Fat Possum US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Recorded in a kind of homely hibernation - namely the shed in the yard of Nathan Williams' family home in San Diego - despite the title, Hideaway isn't backwards at coming forwards. It's an upfront and muscular, riff-y but not too heavy rock 'n' roll record that benefits from some real creative titans at the helm, specifically the aforementioned Wavves lynchpin and Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio fame. Suffice to say, then, it's one of the most polished sounding shed rock albums you will hear all year.

While for the most part it's an uptempo, top down convertible, wayward road trip, chaotic montage type sound, the instrumentation betrays some pretty (and typically, for Williams) thoughtful songwriting. It's an ode to the restless feeling we all experience at times, the possibilities of the other and the need to embrace the potential in the world. Messages that resonate with us all in 2021.

Review: Tamara Lindeman was at a real transition point in life when What Am I Going to do With Everything I Know was first unveiled. A six track strong EP, here the moodiness and tangible sense of isolation, loneliness, and hopelessness that had once emanated from her voice dissipates into equally tender and gentile thoughts on an impending marriage and all that may come with it. For some, an equally troubling time in their lives, for others something to truly work towards and - when it finally arrives - celebrate, either way it's a subject ripe for emotional songwriting.

But in actual fact, Lindeman, her fiance and troupe treat the concept of matrimony with something close to apathy, or at least lackadaisical 'might as well'-ness. The culmination of this record, 'Almost Careless', sees her ask the question 'what if', but in a way that's neither excited nor nervous, but simply filled with inquisitiveness and a matter of fact consideration.

Review: Following on from 2020's exceptional return to form Alphabetland, which saw the first full-length from Los Angeles punk pioneers X in 27 years (35 years with the OG line up), the incomparable four-piece of Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom, John Doe and DJ Bonebrake finally get to go out on their own terms with the self-proclaimed swan song LP Smoke & Fiction. Between line up changes, differing visions, commercial flops and radio-baiting sonic shifts, the band's tumultuous 90's era would cause many a hiatus and add further blemishes to their early iconic catalogue, ultimately leading to an unsatisfactory conclusion to their life's work that they've managed to reclaim in a manner not many seasoned veterans ever get the chance. Ten bangers infused with their quintessential rockabilly-punk charm and elevated by Cervenka's still ludicrously intense cadence, with a coinciding farewell tour to come, this is the finale for X the band and we dear listeners have always deserved.