Best of What’s New

I can’t believe it’s Saturday again and another week just flew by. But, hey, I’m not complaining about the weekend! This also means it’s time to take another look at newly released music. All of the following tunes are on albums that were released yesterday (May 7).

Iceage/Gold City

Iceage are a Danish rock band from Copenhagen, the first group from Denmark I feature on the blog. They were formed in 2008 by four long-time friends whose average age was 17 at the time: Elias Bender Rønnenfelt (vocals, guitar), Johan Surrballe Wieth (guitar, backing vocals), Jakob Tvilling Pless (bass) and Dan Kjær Nielsen (drums). The current line-up also includes guitarist Casper Morilla. According to their profile on Apple Music, they started out as an abrasive punk rock quartet before exploring a more multi-faceted approach to songwriting... In 2009, they issued their first self-titled EP, and by 2011 they’d teamed up with Tambourhinoceros Records to issue their debut album, a nervy and hard-hitting set called New Brigade. When the album was issued in the United States in mid-2011, Iceage made their American debut with a performance in Brooklyn, New York. Four additional albums have since come out including the latest, Seek Shelter. Here’s Gold City, credited to Rønnenfelt and Iceage.

Travis Tritt/Stand Your Ground

Travis Tritt is an established country singer-songwriter and actor who hails from Marietta, Ga. He got his first guitar as an eight-year-old and taught himself how to play. When he was in fourth grade, he already did some performances in school. Tritt started writing his own music during his high school years. After finishing school, he worked in a series of jobs while playing music on the side. Eventually, Tritt met Danny Davenport who worked for Warner Bros. Records and helped him record demos. Over the next few years, the two put together a demo album titled Proud of the Country. After Davenport had presented it to Warner Bros. Records in Los Angeles, the label’s Nashville division signed Tritt in 1987. His debut album Country Club came out in February 1990. Tritt has since released numerous additional studio, live and compilation albums and enjoyed significant success, especially on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. He has also had five no. 1 and many additional top 10 singles on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Stand Your Ground is a nice southern country rocker with a Lynyrd Skynyrd vibe. Co-written by Channing Wilson, James Tritt, Travis Tritt and Wyatt B. Durrette, III., the tune is the opener of Tritt’s new album Set in Stone, his first in nearly 14 years.

TEKE::TEKE/Kala Kala

TEKE::TEKE are a Montreal-based psych-rock group. According to their website, their members are Maya Kuroki (vocals), Serge Nakauchi Pelletier (guitar), Hidetaka Yoneyama (guitar), Yuki Isami (flute), Etienne Lebel (trombone), Mishka Stein (bass) and Ian Lettre (drums). They describe their music as follows: Featuring traditional Japanese instruments, flute and trombone alongside raging guitars and a pulsing rhythm section, TEKE::TEKE creates a sound reminiscent of 1960’s and 70’s era psychedelic Japanese soundtracks, with a frenetic, modern twist. And about their debut album, which features the above tune Kala Kala, they note: On their debut album Shirushi, TEKE::TEKE blend classic Japanese balladry, surf rock, psychedelia, and more to produce a set of songs that play like soundtracks to a wildly eccentric epic film saga…By tearing apart roaring punk guitar riffs, folk instrumentation, poetic Japanese lyrics, and big band energy, Shirushi builds a dazzling mosaic of styles and eras. While this music falls far outside my core wheelhouse, I find it intriguing how the band blends Japanese music with rock.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones/I Don’t Believe in Anything

Coincidentally, I noted The Mighty Mighty Bosstones in my last Best of What’s New installment in connection with Celtic punk rockers Dropkick Murphys’ new album Turn Up That Dial. It was the very same ska punk group who invited their fellow Bostonians as opening act for their 1997 tour, which helped Dropkick Murphys gain broader attention at the time. Now The Bosstones are out with their own new studio album, When God Was Great, their 11th. The formation of The Bosstones in 1983 predates Dropkick Murphys by some 13 years. Remarkably, the band’s current line-up still includes four original members: Dick Barrett (lead vocals), Joe Gittleman (bass), Tim “Johnny Vargas” Burton (tenor saxophone) and Ben Carr (dancer). The present line-up also features Lawrence Katz (guitar), John Goetchius (keyboards), Chris Rhodes (trombone), Leon Silver (saxophone) and Joe Sirois (drums). According Wikipedia, the band is “often credited as one of the progenitors of ska punk and the creators of its subgenre ska-core, which mixes elements of ska with hardcore punk. As Music Enthusiast noted in a comment to my previous Best of What’s New, “Murphys and Bosstone guys are, of course, a big deal in these parts. Every year at year’s end the Bosstones do what they call a Hometown Throwdown in a local small club and it’s impossible to get in.” Here they are with I Don’t Believe in Anything, credited to the entire band.

Sources: Wikipedia; Apple Music; TEKE::TEKE website; YouTube

Best of What’s New

It’s Saturday and the new music show must go on! This installment of Best of What’s New includes two familiar names and two artists who are completely new to me, featuring Celtic punk, instrumental rock, pop and country rock. Nuff said – let’s get to some music!

Dropkick Murphys/Turn Up That Dial

Dropkick Murphys are a Celtic punk rock band formed in the Boston area in 1996. They are named after former pro wrestler Dr. John “Dropkick” Murphy, who also operated an rehab facility for alcoholics in Action, Mass. The band gained first attention when fellow Bostonian ska punk group The Mighty Mighty Bosstones invited them as opening act for their 1997 tour. Later that year, Dropkick Murphys got a deal with Hellcat Records, which was followed by their debut studio album Do or Die in January 1998. Fast-forward 23 years. The band’s present line-up, which has been together since 2008, consists of original co-founder Ken Casey (bass, lead vocals), along with Al Barr (lead vocals), Tim Brennan (lead guitar, accordion, mandolin, bouzouki, keyboards, piano, tin whistle, backing vocals), James Lynch (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Jeff DaRosa (banjo, mandolin, bouzouki, guitar, keyboards, piano, harmonica, tin whistle, backing vocals) and Matt Kelly (drums, bodhran, backing vocals). Dropkick Murphys first entered my radar screen in 2013 when they teamed up with Bruce Springsteen to record a new version of their song Rose Tattoo. The single appeared in May that year in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing – hard to believe it’s been eight years! Turn Up That Dial is the title track from Dropkick Murphys’ new album released yesterday (April 30).

Peter Frampton/Isn’t It a Pity

I trust Peter Frampton doesn’t need much of an introduction. The self-taught guitarist has been playing in bands since the age of 12. He first gained prominence in 1966 as a 16-year-old lead vocalist and guitarist in English rock band The Herd. In 1969, he co-founded Humble Pie together with Steve Marriott, frontman and guitarist of Small Faces. Frampton left Humble Pie in 1971 and launched a solo career. After four largely unnoticed studio albums, he got his big breakthrough with Frampton Comes Alive! The huge success led to an infamous shirtless photo on the cover of Rolling Stone, which turned Frampton into a teen idol and diminished his credibility as an artist. He continued to release albums but was unable to repeat the success of Frampton Comes Alive! In early 2019, Frampton announced his retirement from touring due to a progressive autoimmune disease causing muscle inflammation, weakness and atrophy, which eventually is going to impact his ability to play guitar. He launched a farewell tour in June that year. The UK leg, which had been slated for May 2020, was canceled because of you know what! Isn’t it a Pity is a track from Frampton’s new album of instrumental covers ingeniously titled Peter Frampton Forgets the Words and released on April 23. “This album is a collection of ten of my favorite pieces of music,” he stated on his website. My guitar is also a voice and I have always enjoyed playing my favorite vocal lines that we all know and love.” This is certainly a beautiful rendition of the George Harrison tune that originally appeared on his 1970 solo debut All Things Must Pass.

Parker Millsap/The Real Thing

Parker Millsap is an American singer-songwriter from Purcell, OK. According to his profile on Apple Music, As a youth, Millsap alternately spent time singing hymns at his local Pentecostal church and saturating himself in old blues albums, which influenced his unique style along with folk, country, and vintage Elvis-flavored rock & roll. While still in his late teens, Millsap recorded his mostly acoustic debut, Palisade, with childhood friend Michael Rose accompanying him on double bass. Two years later in 2014, his self-titled second LP introduced his signature sound, bringing him national acclaim and leading to support slots with heavy-hitting roots acts like Jason Isbell, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Lake Street Dive. Millsap’s new album Be Here Instead, which is his fifth, came out on April 9. As is the case for most artists I feature in Best of What’s New, I’m completely new to his music. The Real Thing grabbed me right away. To me, it’s got a bit of a Paul McCartney vibe!

The Pink Stones/Put Me On

The last tune I’d like to call out here is Put Me On, a song by The Pink Stones, a country rock band from Athens, Ga. According to their website, the group revolves around Hunter Pinkston, a former punk rocker who discovered country in 2015 when listening to the B-side of the The Lemonheads’ rendition of Brass Buttons, which featured the original by Gram Parsons. This led him not only to explore Parsons’ catalog but also listen to similar other artists. In 2016, Pinkston who is from Albany, Ga. transferred to the University of Georgia in Athens for their music business program. He immersed himself into the local music scene and eventually met what became the core of The Pink Stones: Will Anderson (organ, piano, vocals), Logan Brammer (guitar, vocals), Adam Wayton (guitar, vocals) and Jack Colclough (drums). John Neff (pedal steel guitar), a founding member of Drive-By Truckers, is also part of the band’s current line-up. Put Me On, written by Pinkston, is a track from their debut album Introducing… the Pink Stones released on April 9. Check out this beautiful warm sound!

Sources: Wikipedia; Peter Frampton website; Apple Music; The Pink Stones website; AllMusic; YouTube