Jesse Malin – On Your Sleeve (One Little Indian, 2008)
Covers records are imperfect beast by nature but Malin lights a few fires here. re-inventing everyone from Elton John to the Bad Brains to Jim Croce and Johnny Thunders.
Street Brats – See You At the Bottom (Full Breach Kicks, 2006)
While these Chicagoans never met a punk cliche they wouldn’t filch, they did use their ill-gotten gains to create a firestorm of a record that brings to mind an American Cock Sparrer.
Tim Barry – 28th & Stonewall (Suburban Home, 2010)
Former Avail frontman goes off the grid and turns into a punk rock version of Steve Earle.
Young Veins – Take A Vacation (One Haven Music, 2010)
Paul Weller once wore a sign around his neck to an early Jam show that read, “How the fuck can I be a revivalist when I’m only nineteen years old?” – here’s hoping he can lend the sign to these former Panic At The Disco kids who’ve gone all ’66.
Sugar Stems – S/T (Bachelor Records, 2010)
Why a revved-up “girl group” revival is spreading across the land is unclear but I say bring it on.
Bruce Springsteen – Greeting From Asbury Park (CBS, 1973)
On the list of first-album-by-an-artist-too-besotted-with-the-past-to-fully-develop-his-own-voice this oughta be number one.
You know where to go…
Buzzcocks – A Different Kind of Tension (EMI, 1979, 2008)
Already arguably the best of the Buzzcocks original trifecta, the album has been bolstered by a jaw-dropping set of bonus tracks.
The Varsity Weirdos – Can’t Go Home (It’s Alive, 2010)
A brace of pop-punk blitzkreigs whose highlight just might be a cover of fellow Monctonites Elevator To Hell’s Sub-Pop era “Why I Didn’t Like August ’93”.
Jason & the Scorchers – Halcyon Times (Courageous Chicken, 2010)
Singer Jason Ringenberg and guitarist Warner Hodges pull this album between country & western and rock n’ roll like spooked horses but they never tear the thing apart
What Was Lost by Catherin O’Flynn (Anchor, 2007)
A little bit Nick Hornby,a little bit Agatha Christie plus a shot of Naomi Klein.
