It’s been less than a year since Strange Majik released their politically charged ‘Channel T’ album, but the ever-prolific David Pattillo and his crew are back with new material.
Monthly Archives: June 2019
NIGHT MARKET – White Seasons EP
Comprising the talents of Evan Effres and Jon Swan, both of whom wield acoustic guitars and show a love of a simple vocal harmony, it’s impossible to hear Night Market and not be transported back into the world of the sadly missed Eric Lowen & Dan Navarro. Their second EP, 2019’s ‘White Seasons’ very much marks the duo as an act that deserve more attention, since its three songs are finely crafted, soft and often have a mood that gently lifts the spirits.
DARTS – The Albums: 1977-81
The 70s were an incredibly fertile time for music. The decade began with the earlier purveyors of hard rock and metal – Deep Purple, Black Sabbath et al – and ended in a similar fashion with bands like Iron Maiden and Saxon spearheading what had been dubbed the New Wave of Heavy Metal. Somewhere between the two metal-oriented goalposts, funk begat disco and progressive rock roamed the landscape like a giant self-indulgent behemoth; punk inspired a generation to create DIY sounds and the likes of ELO, David Essex, 10cc and Pilot were at the forefront of pop perfection. David Bowie and Marc Bolan bought androgyny into the mainstream and Roxy Music looked and sounded like they’d been dropped to earth by aliens. Looking back – maybe with some rose-tinted glasses – the 1970s seemed to be a time when new musical ground was being broken month after month.
Listen: Honeychain deliver a future classic on new 7″
Honeychain released their debut LP in 2017. Produced by Kim Shattuck, the record often drew parallels with The Muffs in that the bulk of the material straddled a fine line between hard edged power pop and melodic punk. In some ways, the lesser known act showed themselves to be better than Shattuck’s own band in that Hillary Burton’s vocals were often much sharper.
A new full length is expected from the Los Angeles based punks before the end of 2019. In the meantime, the band have shared a single, ‘Go Away’. If the single is a measure of things to come then the second Honeychain LP will be one of the best discs of the year.
NEAL MORSE – Jesus Christ: The Exorcist
Back in the 90s, Neal Morse was one of the most talented people to emerge on the prog rock scene. With elements of Gentle Giant and Yes mixed with the Morse Brothers’ distinctive own style, Spock’s Beard gave prog a real kick up the arse with their first three albums. Their third album ‘The Kindness of Strangers’, especially, marked the band as one of the new breed of greats since it blended some great proggy ideas with the pop charms of Jellyfish and Crowded House to create a record that mixed excess with a truckload of melody. It was a disc they would never better. In the early 2000s, Neal found religion and left the band for a solo career. His albums from then on featured some reasonable music but divided fans due to some very heavy handed and preachy lyrical concerns.