With Blues being native to Mississippi, whenever a local band steers away from the endless palette of Blues songs to cover and gets adventuresome enough to write their own version, you must give it more than a passing glance.
More importantly, when that band has been around for years and still manages to reconvene to give you a more rock-fueled brand of Blues that veers away from the overexaggerated vocals and habits of others, you sit up and pay attention.
Here for your attention are six songs of all stripes: studio tracks where the trio both cuts loose and coils up their tightly-wound boogie assault. Paired with two acoustic tracks recorded with ease of all early Mississippi blues - on a front porch in the summer air. Pick up their CD, “6 on Gas,” and see the Deltamatics play live this Saturday night at the Thirsty Hippo with local faves Stephen Wade Scott and Royal Horses.
SOCCER MOMMY
Color Theory
[LP/CD] (Loma Vista)
Sophie Allison is only 22 and "Color Theory" is that move where Allison leaps into the big leagues. After putting out one of the best albums of 2018 in "Clean," Allison softens her bite in favor of languid, almost syrupy guitar Pop that shields some very sad lyrics. It is a bold move nonetheless, especially where she connects on the singles "Lucy" and "Yellow Is the Color of Her Eyes."
CARIBOU
Suddenly
[LP/CD] (Merge)
As Daphni and Manitoba, Dan Snaith has re-energized the solo studio brand of electronic music. Manitoba was psychedelic and ethereal with moments of sheer effervescence ("Up in Flames”). Since changing that band's name to Caribou, Snaith has consistently created loops and songs that purposefully sound different from everything else. Now that EDM is a constant and that crushing beat can be found anywhere, Snaith courts familiarity with songs that resemble Muzak, house music and sample Soul. However, the biggest addition comes from Snaith himself, who now sings on every track.
JAMES TAYLOR
American Standard
[LP/CD] (Fantasy)
Now in his seventies, Sweet Baby James goes back to where his love of music began - Tin Pan Alley. Born in 1948, Taylor still clearly has memories of the more sophisticated radio songs of the Pop era. His first album in five years is almost all songs you already know. With co-producer John Pizzarelli, Taylor takes Broadway hits ("Almost Like Being In Love" from "Brigadoon,") movie hits ("Moon River" from "Breakfast At Tiffany's,") and those classics of days gone by ("My Blue Heaven," "Pennies From Heaven.") Taylor and Pizzarelli's jazz backing band fare best when metered ("Teach Me Tonight") or unfurling the little known ("As Easy As Rolling Off A Log.") While all the Rock stars of yesteryear seem to venture into this maze of songs, Taylor's famous ease brings you as much joy as he had making them.
SECRET SISTERS
Saturn Return
[LP/CD] (New West)
They’re back as a band and with new Grammy-winner (and Record Store Day Ambassador) Brandi Carlile. Carlile is no stranger to sibling harmony; the Hanseroth Brothers have long been her secret weapon. So naturally, she brings them along too. "Saturn Return" is really a showcase for sisterhood. Lydia and Lauren Rogers push the edges of their perfect harmony this time out to write songs that are both poignant and challenging. Having become mothers and lost grandmothers while writing this album, every song calls on some maternal instinct and questions some social more. The soulful "Late Bloomer" urges ("It doesn't matter when you bloom/It matters that you do.") "Nowhere, Baby" "trades songs for fickle love." "Saturn Return" is the Secret Sisters revealing themselves to be storytellers.
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
F8
[CD] (Better Noise)
Newly sober, FFDP singer Ivan Moody seems to have taken on a new clarity about writing songs with his band of Heavy Metal hitmakers. While most commercial metal reaches for that angsty place to connect with listeners, "F8" is ready to attack the problems of frustration and addiction head-on. Beneath the barrage of double-kick drums and serrated guitar riffs, "F8" looks to be a cautionary tale taking you to the angsty place where change happens for the good of you.
REVIVALISTS
Made in Muscle Shoals
[LP/CD] (Loma Vista)
Between albums, New Orleans' Revivalists get to live a dream: recording at legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals. These seven songs rework five hits ("Wish I Knew You" and "All My Friends") while bringing in one new track ("Bitter End") and a cover of The Bee Gees' classic "To Love Somebody."
– REISSUE –
MITCH RYDER AND
THE DETROIT WHEELS
Sockin’ It To You: The Complete Dynovoice/New Voice Recordings
[CD BOX] (RPM/Cherry Red)
The voice of High-Energy Rock N' Roll. Mitch Ryder. Celebrated but still underrated. Plucked from obscurity by Bob Crewe (producer/writer for the Four Seasons, among others), this package reconstructs their rise and the changes they quickly weathered after putting Michigan Rock N'Roll on the map. No longer Billy Lee & The Rivieras, the newly christened Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels burned up the charts with their soulful yet powerful mixture of R&B and Rock N'Roll. Like all good Midwest show bands, Mitch burns through the covers ("Shake A Tail Feather," "Turn on Your Lovelight") before unveiling their first major hit "Jenny Take A Ride." Over the three albums with The Wheels, the production of Crewe begins to intercede more as the clean-cut background vocals quickly become showy MOR ("Walk on By" on "Sock It To Me" which still features a front-burner knockout punch of "Too Many Fish in The Sea" made famous by the Marvelettes). What follows is a brave launch for Mitch's solo career, including the underrated concept album "What Now My Love" from 1967. The 65 tracks in this box demonstrate how quickly music was changing from 1965-1969.
