Category Archives: Single Reviews

Single Reviews: Erik Harstad Band – “She’s My Baby” and “Dark Season Moods”

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photo by Lina Winge; photo courtesy of Erik Harstad Band

Single Reviews of Erik Harstad Band: “She’s My Baby” and “Dark Season Moods”

Top Norwegian bluesman Erik Harstad has, with his band, recently released a pair of singles, “She’s My Baby” and “Dark Season Moods.” In the Erik Harstad Band, guitarist Harstad is joined by Rune Endal (bass), Anders Lillebo (Hammond organ, piano and harmonica), and Vetle Larsen (drums).

cover photo by Lina Winge; image courtesy of Erik Harstad Band

The first single, “She’s My Baby,” starts off cool and smooth with light instrumentation behind the vocals. Two verses concluding with the primary lyric, “She’s my baby; that’s the way it is,” cycle through before slightly more substantial instrumentation begins to filter in. First, though, let’s talk about that lyric. Once you get to know the song’s cadence and rhythm, it’s one you’ll want to sing along with. In any case, about a third of the way through the song, there’s a solo where the guitar chatters, talks, and wails a little before it’s joined by the organ in a little back and forth dance, providing a nice musical transition to the next verse. The rest of the way, the pace remains modest, but the instruments join the vocals in creating a moving groove that, accompanied by vocals that gain a hint more edge as the song goes on, carries this track to its satisfying conclusion.

cover photo by Lina Winge; image courtesy of Erik Harstad Band

“Dark Season Moods” starts out completely differently, with sadness, kicking off with 30+ seconds of guitar that paints a picture of soft, easy blues on a rainy day. The music on this song is so powerful, rising and falling, swaying with sad emotion and melancholy, with the baton being passed back and forth between the guitar and the organ taking the lead, that it’s hard to focus on the lyrics, though they move in unison with the instrumentation. “Dark Season Moods” is an ideal song to spin for wallowing in sorrow or even just a good soundtrack to accompany a day of ennui.

Stylistically, the Erik Harstad Band’s sound seems well-suited to either an intimate bar setting or that of a bigger music theater stage. Certainly, the caliber of musicians would support shows suitable for either of those venue types. But if you can’t get out to a performance, be sure to check out these singles. Personally, I tend to favor the more energetic number “She’s My Baby,” but if I wanted to sit by the window and feel sad on a rainy day, I can’t imagine a better soundtrack than “Dark Season Moods.”

Single Review: Special Consensus – “Been All Around This World”

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courtesy of Compass Records

Single Review of Special Consensus: “Been All Around This World” feat. Josh Williams, Robbie Fulks, Ashby Frank (Compass Records)

Special Consensus, winners of multiple IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, showcase a wide variety of picking styles, tempos, and vocal deliveries on the engaging “Been All Around This World,” a song that moves along so quickly it hardly feels as if it’s lasted more than 3 1/2 minutes, though looking back, the band covered so much ground you wonder in retrospect how they fit everything in.

photo courtesy of Compass Records

Current members Greg Blake (guitar, vocals), Brian McCarty (mandolin, vocals), Dan Eubanks (bass, vocals) and Greg Cahill (banjo) are joined on this single by Special Consensus alumni Robbie Fulks, Josh Williams, and Ashby Frank.

“Been All Around This World” starts with a 20-second picking intro before the first lyric. After the first verse, the individual vocals become a harmony, leading to an extended musical solo.

The next verses begin with a key change, a different vocalist, and slightly leveled-up energy, though follow the same pattern of solo vocal first, then harmony, then extended musical solo.

Done yet? Nope. Special Consensus follows the same song structure pattern a third time.

Not a fourth time, though, as the guys alter the pattern a bit to transition to a soft closing.

So, what have we learned from this? Well, when you have seven talented musicians involved, you’re going to get variety. And Special Consensus knows how to keep the energy flowing and make old patterns seem new. It results in a fun song in “Been All Around This World,” and it suggests an outfit that knows how to keep a live performance… well, lively.

From the look of the “Tour” page of the band’s website, if you’re in the United States, they’ll be performing near you at some point this year, perhaps multiple times. Check the band’s website for details.

Single Review: Dan Berggren – “The Good Fight”

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photo by Erica Miller; photo courtesy of Dan Berggren

Single Review of Dan Berggren: “The Good Fight”

I wandered down a musical rabbit-hole a few weeks ago, and I stumbled upon this cool recent (March) release from Dan Berggren, “The Good Fight.” Berggren has been writing, performing, and recording music for decades and has a great deal of music available online at his website, via Bandcamp, via Soundcloud, and elsewhere. I’m completely unfamiliar with the rest of his catalog, but there’s an impressive collection to explore whenever I’m so inspired in the future.

image courtesy of Dan Berggren

This song, “The Good Fight,” benefits from Berggren’s light picking style a warmth that’s almost certainly as due attention to detail when recording as it is to his also-quite-rich vocals. Since only Dan is listed in the credits, I presume he’s harmonizing with himself in a few well-placed spots thanks to the magic of a recording studio. In other words, the song is enhanced by Berggren’s arrangement and recording choices.

The delivery style is that of a folk storyteller, beginning with “There’s a family down the street, trying to get back on their feet…” Berggren weaves tales of neighbors in need of help in a style that’s meant to urge listeners to “fight the good fight” and help their neighbors. It’s a song about being civic-minded, though the next verse, beginning “Our library in town looks like it my be closing down. Who will fight the good fight? ‘Cause a handful of folks act like freedom is a joke…” hints at an awareness and position regarding current politics. But the song is primarily just a song about civic responsibility and neighborliness. The song concludes, “If not me, if not you, then who? It takes me and every one of you.” It’s not as if we all haven’t heard “fight the good fight” a million times.

We all know what it means, but this song is a helpful reminder… with examples. Oh, and, of course, a pleasant listen from a talented artist. It’s very well-performed. Berggren has a terrific voice for this style of folk music. He spent decades as an audio and radio professor at SUNY Fredonia, so the exceptional quality of his recordings is no accident. And songs like “The Good Fight” are exactly what the world needs right now. Sometimes, exactly what I need to hear, which is why I’m so glad I stumbled upon it and wanted to share it with you via this review.

Single Review: Steve Geraci – “Voice in My Head”

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photo by Jennifer Geraci; photo courtesy of Knyvet

Single Review of Steve Geraci: “Voice in My Head”

Boston music scene veteran Steve Geraci, frontman of The Tear Downs, released his solo EP Coming From Your Blind Spot in April 2024. He followed it up with the alt-rock single “Voice in My Head” a little less than three months ago, in March. On this single, Geraci handles guitar, bass, and vocals; he is joined by Dave Westner on drums and piano.

cover photo by Jennifer Geraci; image courtesy of Knyvet

The song opens with blasts of guitar and light drums – sparse musically but still slightly abrupt and jarring, like old-school alt-rock but perhaps a little more polished than that. Geraci’s vocals are also kind of angular, spoken/not-quite-shouted-sung. Again, he’s got that edgy alt-rock thing goin’ on. There are a couple verses, though, where he sings more rough-edged tunefully atop some “ooh” backing vocals. Geraci’s voice is all his own, but the vocal delivery and song tempo are akin to something you might expect from David Byrne/early ’80s Talking Heads.

Indeed, I’m not the only one to make the Talking Heads reference. After finishing my first draft of the review, I noticed it’s in the press material, too. It almost makes me want to come up with something more original, but no, I wasn’t an early ’80s alt-rocker, so that chapter of my artist thesaurus isn’t very long – there’s not a better comp in my arsenal. Regardless, it’s a cool song. Light, fun, and a little alt-rock-ishly dissonant.

Lyrically, the song is fun and interesting, representing – as if you hadn’t guessed from the song title – those intrusive thoughts that creep into our brains. You know, that “voice in (our) head.” Be sure to mentally check off the ones that frequent your brain while you listen to the song.

Looking Ahead

There’s a “Voice in My Head” video, too. Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/pyBKLJDQnHU. It just dropped three days ago.

Single Review: Sunday Junkie – “Holy, Holy”

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cover art design by Tom Martin; image courtesy of Knyvet

Single Review of Sunday Junkie: “Holy, Holy”

Worcester’s Sunday Junkie is duo Tom Martin (vocals, guitars, bass, synth, lyrics) and Shawn Pelkey (drums, additional percussion). “Holy, Holy” was released in February in advance of the May release of Sunday Junkie’s self-titled debut album. It was the duo’s third single, following “Vultures” and “Haunted Head,” but it was my first introduction to Sunday Junkie.

“Holy, Holy” opens with echoey drum beats, instantly reminiscent of a specific brand of ’90s-era, synth-driven, not-particularly-mainstream alt-pop, the kind you might hear at subterranean nightclubs, though the more engaging songs of that style could break into broader danceclub playlists from time to time and, if the elements hit just right, into the broader music consciousness.

photo courtesy of Sunday Junkie via Knyvet

Following the echoey opening of “Holy Holy,” more ethereal sounds follow, providing an almost unearthly backdrop perfectly suited – perhaps blasphemously so – to a song entitled “Holy, Holy.” You can hear the anguish in the Martin’s vocals. As the song progresses, the music mix broadens, and particularly following a mid-song section that repeats the initial verses, the song amps up its energy. Much of the middle and end of the song are firmly in more mainstream alt-rock territory, potentially helping the track reach a broad audience. Yeah, the mix may be a little noisier than typical mainstream listeners are accustomed to during the song’s final minute, but not so much that an invested mainstream listener would be dislodged.

All in all, Sunday Junkie plays a style of music that’s hard to pin down and a little outside the mainstream, as the duo incorporates a variety of stylistic influences in an unique way, but from the cool opening drum beats and the mid-song rhythmic breakdown to the anguished vocals and the late-song build-up in intensity, “Holy, Holy” engages and maintains my attention. After a few listens, I looked forward to it coming up while listening through my review queue the last several weeks.

I had this single review already half-written before I even heard the whole album, so I decided to just review the single but mention the album. So what about the album? Well, if Sunday Junkie’s style is in your wheelhouse, you should go directly to the whole album via this link and listen to it beginning to end. If your tastes are more mainstream, I’d suggest starting with “Holy, Holy.” It’s the most likely song in Sunday Junkie’s repertoire to appeal to fans crossing over from other genres. Your next best bets might be my favorites on the full-length disc besides “Holy, Holy,” which are “Death Defier” and “Sister,” probably because they both sport a wall-of-noise melodic alt-rock vibe, and despite my love of variety and willingness to experiment musically, my taste in music still tends to center on the mainstream. Whether you dig the whole album or just a few songs, though, you ought to be able to find something you like from Sunday Junkie.

Single Review: Neil Diamond – “Sweet Caroline (Two Friends Remix)”

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image courtesy of UMe

Single Review of Neil Diamond: “Sweet Caroline (Two Friends Remix)” (Capitol/UMe)

Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” is an iconic, timeless megahit. So who would mess with that? Well, apparently producer/DJ duo Two Friends (Matt Halper and Eli Sones) would. Yeah, yeah, settle down. This is the first-ever “official” remix of “Sweet Caroline,” as noted by this news release on the official Neil Diamond website.

Two Friends; photo by Grey Fry; photo courtesy of UMe

This may be the remix we never knew we needed. Two Friends don’t mess with the character of the original, but they do add a cool dance beat that seamlessly combines with Diamond’s delivery. At first, the beat almost seems like what you’d hear from a cover band, overdoing the drum beats early on, but then Two Friends adds a truly synthy dance beat. And by the time you’re halfway through the song, you can hardly remember what the original mix would sound like.

The mix emphasizes the original’s musical climaxes while offering a disco-rattling overlaid beat, smartly getting out of the way of a late-song horn section “bum bum bum.” Sure, nothing will replace the original mix, but this is the version you’ll want to play at a sweet sixteen or bat mitzvah.

Looking Ahead

If you’d like to catch a Two Friends performance, per the “Shows” page of their website, they have several upcoming gigs. They’re in Las Vegas tomorrow night, May 30th, and in Seattle on Saturday night, May 31st. They have Brooklyn, Las Vegas, Kansas City, and Winnipeg shows in June. And they’ll be in Lake Ozark, MO, Atlantic City, NJ, and London, Ontario in early July before swinging west again. Of course, check out their website for further details on those shows and the rest of their schedule, plus other new shows as they’re added.

Single Review: Second City Sin – “Morose”

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Second City Sin band photo

photo courtesy of Second City Sin

Single Review of Second City Sin: “Morose”

Birmingham, England’s Second City Sin is a heavy rock band with a tuneful touch. The band – Tyler Quantrill (vocals, rhythm guitar), Chaz Carr (lead guitar), Neva Bevan (bass), and Jacob Lancaster (drums) – formed in March 2024, with its first single, “Under the Landslide,” dropping in August. “Morose,” the band’s second single, was a February 14th release, a date that fits both the song’s lyric and the song-driven imagery on the single’s cover art.

Second City Sin – "Morose" cover art: blood-stained hands hold roses, laying one rose on a page of "Morose" lyrics, with a lyric sheet of "Under the Landslide" sitting on the ground beneath the "Morose" lyric sheet

image courtesy of Second City Sin

“Morose” begins with a slow bass thump and then frenetic axework, setting the stage for the vocals, which are heavy, and at the shouting end of singing, but not quite. The vocals are quite apparently angry, befitting the lyrics, but also tuneful with nuance and emotional power. The music’s tone is more angry and depressed than jubilant, and on that note as well, the vocals are an ideal match. The guitar is distorted and muddy, furthering the heavy mood, consistent with the requirements of “Morose.” As for the lyrics, the chorus begins “Watering a dying rose. Roots dead in the lows. The highs won’t bloom, and I’m so morose.” Hence, the rose imagery on the cover art. It’s not all flower imagery in the lyrics, but between the chorus and the closing lyrics “the petals fall, I wish I was a rose,” well, let’s just say the Valentine’s Day release date was inspired.

Interestingly, there are some spots in “Morose” in which the guitar part opens up a bit, almost lifting the mood, if it were allowed to last. There is also some late-song shredding that suggests serious broad-based skills from the band’s axeman. All of Second City Sin’s skills, it seems, would be useful across a broader heavy rock canvas. Since “Morose” was my first exposure to the band, I wondered if their other songs might not all be so sullen, so I gave a quick listen to the band’s first single, “Under the Landslide.” Sure enough, while the sound is just as heavy, there’s a bit more classic rock flavor, a bit more funkiness in the rhythm, and some cool harmonies. Two songs are still a small sample size, but they show that, while Second City Sin’s style remains aggressive, heavy rock, I’d expect the band’s set list to span a broad enough range of delivery styles to provide a fully entertaining, multi-faceted live concert experience. I mean, your ears are still gonna bleed, but they’ll be more broadly entertained as they do.

With that being said, “Morose” is a helluva song and a terrific introduction to Second City Sin. I’d expect fans of a broad range of hard and heavy rock subgenres to enjoy this headbanging track.

The next step, then – after listening to Second City Sin’s recorded material a few more times – would be to find out how and where to catch a live show. The band seems to keep its linktree updated with upcoming show information, currently listing a headlining spot on a 4-band bill on Friday, May 30th at The Dark Horse Moseley in Birmingham and a spot on Skelta’s undercard at a 4-band show on Saturday, June 7th at The Lab in Northampton.

Single Reviews: Soft Skies Inc – “Sooner or Later” and “Your Small Army”

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Soft Skies Inc

photo by Chris McLaughlin; photo courtesy of Knyvet

Single Reviews: Soft Skies Inc – “Sooner or Later” and “Your Small Army”

Soft Skies Inc reminds me of some of the more creative, rock-adjacent pop music I’ve enjoyed over the years. Brothers Ryan Rex (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Martin Rex (drums, percussion, backing vocals, keyboards) each man multiple instruments on these songs.

Soft Skies Inc – "Sooner or Later" cover art

cover art by Ryan and Martin Rex; image courtesy of Knyvet

“Sooner or Later” was recorded with Chris McLaughlin in Deep Space Studios in New York, while “Your Small Army” is a 2017 release, at least per Soft Skies Inc’s bandcamp page, which was recorded by Chris McLaughlin in 1867 Recording Studio in Boston, but with a brand new music video, directed by English filmmaker/moving image artist Sapphire Goss. So, you know, the video is what’s “new” about “Your Small Army.” But I hadn’t heard the song before I received the video was released – and I’ll be most of you haven’t it, either – so I’ll review the catchy music. The duo self-describes Soft Skies Inc’s music as alternative and dream pop. Honestly, that’s a better starting point than I’d have otherwise come up with, so start with that general subgenre blend in mind, and let my descriptions build upon that.

The first single, “Sooner or Later” is a steadily progressive soft pop song, very drum-driven like a standard pop song, perhaps a little reminiscent of ’80s mainstream, keyboard-heavy Brit-pop acts but with a much lusher, richer sound. The song’s catchiness is kind of sneaky, notably how it lulls you to sleep a little before popping in with the crisp opening of the chorus, “Sooner or later you’d get caught” and the musical rise and fall during the lyrics “And even back in the day, you were already gone.” And, of course, the clever way the song slips into its brief bridges. It’s not often a brand new song will make you this stylistically nostalgic, but “Sooner or Later” will. This song will definitely grow on you after a few listens, and soon you’ll be singing along with the fadeout like it’s an old musical friend: “You get lost sometimes, you get lost sometimes, you get lost sometimes…”

Soft Skies Inc – "You Small Army" cover art

photo and cover design by Christopher Sargent; image courtesy of Knyvet

Next, “Your Small Army,” the newer video but older song, provides an interesting variation of the duo’s musical theme. It sounds like it belongs on the same album as “Sooner or Later,” but it isn’t by any means a soundalike. And yet, as I dig into what makes it so memorable, I notice similar reasons. It’s a pleasant enough song to listen to. It seems there’s a little more guitar apparent than in “Sooner or Later,” though it’s still a soft pop song. Now, I know you don’t ordinarily hear echoey blasts of noise in soft pop music, but they’re the quirky cool bit that’s particularly unique about “Your Small Army.” And yet the song mostly slowly but pleasantly sways, which I suppose is where the shoegaze-y dream pop comparison quite aptly applies to this track.

Soft Skies Inc’s music is not exactly like anything else you’ve heard before, and it’s much more pleasant, catchy, and easy on the ears than most music I can say that about. Personally, I’m looking forward to hearing what Soft Skies Inc does next. Ryan and Martin are a talented duo.

Single Review: The Outfit – “Hard On Me”

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The Outfit – "Hard On Me" cover art

image courtesy of Pavement Entertainment

Single Review of The Outfit: “Hard On Me” (Pavement Entertainment)

Not long ago, you read my review of Go, last year’s album from The Outfit. The Chicago rockers are back with a new single, “Hard On Me.” This is The Outfit’s first release with new lead singer Bill Wilson, and the band doesn’t miss a beat. Wilson’s voice is an ideal fit for a top-shelf ’80s-reminiscent hard rock outfit like The Outfit. Wilson seems to fit seamlessly with his new bandmates Matt Nawara (lead guitar), Mark Nawara (drums), and Mike Gorman (bass).

Musically, “Hard On Me” has a sidewinding guitar style, with the opening verse rocking hard in bursts, using blank space as a powerful additional instrument. It’s a relatively blues-based hard rock take that seems a natural fit for a Chicagoland band. Well-placed key changes, absolutely crunchy axework, and a steady rhythm steer the musical direction of the song, while there’s a very Eric Martin-ish edge to Wilson’s voice whenever the song calls for him to build up the power from one line to the next. I can absolutely hear Mr. Big potentially performing this song. But not necessarily better than The Outfit does. This is an impeccable performance of a thumpin’ classic hard rock tune. It’s no wonder the song is gaining some attention – as I write this, “Hard On Me” sits at #18 on the Secondary Market Rock Chart.

Classic ’80s guitar-based hard rock fans are going to love “Hard On Me,” so be sure to check it out. (And then maybe give my review of the band’s last full-length album, Go, a quick read.)

Single Reviews: The Northern Line – “Lightning Strikes” and “Throw a Fist”

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The Northern Line band photo

photo by Harrison Searle; photo courtesy of Knyvet

Single Reviews of The Northern Line: “Lightning Strikes” and “Throw a Fist”

Boston’s The Northern Line is Bilvox (vocals), Mike Ackley (keyboards), Pete Zeigler (lead guitar), Joshh Magee (bass), and McG (drums, backing vocals – formerly of The Luxury, an old favorite band I reviewed many years ago). Or, I suppose, since they have a sort of British indie flavor to their music, I suppose I should say The Northern Line “are,” but while I let my British writers write in British English, I’m strictly an American English writer, so the band “is.”

The Northern Line – "Lightning Strikes" cover art

art design by Bilvox; image courtesy of Knyvet

The last few weeks, I’ve been digging into a couple of The Northern Line’s catchy, rhythmically rocking singles; namely, “Lightning Strikes,” which was a fall release, and “Throw a Fist,” which dropped this spring.

“Lightning Strikes” won me over quickly with its crashing rock guitar opening and psychedelic organ early accompaniment. The song’s modestly-jerkily swaying tempo and keywork that occasionally mimics a distant siren suggest a ’70s-themed dance party, perhaps something Austin Powers might attend. Occasional, well-placed guitar riffs add to the song’s character, providing something of interest to a broad range of fans, putting the finishing touches on an interesting song with a nice beat, and you can dance to it.

Finally, and I just cant let this go even though it’s a bit self-indulgent, but there’s something about the way the lyric “bang the drum” is performed that makes me think of T. Rex’s “Bang a Gong (Get It On).” To be fair, the songs aren’t that similar aside from being kind of jangly and having that similar line of lyric, but truly, I keep wanting to sing “bang a gong” whenever The Northern Line delivers that lyric.

The Northern Line – "Throw a Fist" cover art

art design by Bilvox; image courtesy of Knyvet

This spring, The Northern Line followed up “Lightning Strikes” with “Throw a Fist.” The newer single eases into its melody a bit slower, starting simply with a steady bass beat that thumps for a while, then joined by a little jangly guitar, stretching for about 40 seconds, making me think it’d be a favorite intro for DJs to talk over, rendering an off-air tape recording of it a lot less interesting. It’s one of those songs for which you’d have some radio personality’s banter as a permanent part of your mixtape. And that thought is completely in line with the song itself, which, stylistically speaking, naturally takes me back in time to the era of shag carpets and recording songs off the radio. The tempo of “Throw a Fist” is midtempo, so even though it suggests danceableness, it’s more of a slow fast-dance – too fast for a slow dance but not fast enough to engender more than simply swaying and maybe bouncing up and down a little as a dancing style. It’s not as if “Lightning Strikes” was faster; rather, there’s a cooler, more laid-back vibe on “Throw a Fist.” And as much as the song just kind of moves along as more of a tempo-driven song than a typically-structured, lyric-driven tune, there is a memorable lyric – or, at least, one that’s quickly familiar in the chorus, “memories of moments adorn the walls” – that ties the song together for the listener.

The Northern Line has a unique sound that’s hard to place on the music spectrum. If I had to place it, though, I’d say it’s British pop-rock influenced music with a bit of a throwback vibe. It’s music that’s cool, enjoyable to listen to, and more memorable than it perhaps initially seems, as it becomes quickly familiar, sporting a unique vibe that easily identifies the songs as The Northern Line originals.

The Northern Line band photo

photo by Harrison Searle; photo courtesy of Knyvet

Looking Ahead

You can catch The Northern Line live twice in the next week here in the Boston area, according to the “Live Shows” section of the band’s website. On Thursday, May 29th, The Northern Line will be on the bill at The Middle East with Lipsmear, Looking Glass War, and DJ Ben Sherman. Then, on Saturday, May 31st, you can catch the band performing during Malden Porchfest.