I recently wrote about Jessica here after seeing her play and wowing the crowd at the end of the road festival. I was a little slow on the uptake about that particularly album but not so slow on her new one, tell me which is just out Nonesuch records. Picking up from where her last album left off Jessica writes songs that belies her 21 years on this planet. Produced by the black keys Dan Auerbach, she sings songs of failed romances and hopeful futures, vulnerability and lost causes, she’s an extremely honest and confident songwriter who rather than mourn about a relationship break up would rather say your loss, I aint got time to be messing around. Ballsy without being arrogant I love her attitude in her songwriting which reminds me of female country singers like Tammy Wynette or more notebly Lucinda Williams albeit a little less twangy. I think this girl is going to be massive and urge you to take a listen. She’s about to embark on an American tour before hitting Europe for a few dates before going back to the states and I urge you to go and catch her play live as she’s pretty special.
By far my favourite band at the moment is Southend’s (An area slowly becoming known as The Thames Delta) The Lucky Strikes. Having just realeased their third album, Gabriel, Forgive My 22 Sins to critical acclaim I’m hoping to see them rise to the stardom their talent surely deserves. A concept album about a boxer who slowly descends into madness because of the guilt he suffers from having thrown a fight. Apparently based on the true story of a boxer the band once met. The first thing that hits you is lead singer Matthew Boulter’s soaring, passionate vocals as the album starts with him screaming ‘The King Is Dead!’ before hitting you with some pounding bass and drums, a pretty heavy rock sounding start which jumps in and out throughout the album, but a geat start to what is so far my album of incredible year for music. The album continues with it’s blues/rock edge adding keys, drums and some extraordinary fiddle playing from ‘Big’ Jim Wilson. I had the pleasure of them playing for Drifter Promotions just recently and someone mentioned it was like hearing a mixture of Thin Lizzy and The Felice Brothers which i thought summed them up rather perfectly, even more so when they covered Whisky In The Jar as their encore! Although this may be a concept album each song holds up as a single track but I would urge you to buy this album and follow the story through. Stand out tracks for me are Snake In The Grass, The Fight and album closer We Are Waves which you can grab here. This is not so much a review but more of a head’s up to watch out for this band. Check them out, they’re incredible!
This time of year we here at YCD would normally tell you our favourite albums of the year but with time being precious and just simply not enough time to present one I am just going to give you a quick top of my head years favourites.
I can say however undoubtedly that my favourite album of the year is Travel By Sea’sTwo States And The BlindnessThat Follows. An absolute gem of an album with not a bad track on it. I wrote about that here and I urge everyone to buy it.
So, off the top of my head I can recommend the stones inspired The Lucky Strikes, Nathaniel Rateliff is a definite top ten, Although her album did not come out this year, she was new to me this year and I have huge hopes for her future and she is Jessica Lea Mayfield. PhosphorescentsHere’s To Taking It Easy would be in my top five of the year, just a brilliant slice of country music that would change the opinion of anyone who say’s country music is dead. Staying with country but not as punchy as Phosphorescent Ben Weaver’s Mirepoix and Smoke is another year’s favourite.
With a good slice of indie pop Spoon released one of the year’s best with their album Transference and the track Mystery Zone getting plenty of airplay not only on my show but across the net. Finally, I highly recommend Adam Haworth Stephens‘ We Live On Cliffs. Demo songs that had been around for a while were finally released as a solo album by the Two Gallants singer and has received high praise across the blogosphere.
So, although not a definite top 10, just an off the top of my head list of what I enjoyed this year. i could add loads more but would be here all day.
So, here’s to another great year of music and wish you all the very best.
This album may have escaped the radar somewhat given that both Charlie and The black Twig Pickers had their own releases out just recently in support of their recent tours but they recorded this back in May and I only came across it because word got to me it was being sold when they toured the UK together for a few shows recently. Thankfully it’s not a ‘only available at live shows’ album and is online both at cd baby and Klang. There is also a limited edition 7″ vinyl you can pick up here too.
An album of rare old gospel covers (apart from Charlie’s Where You Gonna Be (When the Good Lord Calls You Home)? it’s a masterpiece in what’s all good about country/gospel/blues. Charlie has been making waves in the UK for a few years now, he plays end of the road festival every year and is name on most people’s lips come the end, those who knew him before and those that didn’t. This is a perfect match with TBTP being the ideal band for Charlie to play alongside , mixed with a few haunting instrumentals I think the album really comes to life when Charlie’s vocal scream to the heavens especially on There aint no grave gonna hold my body down for when the band kicks in is just spine tingling gospel joy. Buy it.
Yeah ok so i may be two or three years late with this one but who gives a shit really? Well, i say two or three years late but who’s to tell these days when something is self-released, then perhaps released on a small label in their own country and then re-re-released when it’s picked up in the UK and europe? There is no official release date as such and as I say, does it really matter? As long as you are hearing about it is what’s important right?
At the moment there seems to be a few young, ballsy female singer/songwriters making their mark, there’s Caitlin Rose whose really taken off in the UK since wowing audiences everywhere she went during the summer (actually becoming the headline act at end of the road festival when the original one pulled out), a sharp tongued country girl who seems to live and play hard but also writes great country songs that belies her age.
Then there’s Audra Mae from Oklahoma who has a voice as good as anyone i’ve heard in country music in years. Her album The Happiest Lamb had critics lost for words and is someone on the rise. Her potential is staggering, check her out if you have not heard of her.
Then there’s Jessica Lea Layfield. Although she sings country songs they are mostly dark, broodingcountry/folk ballads which normally draw on personal experiences, break ups etc but she certainly has a punk edge to her that spills out every now and then, especially live. This is not a review of her album but more of a heads up on three amazingly talented young singer/songwriters who I would not like to get on the wrong side of. Jessica is about to be the opening act for Jay Farrar (Son Volt/Uncle Tupelo) on a few of his November shows. So if you are going to see Jay, get their early and see a star in the making. Enjoy.
As promised, I wrote about Travel By Sea here just a couple of weeks back and said i’d inform you all of the official release date. Well today is that date and you can now buy either at Bandcamp or cdbaby so pop yourself over and get yourself what is surely one of the best releases this year. A stunning album form start to finish, simply delicious.
I first wrote about Travel By Sea back in June 2008. Since then I’ve been keeping a watchful eye on their progress and it’s with great pleasure that I can announce they have a brand, spanking new album to self release on 19th October called Two States And The Blindness That Follows via Cdbaby, itunes etc.
Having given the album literally dozens of listens, I come away each time with a feeling of complete satisfaction, from the very first punchy guitar riff on the simply incredible, dreamy opening track eventually, you are full of promise and hope, pleading that the rest of the album is just as good and not that old, cheap trick of putting the best track on first for immediate impact which keeps you interested for a few listens before you realise that the rest of the album is inferior.Well, do not worry, this band is not full of cheap tricks.
In fact if anything this album improves as it goes along on it’s dreamy, country road and if you are not convinced by track four’s Light In The Darkness and it’s final four minute hypnotic, quite breathtaking ending then I’m not sure what will, a great live track I imagine with John Phinney playing a blinder on pedal steel (as he does throughout) However, if for some reason reason you are still looking to be convinced by this albums brilliance, by the time you hear The Road, a track inspired by the Californian fires, should be enough to do so which on the surface seems quite a simple laid back track but when you sit back and listen to the lyrics it leaves you with a feeling of complete loss and utter hopelessness not only because it makes you think about how awful it must have been for those affected by the fires but because like all great songwriters, Kyle Kersten manages to write in a way in which his words can relate to many situations and with lyrics like “Can anybody tell me what’s right, up or down cause it all seems the same to me?” often the situations you think of happen to be sad ones.
A lot less Sparse than their previous album there are still elements of it here noteably on the tracks I Feel The Same and arguably on the opening track too but in all it’s a much punchier, rockier affair no doubt because of the addition of long time Southern California players Dan Moore (bass), John Phinney (pedal steel, banjo), Mike Cusick (drums), and Andrew Morrison (guitar) with influences from Gram Parsons, The Byrds, Crazy Horse or to make a more modern day comparison you could include the Likes of Richmond Fontaine or Dolorean. I also come away with a feeling that the the last two years playing live has really helped them hone their craft and kept them from rushing into making an average album. Some real thought has gone into the making of this and you can tell, the production is superb, the songwriting is excellent and it’s all played to a massively high degree, winner all round if you ask me.
In fact, take a listen and come back and tell me of a better Alt-country release this year, I’ll be waiting.
I’ve also kindly been allowed to share with you the opening track but please, when this album is released, buy it. Not only will you be helping them fund this self-release but at the same time be buying one of this years best albums. Enjoy.
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