Best of What’s New

It’s that time of the week again to take a look at newly released music. This installment of Best of What’s New features tunes from an Irish instrumental post-rock band, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, as well as a hard rock outfit and a blues rock band, which are both from New York. All music except for one noted tune came out yesterday (February 12).

The Pretty Reckless/Rock and Roll Heaven

The Pretty Reckless are a hard rock band that was formed in New York in 2009. The group is fronted by Taylor Momsen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), a former actress and model. The other members, who have each been part of the band since 2010, include Ben Phillips (lead guitar, backing vocals), Mark Damon (bass) and Jamie Perkins (drums). After signing with Interscope, they released their eponymous debut EP in June 2010, followed by their first full-length album Light Me Up in August of the same year. The band’s studio albums have enjoyed decent success on mainstream albums charts in the U.S. and the UK. According to Wikipedia, The Pretty Reckless also hold the distinction of being the only female-fronted band to date with five no. 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. Rock and Roll Heaven, co-written by Phillips and Momsen, is from their fourth and new album Death by Rock and Roll.

God Is An Astronaut/In Flux

God Is An Astronaut are an instrumental post rock band from Ireland, formed in 2002 by brothers Torsten Kinsella (guitars, keyboards) and Niels Kinsella (bass, guitars). The current line-up also includes Jamie Dean (keyboards, synthesizer, guitar) and Lloyd Hanney (drums). The band’s Apple Music profile notes their music combines the epic melodies of post-rock, the precision of electronic-fueled Krautrock à la Tangerine Dream, and elements of space rock…[The brothers], the group’s driving force,…played in a number of local bands before teaming up with drummer Lloyd Hanney, the disciple of the famous jazzman Johnny Wadham, to form God Is an Astronaut. Their electro-tinged album The End of the Beginning came out on their own label, Revive Records, in 2002. The two singles off the CD, “The End of the Beginning” and “From Dust to the Beyond,” got airplay on several European MTV channels. Their second album, All Is Violent, All Is Bright, followed in 2005, and included the single “Fragile.” The band has continued to issue new albums pretty frequently. In Flux is from God Is An Astronaut’s new album (their 10th) Ghost Tapes #10. While I prefer music with vocals most of the time, I find the band’s spacey sound pretty cool.

Jillette Johnson/Jealous

Jillette Johnson, who grew up in New York, is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter. According to her website, she started writing songs at age 8; by her teens, she was playing three-hour sets of original music at a restaurant near her suburban New York home. Soon, she was generating enough outside interest that she attended her public high school only one day a year while she developed and recorded her music. That dedication landed Johnson a record deal that resulted in two albums, 2013’s Water in a Whale and 2017’s All I Ever See in You Is Me, the latter of which was produced by fellow Nashvillian Dave Cobb. She began touring 200+ days each year, earning slots at major music festivals, TV appearances and press accolades from outlets ranging from Billboard, Rolling Stone Country, and Paste  to Marie Claire, Elle, and Cosmopolitan. Jealous is a tune from Johnson’s third album It’s a Beautiful Day and I Love You – nice pop rock tune that has a bit of a Sheryl Crow vibe.

Jane Lee Hooker/Jericho

Jane Lee Hooker are a dynamic blues rock band from New York I have covered on a few previous occasions, for example here and here. Formed in 2013, the band consists of Dana “Danger” Athens (vocals), Tracy Hightop  (guitar), Tina “T-Bone” Gorin (guitar), Hail Mary Z (bass) and ‘Lightnin’ Ron Salvo (drums), who joined last year after the departure of original drummer Melissa “Cool Whip” Houston. In 2015, Jane Lee Hooker signed with German independent blues label Ruf Records and released their debut No B! in April 2016. This was followed by their sophomore release Spiritus from November 2017. Jericho is the band’s new single that came out on January 29. “Jericho is one of those songs that kind of wrote itself, the music and lyrics just poured out of me,” stated Athens on the group’s website.  “A lot of songs have been written about the Battle of Jericho, it’s a timeless anecdote for having the strength inside to use our voices to break down the walls that divide us and change our world for the good.” 

Sources: Wikipedia; Apple Music; Jillette Johnson website; Jane Lee Hooker website; YouTube