Audio

“Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley" is an absolute must hear, and not just for the seamless transition back to the Meters and Lowell George backed band, but for the vocal workout that Palmer puts into this Toussaint cover.  Palmer completely owns this track, his vocal coaxes and growls propelling the band to stratospheric energy and dynamic interplay.  Anyone who is a fan of music should listen to this song, it’s one of the few things Phish did right in bringing attention to a whole new world of fans, but they will never match this groove.

For more on Robert Palmer’s Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley, check out the full album review here

“Mama gave her camera to her little star/ All she gets is pictures of hotels and bars /No Big Ben, no Statue of Liberty/ Loose women and one night stands/ Kinda wish I wasn’t living in other peoples hands/ No control, no lack of shit for free”

                                                                               Middle Brother-Mom and Dad

This straight forward rocker is tucked in near the end of Middle Brother’s self-titled debut and owes a lot to the John Lennon confessional songwriting style, even riffing off of the chord progression for “God” which fittingly contrasts the narrative of lossless debauchery. Lennon’s message was “I believe in Me” while John McCauley’s storyteller wishes he hadn’t.  Yet Middle Brother is an album meant to detail all the slip-ups, to soak up all the drunk-sod stories left at a bar by the nights end. If anything, McCauley, Goldsmith, and Vasquez know that life is what happens in media res, and make no doubt about it, “Mom and Dad” is an excellent rock song, check out the download below. 

You can read more about Middle Brother’s debut album here 

Mom and Dad- Middle Brother

“Mom and Dad” is off of Middle Brother’s ‘Middle Brother’ released March 1st of 2011 by Partisan Records.

“Lesson For You Kid” reminds me of The Beatles, more specifically it reminds me of the explanation John Lennon gave for their song “Please Please Me”  "I was always intrigued by the words of ‘Please, lend me your little ears to my pleas’ – a Bing Crosby song. I was always intrigued by the double use of the word ‘please’. 

 Here, lead singer Steve Sallett doesn’t exactly repeat words but the clever intermingling of ‘less than a lesson" is an intriguing frame for the rest of the song. The intro is a bit of a non sequitur, a sharply picked guitar melody that gets replaced by a swelling tremolo rhythm guitar.  The backing vocals are an absolute highlight, echoing the lead at the perfect moments. It’s another great number off of another great album from 2011 and you can download it for free below.

Lesson For You Kid- The Poison Tree

“Lesson for You Kid” is off of The Poison Tree’s debut album, The Poison Tree, released on March 15th of 2011 on Embarque Records.


A shifting-sway of a rhythm is what will catch your ears first on Trent Dabbs “Keep Me Young”, a song off of his latest LP, Southerner.  What you will not find is the typical warm crunchy riffs of southern rock, despite the tongue-in-cheek “Neil Young”.  The arrangement here is quite engaging, with a soft pulse of percussion, and some rather gorgeous and golden guitar work drifiting among lingering harmonies.  "What was I looking for/ cause’ it was you that keeps me young" It’s a love song, but not for any one in particular and a rather perfect track off of a under-appreciated album of 2011. Check out the download below.

Keep Me Young- Trent Dabbs

“Keep Me Young” was on Trent Dabbs’ latest album Southerner , released by Ready Set Records  on September 13th, 2011.

As a bonus, check out the acoustic ballad “Me & God”, a Josh Ritteresque tune.

Me & God- Trent Dabbs