The first time I went to the Stanislaus County Fair, when I was maybe ten, I was so smitten with the event that afterward I built a cardboard fair, complete with baking competitions and miniature golf course, for my Fisher Price people. I haven’t been to one in twenty years, due to living everywhere but here. So we plumped our sun hats on our heads, bemoaned that we’d forgotten to put on sunscreen, and set out for Turlock on the least blisteringly hot day of the week. Springsteen even has a song about similar events: County Fair. Title is from the lyrics. The Stanislaus County Fair is the larg ..read more

I moved to California, so I guess it’s time to admit that I’m not a Connecticut music blog any more, and no matter how much I like and miss Connecticut musicians, my mission has diverged from theirs. “MIssion” — that’s a California joke. We have a lot of missions, see– When I was packing up, one of my friends was all “oh, you can go sit on the beach every morning,” but my California is not surf-and-sand California. My California is the agricultural heart of the West, thanks to an irrigation canal system that was installed shortly before WWI. The canal system provides water for the fields, ele ..read more

Glass houses and shattered walls figure intensely in “Antidote,” “Please,” and “Our Ghosts,” the first three singles from the upcoming debut EP of teenage Boston singer-songwriter Anna Vrahliotis, who performs as AV. Thanks to the recent release of “Antidote,” I’m catching up on these songs, which together form the fragmented piece of a story of losing and finding. (The full EP will fill in the gaps.) If you enjoy the sound of Rachel Platten, especially her early releases, AV’s music is likely to entice you. The sound is a more Americana, including the Americana tradition of digging deeper in ..read more

I don’t usually think about guitar-driven rock as a duet between vocals and guitar, but 77 Apes’ new The End of Love calls for considering that reality. Showcased in the first and final tracks, eerie prolonged guitar notes – not really riffs, more evolutions from one noise to another – become their own distinct voice throughout the rest of the songs. The album combines lo-fi, alt-country, roots rock, and a smattering of Latin influences in a journey of love, death, and obsession. It’s incredibly dark, in a way that makes a person feel lost in the rain in Juarez. (Yes, that’s a deliberate “Just ..read more

You know the kind of funny where it’s skewering the sort of people you know, and the trueness of the details is what makes it hilarious? “Asymmetrical Bangs: Pt I,” the new Fat Randy single, hits that spot for me. If you’ve been to more than one show where the same person played in two of the three bands on the slate, or where a piece of art fell on the drummer, or where you sat on someone’s floor and tried to figure out what the midliner was even doing, you’ve seen the plot of this song enacted.  It, and the album it’s part of (coming in May!), are inspired by songwriter Stephen Friedla ..read more

The Valentine’s Day video Gomez Addams sent to Morticia – that’s “Blood In Your Veins” by 77 Apes. It’s a sultry, minimalist jam that veers into horror-movie musical tropes, with the creepiest visuals you’re likely to find outside a morgue. The juxtaposition raises subtext questions – is this a fun, retro romp for horror fans or an implied critique of some romantic metaphors? The embed for the video is way down at the end so you can decide if you’re up for organs (the lung kind, not the pipe kind) that pulsate in time to the music. You may recognize the footage source, “Experiments in the Rev ..read more

If you’ve ever called yourself a “Nineties Kid” – or if you’re born in 2005 but feel the 1990s are your jam – Dr. Martino’s No Outlet is a must-listen. Thirteen tracks dirty up the best of 1990s modern-rock concepts and deliver them with the exuberance of a thousand bowls of sugary breakfast cereal. Yet the tone isn’t sweet, thanks to grungy layered strings and lyrics with full of sly details. The result is catchy and hooky, with echoes of retro favorites, a 2020s worldview, and the energy of a crowded, dark club. Because the title was teasing at me, I did some Googling and learned the differ ..read more

The 1930s interpretation of 1970s classic rock: it’s here in “Lo-Fi Stomp” from 77 Apes. Inside-out style is a propos, as 77 Apes is the rare act that moved to Connecticut from Brooklyn, rather than the other way around. You should check out this track if you like: classic rock with a twist; heartland rock exploring its roots. Cue it up and let’s take a listen and talk about what’s here. From the opening bars, this is a tense song. It has the feel of being in a dark club, circa 1930, where the band’s vamping on a beat kept by the guy who doesn’t talk much, but when he does, he’s got stories ..read more

New Year’s 2022 mood is determination to twist a hostile world into a place of kindness and decency. I’ve seen it in post after post: hope hammered into being, an act of pounding back to avoid being pounded down. This first week of January starts with two musical projects featuring Promethean efforts. “Promethean,” an instrumental single by Bobo and the Unusuals, starts with an upbeat, jazzy feel [Bandcamp link]. The veer into experimental sound juxtapositions develops from a discord here, a spring coming loose there. A strong beat holds the pieces together as sound quests for resolution, com ..read more

Fanfares, urgency, confusion, and rueful hopefulness: the mood for starting 2022. “Mesmerism,” the lead single for New Haven band Wally’s forthcoming EP, melds dream pop and hep jazz. The result is tongue-in-cheek retro charm. Listen along, as portentous trumpets float over the opening chords. There’s a strong feel here of an old movie soundtrack. Here’s the opening pan over Monte Carlo or down a city street. Coming up: urgency broken by musical shifts that feel like the turns in a car chase or the moment when James Bonds’ silhouette turns to point his gun. While there’s a sense of Cocteau Tw ..read more