Dan Masterson shines brilliantly on full length debut When Reality Calls
Dan Masterson’s new album When Reality Calls rises up to the challenge of being one of the better piano driven pop rock masterworks. Masterson’s command of the ivories allows him to build inspiring melodies. His vocal ability allows him to croon beautifully, widely over the musical landscape he creates below. His songwriting caliber allows him […]
Bruce Marshall Group play the blues and strike gold on Borrowed Time
Bruce Marshall Group’s latest CD Borrowed Time leans more heavily into blues territory than their previous roots infested recordings. This was a wise decision to make because Borrowed Time is a really cool album that impresses with the band’s array of talent as it soothes the soul with its down and dirty depth. Opening track […]
Noble Dust will go far with debut And The Tide Rises
Noble Dust’s debut CD And The Tide Rises reveals the potential of a band on the rise. While the music they have come up with is wholly original, it is also comfortingly familiar. This band’s ability to reach a wider audience jumps out at the listener in each of these 10 tracks. Voice, horns, guitar, […]
Lespecial get even better on Cheen album
What can be said about a band like Lespecial who can combine their prog rock discipline with funk sensibilities? Crazy is what they are. In a good way. Their latest album, Cheen, is a fun mix of disciplined musicianship and original ideas that rock right out. This disc offers many excellent musical passages in which […]
The Lied To’s move to a much higher artistic level with The Lesser Of Two Evils
The Lied To’s sophomore album The Lesser Of Two Evils offers more gritty musicianship and more of a forward stomp than their 2015 debut disc. Still solid with their singer-songwriter material, this duo of Doug Kwartler and Susan Levine still blend their voices like a charm amidst their new flurry of flinty instrumentation. Listeners will […]
Fordham Road make prog rock cool again with debut CD
Fordham Road have just released their eponymous debut album, and it’s loaded with killer material. This prog rock band out of Boston mesh influences like Rush, Genesis, Weather Report and other complex bands with some pop elements here and there. This is the kind of prog rock that could find its way into any listener’s […]
Diamond Edge comes up with strong debut The Edge Of The Stone
Do you ever wonder whatever happened to early 1980s tight playing hard rock bands like April Wine, Triumph, Red Rider, and Golden Earring? Most of us aren’t sure either. But, their DNA lives on in numerous local bands whose members came of age during their heyday. Plaistow, New Hampshire based Diamond Edge is one such […]
Roots Of Creation have brilliant fun with Grateful Dub tribute album; Grateful Dead reimagined as reggae
Leave it to Maine’s reggae band Roots Of Creation to make a dub tribute album to the music of The Grateful Dead. Capturing the spirit and the talent of the Dead while placing it in the context of reggae music was no mean feat. Roots Of Creation, with some exciting guest stars in tow, have […]
Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards are an acoustic band on the rise with California Calling
After a few years of touring nationally and internationally, building their following one brick at a time, Laura Cortese & The Dance Clubs have released their debut album California Calling. Cortese and her Dance Cards take musical forms like folk and Celtic and reinvent them into something fresh, original while occasionally grafting them onto pop […]
The Complaints conjure wide, sweeping soundscapes on Talk To Me
The Complaints latest CD Talk To Me is loaded with fun, pop-rock ditties. This Providence, Rhode Island-based band plays a kind of 1990s influenced indie rock that makes the most of large acoustic guitar sweeps, emotive keyboard work, and a groove that can smack or simmer underneath a large tuft of upper register magic. “The […]
