Well here we are. Nearly halfway through the shitshow that is 2017 and our lives…but we have the music still, right?!

Sorry to get all dreary and dire on your folks. 2017 has indeed been quite a year for great releases and so I don’t forget a bunch when the end of the year rolls around I like to take a moment, take a breath and share some of the albums that have really hit me hard and continue to spin around the proverbial record player again and again.

Here you go…buy these records today.

Kayla Schureman “Kiss the Ground” : I think the true definition of what your favorite record of the year should be is that you revisit it again and again. Mowing the lawn, a long car ride, sitting in the office during the day doing work. I listen to Kayla Schureman’s Kiss the Ground all-the-fucking-time…and I never get sick of it. She perfectly blends the beauty of her voice with razor sharp lyrics that cut deep, are often self deprecating and if you listen closely, absolutely soul crushing. The perfect mix of Laurel Canyon sepia tinged soul and that americana-folk-country mix coming out of the current community that just slays. We are only halfway through the year, but I am going to go ahead and say this will be my favorite album released in 2017.

 

 Caroline Spence “Spades and Roses” : That voice. The first thing that hit me when I began to dig into Spence’s S&R. Then I listened deeper and found a writer who was putting themselves all out there. Spouting truths and hard to speak stories that, perhaps, up until this record remained embedded in the songwriter’s heart for only her to dwell upon. Well, I am damn glad she decided to share. There is beauty in the heartwrenching nature of her words and the way she has decided to present them is equally as moving. It takes a lot of heart and bravery to open up and really let your soul out in song and in the case of Spence’s “Spades & Roses” it pays off in…well, spades.

 

 John Moreland “Big Bad Luv” : Moreland’s 2015 release landed on a multitude of best of lists (ours included). Where High on the Tulsa Heat unearthed “those difficult feelings in a way that creates beauty from torment and his gritty but endearing vocal is the perfect vessel for it”, BBL continues in a similar vein only amps up the rock n’roll a bit more. Moreland’s latest cements him as one of the most honest and heartfelt writers in the community today. His songs simply speak on a different level than most writer’s are able to conjure up. There is certainly an attitude injected into the delivery of these songs but Moreland’s signature gritty growl and earnest hard-earned stories of heartbreak and heartache are still center stage.

 

 

Clever Girls “Loose Tooth” : To those who think Rock n’ Roll is dead, Burlington-based Clever Girls have one thing to say to you: “fuck off”. The EP from the trio knocked me on my ass when  it first showed up in my inbox. The first time I met badass front woman and guitar slayer Diane Jean (and for a long time after) I didn’t even realize she was a musician as well as a music love.  I was missing out. A bit garage punk rock with hints of indie and grunge on the side and lyrics that punch your directly in the gut this little 5 track EP hit me hard in a very big way. Word on the street is new music is on the horizon, keep and eye open and an ear peeled…or something. Rawk.

 

 Ben Cosgrove “Salt” : I’ll be honest, instrumental music isn’t typically my forte, but Ben Cosgrove’s tunes manage to speak to me in a way that most songs without words aren’t typically able to do. They are transportive in some way…I have no idea how he does it, but damn he does. The latest from the seemingly always-on-the-road musician speak to the fact that he is always on the road. Each song taking cue from some place he has been and the feelings that related to a difficult time that was representative of that place. I mean, heavy stuff and it shows. Another, perhaps somewhat silly but in my eyes representative of this juxtaposition of deep introspection is each song title is a single word, while the songs themselves are so much more intense and heavy than a single word can properly define. Cosgrove’s performances live, and on this collection, are brilliant, mesmerizing works. Dig in today.

 

 The Suitcase Junket “Pile Driver” : Matt Lorenz seems to defy logic and the modern capabilities of the human body with his performances as The Suitcase Junket. He doesn’t just use all 4 appendages of his body to create sound…he uses both his heel and his toes on each foot to create sound in addition to his guitar playing, singing and throat singing in place of where a guitar solo might fall. Pile Driver adapts a bit more of a bluesy meets 50s rock feel to it than prior releases and its welcomed with open arms. The Chuck Berry-esque “Jackie” and grooving romper’s like “Swamp Chicken’ could wake the dead and get them on their feet dancing.

 

 Ron Gallo “Heavy Meta” : Ron Gallo is sick of your shit and isn’t afraid to let you know that he is. “Heavy Meta” tackles everything from the insecurity that comes with trying to be an artist and true to yourself to the modern day obsession with modern day conveniences. Sonically the band has come to be known for their live performances, full of energy (and often times lacking a shirt) its difficult to not be moved by the pure and unadulterated vivacity that Gallo and crew seem to have in undying abundance. Where so many other artists and their words focus keenly on the “me” and relationships gone awry or some sort of sadness, Gallo tackles the general state of the human psyche in many ways, a societal assault on what we find important. Be it living live’s through ours (and other peoples) Instagram accounts or following some template of how society tells us to live. School, Marry, Kids, Die. Its real. For that, Ron, we thank you.