Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses
Junky Star
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Bingham wraps his hoarse, well-worn voice – the aural equivalent of Marlboros and Levis 501s – around a collection of barroom folk songs that, musically and thematically, cast back to vintage Dylan and, more specifically, Nebraska-era Springsteen.
With the help of his backing band, the Dead Horses, Bingham spins New Depression-era tales of lucklessness and woe that alternate between stripped-down guitar ballads and full-band rave-ups, some overly literal (“Depression”), others (the record-closing, career-high “All Choked Up Again”) ragged and mournful, but just right. — The Washington Post
Colour Revolt
The Cradle
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While Colour Revolt’s gritty, Southern roots are still prevalent on The Cradle, the propulsive synth/bass line on “Each Works,” and the haunting acoustic melody that carries “Everything Is The Same,” are reflective of how much the band has matured since their collegiate, basement-rock days. — Paste Magazine
The Dirty Heads
Any Port in a Storm
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The Dirty Heads represent a lifestyle, both musically and emotionally. It’s a lifestyle that is felt and adopted by fans of reggae, ska and hip-hop. It’s about good times, summer, fun with your friends and generally the rally cry of youth, which is all about postponing the inevitable responsibilities of adulthood for one more party.
The Dirty Heads pull from a wide range of influences, including vintage reggae, underground hip-hop, skate punk lyrics, and weave them together in a sublime, seamless way to create a sound that is both familiar yet unique unto themselves. Four Huntington Beach dudes with talent, harmonies and great songs who are beyond trends, though cool in their casual ways and ageless in a wisdom that belies their youth.
John Mellencamp
No Better Than This
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If you were one of those people who weren’t real fond of John (then Cougar) Mellencamp in the early ‘80s, you weren’t alone. But hopefully you came to realize that he wasn’t going away no matter how sick you were of “Jack and Diane,” and that he was the real deal: A midwestern farm town boy who was just as passionate about rock ‘n’ roll and acoustic music as he was about the rural way of life, and didn’t care who agreed with him.
Now, three decades later, Mellencamp is still pushing the envelope and doing life on his own terms. Hot on the heels of his ambitious 54-track On The Rural Route 7609, he’s back with No Better Than This, an album of sonically stripped-down material recorded at historically significant locations throughout the South, including Sun Studios in Memphis, the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, and, maybe coolest of all, room 414 of the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, the very room where blues master Robert Johnson recorded in 1936. The ambient result is undeniable. Produced by the ubiquitous T Bone Burnett, it doesn’t get much more real than this. — American Songwriter
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