What's a veteran songwriter / musician / recording artist to do while in pandemic-induced isolation at home? Write and play and record, what else? In the tradition of 1970's
McCartney and 1980's
McCartney II comes 2020's
McCartney III. The album wanders through different style and moods, so no one track is representative of the whole. Our choice for the New Music Bin "sounds like indie-rock filtered through his more traditional instincts," says
UltimateClassicRock.com.
The influence of McCartney and The Beatles runs deep in other tracks in our New Music bin this week.
The Nebraska native's first two albums were solo efforts, before he hit it big with the full-band sound of
Girlfriend. His upcoming release,
Catspaw,is nearly a one-man project as well, as Sweet handles the guitar, bass and vocal parts, joined by Ric Menck on drums. Sweet
tells American Songwriter that he named this track after a North Carolina indie band after hearing them do a song called "Matthew Sweet." “I was flattered and liked the song and their band name ... I’ve always been interested in Space and that greater nature of things; I love the concept that “we are all stardust.” I explored that idea in the lyrics." (Of course we had to check out the band called
The Stars Explode; we may pick up some of their music, too.)
This singer-songwriter based in the Asbury Park, N.J., area cites the likes of Brian Wilson and Ben Folds among his influences. Reviewing his latest album,
#AlbumNumber5Sessions, Asbury Park Vibes writes: "There’s a jaunty energy to the lush and warm piano-driven number 'Too Much' that allows it to wash over listeners." The album features a stellar cast of NJ musicians, including bassist William Blakey from another group you've heard us feature,
The Bryan Hansen Band. Expect to hear more of Cook's music on our midday show The Birch Street Bistro.
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As the year winds down and the rush of new releases slows, we're going through some of the music that came our way earlier in the year and looking for more tracks to add to our big mix. Back in April, we featured "These Things Happen" from this indie band out of Norway. We now return to their
Good Times Killing Us album for this another slice of power pop. The title echoes a classic song by The Byrds, switching "better" to "bitter" (or is that just a typo?) and switching the plot around. This time the singer isn't the one who's been wronged: "You didn't know that all the time / I was just putting you on." Yeah, she's bitter
and better off without him.
For a solid dose of hard rock we turn to this female-fronted indie band from Asquith, Saskatchewan. They describe their music as "loud and powerful" with a "dark and mysterious sound." Frontwoman/guitarist Phoenix Christa is backed up by guitarist Roland King and drummer Linda King. This track, a remix of a 2019 recording, was released as a single this fall - so it's "new" enough to fit in our New Music bin.
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