Best of What’s New

Welcome to the first Best of What’s New installment of this year’s fall season. While summer is now officially over and temperatures have started to drop, especially at night, the weather is still decent in my neck of the woods. That’s good since in an about hour I’ll be off to a 10-hour open-air music festival. So without any further ado, let’s take a fresh look at new music releases.

The Wonder Years/Doors I Painted Shut

My first pick this week are American pop punk band The Wonder Years, formed in Lansdale, Pa. in July 2005. After the release of two relatively unknown EPs they split with two other bands, The Wonder Years signed with No Sleep Records in 2007 and recorded their first full-length album Get Stoked on It! Initial U.S. chart success came with their sophomore release The Upsides, which climbed to no. 42 on the Independent Albums chart. Their most successful album to date, No Closer to Heaven from September 2015, reached no. 12 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200 and also charted in the UK and Australia at no. 46 and no. 59, respectively. The band’s current line-up features co-founders Matt Brasch (rhythm guitar, vocals, percussion), Dan Campbell (lead vocals, ukulele), Casey Cavaliere (lead guitar, backing vocals), Josh Martin (bass, synthesizer, backing vocals) and Mike Kennedy (drums, percussion), along with Nick Steinborn (keyboards, piano, guitar, backing vocals, percussion). Doors I Painted Shut, credited to all members, is the opener of the band’s seventh and new studio album The Hum Goes on Forever. Nice tune!

Nikki Lane/Good Enough

Next up is Nikki Lane, a Nashville-based country singer-songwriter. From her AllMusic bio: A singer and songwriter who mixes the honky tonk atmosphere of vintage country with the clever bite of indie rock, Nikki Lane is a barroom siren whose music is tough, witty, and bold, inhabiting Nashville archetypes while upending them at the same time. Lane’s songs walk a fine line between sincerity and irony, but the passion and effectiveness of her vocals keeps her from sounding like a put-on, and her melodies mix rootsy twang and rock & roll edge with confidence. Lane introduced her talent with the 2011 debut Walk of Shame and added a soulful edge with 2014’s All or Nothin’ and 2017’s Highway Queen. With 2022’s Denim & Diamonds, she eased back on her country accents and added harder rock energy to her mix. From that last album, which is her latest, here’s Good Enough, penned by Lane.

The Black Angels/El Jardin

Psychedelic rock band The Black Angels were formed in Austin, Texas in May 2004. From their Apple Music profile: The sultry neo-psychedelic sound of the Black Angels came together in spring 2004. Hailing from Austin, Texas, Stephanie Bailey (drums), Christian Bland (guitar), Alex Maas (vocals), Jennifer Raines (organ), and Nathan Ryan (bass) took their name from a Velvet Underground classic, “The Black Angel’s Death Song.” The band’s self-titled debut EP was released in late 2005. After a string of North American dates in winter 2006, the Black Angels readied themselves for a performance at the annual South by Southwest Music Conference in March. Their full-length album, Passover, hit stores that April. Fast forward 16 years until September 16 and Wilderness of Mirrors, the sixth studio album by The Black Angeles. In addition to Maas, Bland and Bailey, the group’s current line-up includes Jake Garcia (guitar) and Ramiro Verdooren (keyboards, percussion, bass, guitar). Here’s El Jardin, credited to the band and producer Brett Orrison. Pretty catchy psych rock – check it out!

Jimmy Carpenter/Barefootin’

I’d like to wrap up this week’s music revue with some great soulful blues by Las Vegas-based singer-songwriter and saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter. Here’s some background from his website: Jimmy Carpenter, saxophonist, singer-songwriter, and arranger, began his musical journey over 35 years ago. In the ’80s, he toured the east coast with the renegade blues band, The Alka-Phonics, in the ’90s with the blues-rock band The Believers, with whom he learned about the music business. Over the years, Jimmy has toured internationally with Tinsley Ellis, Jimmy Thackery, Walter Wolfman Washington, Eric Lindell, and others. In 2012 Jimmy joined Mike Zito, his long-time friend and musical cohort, and recorded and toured as a member of Mike Zito and the Wheel. In addition to touring nationally & internationally, Jimmy has written, arranged and recorded the horns for many artists, and has gained a reputation as a master Blues, Rock-n-Roll and R&B saxophonist. Carpenter has also released various solo albums. His latest, a covers album titled The Louisiana Record, appeared on September 16. Let’s check out Carpenter’s great rendition of Barefootin’, a tune written and first recorded by R&B singer Robert Parker in 1966, his sole hit.

This post wouldn’t be complete with a Spotify playlist of the above and a few additional tunes by the featured artists.

Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; Apple Music; Jimmy Carpenter website; YouTube; Spotify