Music Review: Husky, Ruckers Hill

By Melissa Bratcher

Australia’s Husky have made one of the best albums I’ve listened to this year. Ruckers Hill is transporting, moving, and packed with glorious, goosebump-inducing harmonies. Vocally, frontman Husky Gawenda bears more than a passing resemblance to Paul Simon, and as a result, many of the harmonies reach that Simon and Garfunkel sweet spot. There’s a retro feel to Ruckers Hill, but with modern sensibilities. The songcraft is as tight as the harmonies.

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Music Review: KaiL Baxley, A Light That Never Dies

By Melissa Bratcher

While KaiL Baxley has interesting autobiographical details about which a book could be written (Golden Gloves champion, as a child held dance offs with his neighbor James Brown), what is the most fascinating is his new album A Light That Never Dies. A follow up to his 2013 debut Heatstroke/The Wind And The War, his latest is a genre-bending masterpiece, an album with many layers, all shot through with Baxley’s fascinating voice. A Light That Never Dies just gets better on repeated listenings. It’s definitely a “headphones on” sort of record; there are rich nuances and instruments buried down in the mix, and Baxley’s voice is swoon-worthy.

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Music Review: Ella Squirrell, Loop EP

By Tyler Hodg

Soulful. Seductive. Satisfying. Sound appealing? If so, Ella Squirrell is the artist you’re looking for. In her first release, an EP titled Loop, Squirrell’s music embodies the aforementioned descriptions while feeling impressively progressive at the same time. There is a sense of folkiness in the tracks, most notably found in her lyrics, but the incorporated pop elements, like the polished production and vocal melodies, carry a heavier weight. When listening to it, Loop is over before you know it and does a successful job of convincing you that much more of it is exactly what you need.

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Music Review: Todd Grebe & Cold Country, Citizen

By Melissa Bratcher

Hailing from Alaska, Todd Grebe & Cold Country make good, old-fashioned country music. Their newest, Citizen, has the feeling of a classic, with witty lyrics, outstanding music, and Grebe’s unconventional voice. Produced by David Ferguson (known for working with Johnny Cash), Citizen has a crisp, brisk sound, in which every instrument sounds brilliant.

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Music Review: Doomsquad, Pageantry Suite EP

By Jeffery X Martin

“You review music! That must be a dream job,” everyone says to me, and that is how I know the person talking does not review music for a living. While I agree that reviewing music for a living is a sweet gig, and I do get to hear a lot of cool tunes before the general public does, there are times when it provides just as much frustration as any other job.

The latest Doomsquad release is one of those frustrations. Their last album, Kalaboogie, was a Tantric trip back to the cradle of civilization and beyond (review). That’s a pretty heavy description, but it was a great record, filled with thunder and mystery, giving us only hints about where the trio was going next.

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Music Review: The Darkness, Last Of Our Kind

By Tyler Hodg

For fans of The Darkness, the very fact that there is a fourth album is a miracle. The band departed for a hiatus in 2006—which at the time seemed like a definite end—but subsequently returned and is now releasing their second album since the break-up, titled Last of Our Kind. With newcomer Emily Dolan Davies on the drums (who has already since parted ways with the band), The Darkness attempt to bring evolution to their music. Not everything on the album works, but there is enough to satisfy both casual and diehard fans alike. Thankfully, the more time spent with Last of Our Kind, the richer it seems.

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Blu-Ray Review: Let Us Prey

By Less Lee Moore

Brian O’Malley’s feature debut Let Us Prey reveals its darkness slowly and deliciously at first, evoking a sense of dread and mystery that keeps you watching. It also provokes a lot of questions. Who is this mysterious stranger who looks a lot like Liam Cunningham? Why has Police Constable Rachel Heggie been reassigned? Why is everyone at the police station so angry?

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Music Review: The Story So Far, The Story So Far

By Tyler Hodg

Pop-punk may not be on top of the world like it was in the early 2000s, but it’s still a major underground scene. The Story So Far has found success in that very scene and with the release of their self-titled third album, The Story So Far, the band continues to create music in the same vein that they have since their formation. For fans of their previous work that don’t care to see major evolution, this latest album from the group is perfect. For fans of their previous work that would like to see the band branch out and incorporate new styles and show significant growth, disappointment may be imminent.

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Music Review: Jamie Lin Wilson, Holidays & Wedding Rings

By Melissa Bratcher

Jamie Lin Wilson’s (The Trishas) solo debut, Holidays & Wedding Rings, has the trappings of a classic country album: women looking for love and taking it where they can find it, heartbreak, cheating, death, all with a hearty dose of mandolin and lap steel to anchor the songs. Wilson has a wonderful twang in her vocals, and indeed, a dusty road of Texas runs through the songs. The thing that sets Holidays & Wedding Rings apart is Wilson’s songwriting. There are unvarnished truths in her lyrics, and she doesn’t shy away from them.

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