Tue, 09/19/2017 - 11:23 am

Country rock comes in many flavors. While the public thirst for minty, freshly showered hornyman doubletonk and cliches waxy as supermarket apple skin may never be slaked, plenty of grimier flavors remain popular. As ingredients are usually either unlabeled or illegible, country rock connoisseurs often determine the qualities of these flavors by tongue alone. Of course, not all palates are sophisticated enough to discern the provenance of every bluesy lick or languor in the crisp confidence of a genre convention executed with guiltless panache, and in this instance a stout gulp and short recap is preferred - The County Liners’ five songs are slightly nutty, clearly organic and pretty healthy. While many flavors of country rock become stale and unappetizing very quickly out of the bag, The County Liners stay fresh by keeping it raw and sourcing directly from local bodies.

Many enjoy the taste of the thoroughly dead, the cooked. They find comfort in the knowledge that whatever it is they are about to consume is fixed in form and will not suddenly pulse, squirm or dissolve as they lift it to their heads. The dead pair well with plum acceptance. The living, emerging from hazy background of painful experience, are alarming. They seem to require some sort of explanation, but none is forthcoming. To be properly raw, the skin must be soft -- either as a result of gradually rubbing away over the course of years of slipping through various layers of intimacy, or because it has never been allowed to properly harden. The County Liners stay flexible and move around when they can. Mary Jane was forced to settle down and do some life assessment while laid up with a broken ankle. Chris came over to keep her company. They just went for it. Mirce and Riley decided to join in and what we have here is the full statement. It’s pretty easy to get into right off.

The riffs and lyrics bear discussion, but the comparison game is in this case seen as an unnecessary preservative and is done without. The bona fides are there, but as a classy aftertaste. This is what it sounds like when two fearless people meet on a sick bed and wait it out. It’s music, you have to listen to it to tell. - Dylan Sharpe

NPR Music Premieres "Love Letter" - "Dunphe takes the lead on "Love Letter," a snaggle-toothed truckin' song written to a long-lost love. With a little bit of Rolling Stones swagger, it channels Lucinda Williams' own particular strain of lonesome..."

Wed, 03/21/2018 - 12:06 pm

In this powerful benefit compilation, an assortment independent artists, engineers and manufacturers join forces to raise funds for the American Civil Liberties Union and its heroic mission to protect the rights of all people as we head into the second year of the Trump administration and its ongoing assault on the Constitution.

The album is available in a limited run of double LPs featuring all-new material from a range of artists across genre. This is a boon for fans of Merchandise, Palberta, Pop 1280, Profligate, and The Men, whose “Shimmer and Shine” is a rootsy, Mick Taylor-era Stones celebration of pain. Living legend Alice Cohen graces this album’s proceedings as well, with “Hourglass,” a pop track that could be a megahit in a less ugly world. There’s driving, urgent postpunk with Psychic Blood, Sediment Club, and Old Maybe on the roster. And the underground offers up quieter moments for this album, such as Kate Mohanty’s moving solo sax composition “Priorities” and Horoscope’s “Bri.” We go around the world to New Zealand with Joe Troutman (ex Trust Punks) and his new group Cheerleader and to the western United States with Dollar Band, a new group featuring Dylan Sharpe and Dan Swire of Gun Outfit. Their “Too Sensitive” features a ripping rhythm section and some of Sharpe’s best lyrics and guitar runs to date. These are just a few examples from this diverse compilation of 22 tracks.

Track List

1. Dollar Band - "Too Sensitive" - 3:10

2. The Men - "Shimmer and Shine" - 3:52

3. Psychic Blood - "Dissident " - 2:25 

4. Mail Thief - "Pliable" - 1:07

5. Ornament - "Faithful Essence" - 3:58

6. Alice Cohen “Hourglass” - 4:08

7. Palberta - "When I Come" - 2:11

8. Weeping Icon - "Ankle" - 4:19

9. SIGNAL - “Park After Dark” - 1:50

10. Old Maybe - “Making Alone (Demo)” - 1:06

11. Snakehole - “Dorian Grey Elephants” - 3:03

12. Pop 1280 - “When No One Cares” - 3:00

13. Jeff Zagers - "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day" - 3:02

14. Abandon - “Calorie Giri” - 2:44

15. Blanche Blanche Blanche - “Size Blind (Live in Brooklyn)” 2016)” - 1:37

16. The Sediment Club - “B and the Electric Kill“ - 3:51

17. Kate Mohanty - “Priorities” - 3:26

18. Merchandise - “Out Of Time” -  2:23

19. Profligate - “Don’t Let Go” -  3:31

20. House of Feelings - “Keep on Running (Black Cola Coffee Mix)" - 4:16

21. Cheerleader - “Vain” - 4:01

22. Horoscope -  “Bri” -  4:11