Not content with only fronting the Chris Robinson Brotherhood – an excellent jam band bringing the spaciousness of Grateful Dead to other retro styles – Chris Robinson, the one-time Black Crowes frontman – has formed a new band, As The Crow Flies. The main reason for this? He’s got a great catalogue of songs that deserve live performances; much loved songs that wouldn’t necessarily fit the Brotherhood ethos.
What’s more, there’s a string of US live dates scheduled for April and May.
Having previously regaled the world with tales of TV Zombies, R. Stevie Moore and Pizza on their ‘Television Echo’ LP in 2015, Canada’s Outtacontroller begin 2018 on a similarly energised and fuzzed out wave with four more more songs of trashy debauchery.
Although comprised of recordings made at a brand new session, thematically speaking, there’s common ground covered on their ‘No Echo’ EP, since ‘Prime Time’ echoes their love of TV and ‘Something Wild’ hints at a band who believe firmly in the old Spinal Tap maxim “have a good time, all the time”. There may only be ten minutes’ worth of new music here, but this disc represents quality over quantity.
Labelled “the heaviest band you’ve never heard” by the DyingScene website, Narcos Family Band already have a reputation to live up to. Since they’re not a strictly a metal band (or better yet, a doom metal band), they’d have a hard job being the heaviest all the while bands like Heriot and Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard have plied their trade, but they’re definitely bloody raucous…and if “bloody raucous” is one of your staples when it comes to discovering new music, then ‘Pink Blues’ should definitely be sought.
In the last quarter of 2015, Mason Summit left a lasting impression with his third album ‘Gunpowder Tracks’. Exploring various avenues of pop, Americana and folk, the singer-songwriter showed a talent and knowledge of influences that stretched beyond his years. With the world awash with great music in the digital age, it didn’t quite reach the size of audience it deserved but, for those who actually heard it, the feeling was unanimous – this was an unexpected gem that set expectations high for a follow up.
Jess LaCoy is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Her debut EP finds her in control of most of the musical aspects – she not only possesses a good voice, but also plays all guitar parts and handles writing and production duties respectively. In this sense, ‘Lioness’ seems to be a well-chosen name for her debut EP, since she’s someone who commands a strong presence.