Big Boys - Chuck Berry

Big Boys - Chuck Berry

3:06

Chuck, 2017

Written by Chuck Berry

Released posthumously just after Berry's 90th birthday, this song features Tom Morello providing some thunderous guitar riffs.  Lyrically, it's familiar Berry territory, with very youthful attitudes tinged with subtle innuendo.  The narrator recalls being a little kid and wondering what those older boys are up to.  Are they drinking?  Getting their drivers' licenses?  Registering for the draft?  No, of course!  It's at a high school dance that he realizes it's girls that make the world go around: "Till the school dance when I first met you / And I learned to party like the big boys do."

Death Or Glory - Shovels & Rope

Death Or Glory - Shovels & Rope

3:40

Busted Jukebox, 2017

Written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, 1979

With some help from Hayes Carll, alt-county duo Shovels & Rope reinvent the punk classic.  They keep it just a little dark, some of the punk showing through the slinky arrangement.  Cary Ann Hearst's towering vocals combined with the pounding percussion give the song a driving, anthemic bounce.  I'm always impressed with the band's ability to really transform a song, not just give it a country twang. 

Jester & June - Craig Finn

Jester & June - Craig Finn
3:59
We All Want the Same Things, 2017

Written by Craig Finn

A classic Finn scenario: two former scenesters wandering the night, reminiscing about their glory days while trying but failing to score drugs. No one recognizes them anymore, not in the clubs, not at the bars, and their fading relevance hangs over everything. The desperation is played for dark laughs, though, with lines that land like little sad punchlines: "Well the bartender's friend sold us something / I think was probably coriander" and "Gave too much cash / To that one creepy kid at the car wash / He said he could make a few calls / But I don't think that he made any calls."  It's classic Finn humor: specific and painfully human.  But, as with so many of his burnouts and lost souls, the joke doesn't carry them to a happy ending.  Musically, it's a curveball compared to The Hold Steady: stuttering, dolphin-like guitar squeals, what sounds like a squawking sax, odd metallic string blasts, and distorted drums and guitars popping in and out. Everything jitters and bounces around them, mirroring their jittery, off-kilter night. It feels unstable, slightly unhinged: perfect for a story about people realizing the party may finally be over.

City Lights - Hall Johnson

City Lights - Hall Johnson

2:45

single, 2017

Written by Hall Johnson?

Poorly-named five-piece band (a Google search for them reveals the 20th century African-American composer to the exclusion of the modern act) from Austin claim they got their name from hypothetical Farmer Hall and Farmer Johnson, whoever they are.  Anyhoo, this melancholy indie ballad is about a lost love that the narrator can't quite let go.  "Maybe we should just come together / Maybe I should let me love you / You were my girl, at least you were / Until I broke your heart."  The vibe is mopey, and the vocals come with echo, but the tempo is bright and brisk.

Beauty Of the Pool Hall - Rancid

Beauty Of the Pool Hall - Rancid

2:16

Trouble Maker, 2017

Written by Tim Armstrong

A paean to a lady named Angel, a rough beauty whom the narrator pined for, or was involved with.  He would always see her around the workin-class gin joint, before she left abruptly one day.  "Kindness, a language that she always spoke / Lord, the way she could communicate."  It's got all of Rancid's trademark bits: breakneck solos, singalong choruses, Armstrong's mumbled raspy rap-singing, fragmented lyrics.  Not their greatest  song but a fair representative.

Oliver's Army - Hayseed Dixie

Oliver's Army - Hayseed Dixie

2:51

Free Your Mind... And Your Grass Will Follow, 2017

Written by Elvis Costello, 1979

My favorite bluegrass-rock cover band does one of my very favorite Elvis Costello songs!  Adding in a fiddle line that evokes "Here Comes the Sun," they don't exactly transform this anti-imperialist tirade, but they definitely put their stamp on it.  They clearly love the source material and treat it with equal parts reverence and glee.  

West Coast Town - Chris Shiflett

West Coast Town - Chris Shiflett

2:59

West Coast Town, 2017

Written by Chris Shiflett

I had no idea who Shiflett was when I heard this song.  He's the guitarist for Foo Fighters, trying on an alt-country hat and channeling Merle Haggard's attitude. "Yeah, mom held it down on a county wage / Clothes on our backs and food on our plates." t's interesting that he applies the music's hardscrabble working-class image specifically to Santa Barbara; I know there are plenty of depressed and middle class areas in California, of course, but when blended with the roots country sound there's a danger of it sounding artificial to many listeners.  But the South doesn't own growing up hard and working for a living, so good for Shiflett, I say.

HUMBLE. - Kendrick Lamar

HUMBLE - Kendrick Lamar

2:57

DAMN., 2017

Written by Kendrick Lamar, Michael Williams II, and Asheton Hogan

I know very little about Lamar, except what I heard from his beef with Drake last year, and a few tracks from To Pimp a Butterfly, all of which I liked.  With a sparse beat featuring guitar, bass, and piano, this one is light on the beat switches he seems to be known for and is more about the message.  Although the chorus "Sit down / be humble") is repeated way too many times for my liking, I like that even amidst all the boasting, Lamar is reminding himself to stay grounded.  Rap doesn't do that much.  "Ay, I remember syrup sandwiches and crime allowances / Finesse on 'em with some counterfeits, but now I'm countin' this."

Green Light - Lorde

Green Light - Lorde

3:54

Melodrama, 2017

Written by Lorde, Jack Antonoff, and Joel Little

The narrator goes about her life after a breakup, still carrying baggage, hoping for that "green light" that will let her move on.  "'Cause honey I'll come get my things, but I can't let go / I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it."  The lyrics are somewhat simple and threadbare, necessitating the kind of repetition that turns me off a song, typically.  But here, Lorde's vocal delivery is so intense and skilled as she switches up styles, first pleading and then in a staccato burst telling us how it's going to be, that it keeps me engaged throughout.  The bass, piano, handcaps and looping drums all give it a powerful push.

Let Me Down Easy - Gang Of Youths

Let Me Down Easy - Gang Of Youths

5:19

Go Farther In Lightness, 2017

Written by David Le'aupepe

Riding a persistent uptempo percussion track with catchy keyboard and strings, this song is an avalanche of words, a literate litany of one man's self-assessment in the face of aging, failure, and the ability to fight for  cause.  It's a wry mix of deadpan self-depreciation and humor.  "Honey, it’s no secret that I’ve been losing my way / In the weirdest of moments and the stupidest of ways / But hey, I’m still young and it’s gonna be okay / I got solipsism, baby, and I brought lemonade."  It's the human condition: longing, confidence, intensity, anticipation, all gliding over a pulsating rhythm.  It's over five minutes but I could easily have it twice the length.

Keep On - Portugal. The Man

Keep On - Portugal. The Man

3:23

Woodstock, 2017

Written by Portugal. The Man and Asa Taccone

This song's album received nearly universal poor to average-at-best reviews, citing clichéd lyrics and a newly affected, poppier sound.  I don't know anything about the band, so to me it just sounds like typical indie rock with a hip-hop influence.  It's true that the lyrics on this song seem to be a collection of unrelated brief phrases and bumper stickers, but I do like the silliness of "But I'm seeing a pattern / Falling from a ladder / Must be tripping like a cartoon / Slipping on a banana."

Jamestown Ferry - Charley Crockett

Jamestown Ferry - Charley Crockett

3:06

Lil' G.L.'s Honky Tonk Jubilee, 2017

Written by Bobby Borchers and Mack Vickery, 1972

This song was a hit for Tanya Tucker, but I've never heard her version.  It's a song of heartbreak; the narrator is left alone, wandering the bars and wondering why.  Crockett's loping, easy drawl is a nice fit for the song's stately pace.  The song's strength are its lyrics, making Crockett's work easy for him.  It opens with a blunt statement of fact and a wry recollection of a vow broken: "She just caught the Jamestown Ferry / It's not a hot day in January / Like she said it'd be / If she ever left me." Powerful, no matter who's singing.

Goodbye NOLA - Orgone feat. Kelly Finnigan

Goodbye NOLA - Orgone feat. Kelly Finnigan

2:42

single, 2017

Written by Orgone and Kelly Finnigan

A modern funk band, Orgone is an eight-piece that wears its Funkadelic and Stax Records influences on its sleeve proudly.  This song is pure '70s funk driven by a soul beat, with a note-bending guitar solo.  It's a tribute to New Orleans with odd, dream-like lyrics: "Mama Rule got the fever, fever for the second line / Cry in my heart while the water burst my mind / I was filled with the sound of a trumpet hound / And the flood run through the mud of every sacred ground."  It's got a Dr. John vibe, and guest Finnigan provides some swampy, gruff vocals.

Livin' in Sin - Dan Auerbach

Livin' in Sin - Dan Auerbach

2:24

Waiting On a Song, 2017

Written by Dan Auerbach?

An uptempo, catchy acoustic country-folk ditty about a possibly illicit relationship.  He only meets the lady at night, after all.  Her touch is electrical!  But it's not all physical.  "I need your spiritual voodoo / You are my cynical guru."  In the end, he concludes, "everybody's livin' in sin."  It's like a spiritual cousin to the Talking Heads' "Creatures of Love."  

The Way We See Heaven - Jeremy Pinnell

The Way We See Heaven - Jeremy Pinnell

4:15

Ties Of Blood And Affection, 2017

Written by Jeremly Pinnell

This is the new outlaw country.  An updated "Bad to the Bone" for the alt-country set.  Alt-law country?  This song is a rousing song of pride, and maybe a little relief at having lasted this long.  Probably somewhat loosely autobiographical, it features a narrator who made his momma worry; he's trying his best, but he's willing to go to hell if that's there his friends end up.  Ain't that America?

Empires - The Electric Swing Circus

Empires - The Electric Swing Circus

3:10

It Flew By, 2017

Written by Electric Swing Circus

The musical descendants of the Squirrel Nut Zippers.  Ragtime swing with a modern electric feel.  It appears to be an anti-war song ("Can you tell me what's the point in building empty empires, now?").  As is typical with neo-swing, the horns do the heavy lifting. Don't get me wrong, "Empires" is a good song, a fun listen.  And look, I hate to compare, but I can't help it; the Zippers were a joyful and taste-shifting discovery for me thirty years ago.  James Mathus and Katherine Whalen, these guys aren't.  I'm just not moved by the novelty of it anymore.