate element here. “We’re in this together,” the unspoken message goes. And there’s certainly plenty of community at play on this latest collaboration between Make Sure and Ezekiel Songs – the split includes one new song per artist, as well as a cover of the other artist’s tracks.… Continued →

December 3, 2020

Wade Walker - The Harrow

Put simply, The Harrow is an album of parables. No, you won’t need a dictionary, nor are any of the sentiments too obtuse. The central narrative instead rests in simplicity; an earthy barrenness meets dirty hands resulting in what can only be described as common man’s praise. Where others would opt for sprawling pedal boards and tireless crescendos, Wade Walker chooses a subtler option: vulnerable, poetic, alt-country worship without all of the glitz. Walker’s sophomore release is undeniably folkier than its predecessor, but what it lacks in percussion, it makes up for in craftsmanship.… Continued →

November 29, 2020

Daniel Markham - Burnout

From the opening riffs of opener “Armadillo”, you know this is going to be something interesting—dual harmonic guitar riffs in fuzzy tones. Vocals reflect Markham’s alt country background, but this is clearly a rock record. His bio claims he was trying to return to the hard rock and heavy metal that made him happy as a child, and while that is certainly a tangible presence, it’s filtered through his alternative consciousness. It’s like the rock era of Starflyer 59 where they essentially wrote doom metal riffs but set them into the context of shoegaze songs.… Continued →

November 7, 2020

Starflyer 59 - Miami (EP)

There used to be a fairly well-known release formula for SF59. Step one: release full-length album. Step two: release EP of similar material within the following year (or even later that same year). While the formula has been tweaked over the years, it still more or less holds. Whereas She’s the Queen was the counterpart to Silver, Miami functions that way for Young in My Head. Although there are some stylistic—and more noticeably, lyrical—differences, any of these songs probably could have been on Young in My Head.… Continued →

October 27, 2020

Cory Breth - Wide Awake

Wide Awake is a quintessential fall album. It’s rife with alt-country flavor, down-to-earth lyrics, and bit of dust and grit to polish things off. The album serves as Cory Breth’s third major release to date, and, while fall is already turning to winter in parts of the country, the timing of its release couldn’t be much better. It’s earthen, raw at times, but Breth’s lyrics are laced with hope and truth. There’s an equal mix of proclamations of faith and ruminations on life that keep things from feeling too clichĂ© or forcedly-Christian; nonetheless, faith is an essential part of this album and Breth’s lyrics pull back the curtain of ambiguity in a way that other artists simply don’t.… Continued →

October 20, 2020

The Oh Hellos - Zephyrus

With Zephyrus, The Oh Hellos close out their four-EP project spanning several years. It’s exciting and a bit sad all at once seeing the project come to an end, especially with a lengthy gap between the first and latter halves of the project. Much like the consecutive releases of Notos and Euros, Zephyrus follows Boreas closely and shows the band at a higher degree of mixing and mastering. And while Thrice’s Alchemy Index took a similar four-disk approach, it felt more experimental and diverse.… Continued →

October 13, 2020

September 4, 2020

The Oh Hellos - Boreas

Boreas is far from a gentle, stereotypical winter-themed release. It has been tested by negative-degree temperatures. It has been refined in a viking furnace. It sees the Heaths adorned in makeshift bear pelt armor ready for battle. The Oh Hellos may have been in hibernation, but they've woken up roaring. 

September 2, 2020

John Lucas - The Bible Belt Sessions, Vol. 1

I remember my first encounter with John Lucas – his eponymous A Thousand Cathedrals feels like it’s from a different era now, as he’s has gone from an under-the-radar act to boasting almost a quarter-million monthly listeners on Spotify. Though he plays only a handful of shows a year, his music is making the rounds. And frankly, it’s not heard to see why. Kovasckitz (his proper last name) has a certain gift when it comes to songwriting. His amorphous brand of folk, Americana, and chamber pop never has quite the same flavor between releases.… Continued →

August 25, 2020

Review: Idle Threat. "Nothing Is Broken For Good"

"He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." -Psalm 147:3 Spirit Filled Post Hardcore act, Idle Threat. have released their Tooth & Nail debut "Nothing Is Broken For Good" full of passion, heart, and faith. RIYL: My Epic, Household, Paperweight, Arms for Elephants, and Trainwreck-era Boy's Night Out

August 14, 2020

Former Ruins - Large Startling

Enchanting. It’s a word that sums up only a few truly moving albums; ones that shine lyrically, consist of artisan songcraft, and thrive off a powerful emotional response. I won’t mince words – Former Ruins offers all of this and more. Levi Dylan Sikes crafts cascading songs with The National-esque vocals and captivating folk and alt-country arrangements. It’s a solo project, but much in the same way The Winston Jazz Routine was; these songs are full, emotive, and daringly forward in their lyrical content. Undeniably, I care about lyrics more than the average person.… Continued →

August 12, 2020

Kevin Schlereth - Alembic

Kevin Schlereth is a certified dude. His existence strides the line between nomadic and genius. He sports a bushy mustaches and wears dad hats and red shorts. Along with compatriot Jay Costlow, and with the rest of the Schlereth clan in tow, this musical collective is rarely in stasis (save for the past few months). They’ve become known for their relentless touring, seemingly-endless connections, and tight-knit, living room performances. Musically, the experience is a bit singer-songwriter and a bit indie rock. Lyrically, the crew draw their influences from New Testament Scriptures.… Continued →

July 25, 2020

Roemer - Straight Bars and Guns

Roemer is a stripped-back acoustic/indie folk project. If you’re anything like me, folk has to be some really special to catch my attention—a quirky vocal style, effective use of harmonies, skilful playing, or best of all hard-hitting and/or poignant lyrics. If it has one or more of those, I’m more likely to pay attention. Straight Bars and Guns was written from an outsider looking in. Much like myself, Roemer is an American citizen living abroad. He in Berlin, me in the south of England. Being an American who doesn’t actually live in the United States gives one an interesting take—neither more nor less accurate, just different.… Continued →

July 16, 2020

Micah McCaw - Imbalances

Micah McCaw - Imbalances

In spite of its title, Imbalances feels balanced lyrically, melodically, rhythmically, and spiritually. It's an incredibly impressive album that feels so fresh and unique compared to most modern bands. It's artful but not pretentious. McCaw speaks with both wisdom and humility. The songs flow dynamically but it always feels natural. If you're a fan of complex bluesy prog-rock then this album definitely deserves a listen.

July 2, 2020