Blues & Roots

Dusted || The 10 Best Cover Songs Of May 2024

By / / Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Power Pop, Punk, Surf Music / 1 Comment

Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, eg as a tribute to such a musical hero for a special reason, or they simply feel that a song deserves to be dusted and polished to reacquaint fans with great songs from the past. Other times, bands cover songs as a parody. Regardless of intent, some of those cover versions are so good or so much fun, we’d like to put a spotlight on them. Chosen from a wide range, here are – in random order – ten of our favorite covers from last month – links to the pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

To be honest, I wanted to kick this off with Swedish rock band The Hives’ take on Blue Swede’s Hooked On A Feeling. You probably know the “Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga” chant from Guardians Of The Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol. 1, but the tune is actually 50 years old. The new version is recorded for Spotify Singles, which means we cannot easily embed it here (you’ll find a link in the honorable mentions later in this post). Fortunately, there’s plenty more to choose from.

Star Star || Cover: The Cynz || Original: The Rolling Stones
On their latest release, JEM Records celebrates Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, after previously honoring John Lennon (2020), Brian Wilson (2021), Pete Townshend (2022) and Ray Davies (2023) with a strong compilation in this series. This new one is also fun, with energetic contributions from favorite bands and artists such as The Midnight Callers, Paul Collins, TheAirport77s, Nick Piunti and The Weeklings. No fillers here, but I like the ragged edge of The Cynz the best.

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New album: The Blessings || Woke Up With The Noonday Devil

By / / Blues & Roots, Country & Folk / Leave a Comment

Is there still good old southern rock being made these days? Californian rock ‘n’ roll band The Blessings are at your service. On their new full-length album Woke Up With The Noonday Devil you’ll hear twelve songs that are big in every respect, and in which rock, blues and soul are synonyms. Jeremy White (lead vocals, harmonica, guitar), Mike Gavigan (guitar), Jeff Howell (keys), Terry Love (bass), Scott Sobol (drums), and the late Lavonne Barnett-Seetal (backing vocals, percussion) know the 70s by heart. Just check out their cover picks – Back Home (Golden Earring) and Party’s Over (Raspberries) – and listen to the mean guitar riffs that blend effortlessly with the soulful vocals and grooving rhythm section for proof. Musically it’s very well done, but the lyrics are also quite enduring, including multiple nods to classic western films – hence the cover art.



Woke Up With The Noonday Devil, produced by Gabe Lowry & Mike Gavigan, is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Rare Bird Records. Also featuring Paul Litteral (trumpet) and Tracy Wannomae (saxophone) on select tracks.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Rare Bird

New album: Il Sogno Del Marinaio || Terzo

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots / 1 Comment

Il Sogno del Marinaio (Italian for The Sailor’s Dream) is the avant-rock trio featuring living legend Mike Watt (Minutemen, Firehose, Stooges) on vocals and bass, cult Italian experimentalist Stefano Pilia (Massimo Volume, In Zaire, Afterhours, Rokia Traore ) on guitar and vocals, and creative rhythmist Paolo Mongardi (Zeus, Fuzz Orchestra, Fulkanelli, Micah P. Hinson) on drums. Terzo (translated: Third) is their new full-length album, following up 2014’s Canto Secondo. We get eight pieces of fascinating music, partly instrumental, in which noise rock, post-punk, free jazz and funky blues influences come together, most strongly when supplemented with gravelly beat poetry. This record is sharp, adventurous and truly unique.



Terzo is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Improved Sequence. Also featuring Ramon Moro (trumpet) and Petra Haden (vocals).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The 10 Best Cover Songs Of April 2024

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Punk / 1 Comment

Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, eg as a tribute to such a musical hero for a special reason, or they simply feel that a song deserves to be dusted and polished to reacquaint fans with great songs from the past. Other times, bands cover songs as a parody. Regardless of intent, some of those cover versions are so good or so much fun, we’d like to put a spotlight on them. Chosen from a wide range, here are – in random order – ten of our favorite covers from last month – links to the pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

In April, I noted around 70 cover releases that would be worth sharing, including the compilation The Power of the Heart: A Tribute to Lou Reed and David Byrne doing Paramore’s Hard Times (both already received enough attention elsewhere), but with your and our precious time in mind, we have to make choices. Here we go.

Love Will Tear Us Apart || Cover: Pedal Steel Noah || Original: Joy Division
Instrumental covers of new wave hits on a pedal steel guitar? Austin-based teen Noah Faulkner (16) and his even younger brother Nate (13) somehow make it work. Their videos on Instagram and TikTok, always with their dog Kara in the foreground, are popular, and with their Texas Madness EP (out via Lightning Rod Records) they take their successful hobby to the next level. Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart suddenly sounds quite cheerful.

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New album: twisted teens || twisted teens

By / / Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Punk / 1 Comment

Here is a mysterious record by a mysterious project that simply is too much fun not to share despite me having next to nothing to report about it. Twisted teens is comprised of Cas P. ian, Razor Ramone, CPN Hollywell and C-SPAN which my intuition tells me may not be their real names. After a little extra investigation, I am now fairly certain twisted teens is actually C.P.N. (Blackbird Raum, Chardonnay, Pale Robin) and Ramon Joseph Santos – those two persons on the front cover? It’s them.

Perhaps it’s best to let the band do the introducing. By the time they kick off the chorus of the catchy and high octane garage rockin’ album opener, you will be bought and sold. “I don’t need a reason to be here i got twisted dream and that’s why they call us the twisted twisted twisted teen,” they howler. Good luck trying to stop listening to this record after that first track. Mixing elements of folk, punk, blues, garage and rock’n’roll and everything between, twisted teens hit fast, hard and often. The eleven songs cover a lot of bases, but each of the songs sounds raw and real and original in multiple ways and honestly, that voice of C.P.N. is sheer awesomeness.

Time flies when you are having fun, they say. Well this record makes time soar!




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Grackles || Grackles

By / / Blues & Roots, Country & Folk / Leave a Comment

Grackles is an Austin-based alt-folk band featuring Noah Lit, Jason Mozersky, Jimmy Paxson and Kyle Crusham, who just released their self-titled debut album. The musicians, who have each made their mark in various other outfits, mix blues, country, psych and rock influences into their unique sound. Expect ten attractive songs with dark vocals and compelling guitar melodies, but above all a cinematic and moody sound in which you can immerse yourself. Timeless.



Grackles’ self-titled album is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Yes Country For Old Men Records. Featuring Charlie Musselwhite, Kat Edmonson and Lauren Harris on selected tracks.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Anna Dukke || Black Honey

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Spanish rhythm & blues singer Anna Dukke went to a farm in the US to write her second EP, and it paid off. The four songs on Black Honey are soulful and swinging, with amazingly powerful and heartfelt vocals in the leading role, and effective strings and drums as the backbone. Original tunes 33 Ball’s, Shake Your Soul and My Lifeline are delicious, vintage floor fillers, the subdued closing track is a beautiful cover of Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s My Journey In The Sky, This is roots music you feel.



Black Honey, produced by Ely Agramunt, is out now digitally and on vinyl 7″ through Folc Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Folc

New album: Handsome Jack || A Good Thing

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The development that Handsome Jack has undergone over the past 20 years pays off in A Good Thing. Traveling rockers Jamison Passuite (vocals, guitar), Joe Verdonselli (bass, vocals) and Bennie Hayes (drums, vocals), hailing from Lockport, New York, have mastered a boogie-infused blues rock sound rooted in the early 70s, in which influences from country, rock ‘n’ roll and soul have found a natural place. Their latest studio album consists of eleven original songs for which the words swampy and swagger were coined – no fillers here, but besides the title track, She Don’t Know How To Rock And Roll and Turn Up The Heat appeal most to me. This record is a lot cooler than the modest party that the band members celebrate in the cover photo suggests.


A Good Thing is out now on CD and vinyl LP through Radiator Records.

Add to wantlist: Handsome Jack

New album: Faz Waltz || Endless Beat

By / / Blues & Roots, Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

Faz La Rocca (vocals, piano, guitar), Diego Angelini (bass) and Marco Galimberti (drums) of Italian power trio Faz Waltz have exchanged their glittering glam rock jacket for greasy rock ‘n’ roll shoes, and it suits them well. They may look a bit further into the past for inspiration these days – the 50s instead of the 70s – but their knack for infectious melodies is still as present as ever. On their latest full-length Endless Beat – the album title is as telling as the stylish black and white cover art – with which they continue the path started with 2022’s On The Ball LP, you’ll hear ten energetic and exciting original songs within 24 minutes. The record kicks off with Rave A​-​Comin’ and Jackal Hop, known from their year-end list worthy 7″ from last November. More wild and dirty floor fillers follow, but also two doo-wop-like ballads to catch your breath. No matter the pace, they’re nothing but killers, with catchy choruses and naturally those awesome gravelly vocals. I’ve got a feeling for the way Faz Waltz rolls.



Endless Beat, produced by Brown Barcella & Faz La Rocca, is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Spaghetty Town Records (US) / Ghost Highway Recordings (Spain) / Head Perfume Records (Germany). For fans of Daddy Long Legs, Televisionaries, The Schizophonics.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Faz Waltz

New album: Omar Coleman || Strange Times

By / / Blues & Roots, Funk & Soul / Leave a Comment

It was 2020 that rising blues star Omar Coleman flew from Chicago to Color Red in Denver to work with Eddie Roberts (The New Mastersounds) on an album. Then a pandemic broke out, so it’s not surprising that the result – finally out now – is called Strange Times. The video of the title track already made an impression about three years ago, the other eight songs appear to be just as strong. This is all about bluesy soul (or soulful blues) with a greasy funk sauce, taken to great heights thanks to Coleman’s gravelly vocals and heartfelt harp playing.




Strange Times, produced by Eddie Roberts, is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through Color Red. Performed by Omar Coleman, Eddie Roberts, Eric Benny Bloom, Dan Africano, Chris Spies, Cole Rudy, Carl Sorensen, Nick Gerlach, Kari Clifton and Adrienne Short.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Color Red

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