(Self-released, CD)

College towns such as Burlington typically boast a sizable population of bands trading in that most fabled of ivy-walled musical traditions — no, not a cappella but funk. Kids love the funk. If one were to put the words “funk band 2nite” on the marquee of any juke joint in town, any night of the week, one could expect a packed house within the time it takes to tweet the news around a dorm. It doesn’t matter who the band is. It doesn’t even matter if they’re any good. To slaughter a phrase, if it’s funky, they will come.... Read more

(Catfüd Panda Records, CD)

It’s baaack! Kinda. Presumed long dead by the music-listening public at large, ska appears to be quietly making a comeback. Well, that’s assuming it ever really went away, which is certainly open for debate. Still, the fact remains that there’s a simmering resurgence of interest in the genre. And as has been the case so often, ska’s supposed rebirth is happening from the (under) ground up.... Read more

(Self-released, CD, digital download)

“My faith consists of rock ’n’ roll and raga.”... Read more

(Self-released, CD, digital download)

As much as four sensitive-dude rockers can, indie-pop confectioners Lendway took Burlington by the short hairs in 2008, releasing arguably the year’s finest local album, The Low Red End. Featuring polished, hooky songcraft, sugary harmonies and just the right amount of hipster-friendly guitar jangle, that record — it was released on red vinyl and thus actually is a “record” — marked a tantalizing debut.... Read more

(Sol Camilo Records, CD)

It is all too easy to get into trouble when reviewing albums made by kids. Approach them with the same critical intensity reserved for grown-ups and you risk being called a bully, a monster or worse — big fat poopyhead comes to mind. Grant a free pass based on youth and you betray your readership, who should be able to depend on you to tell it like it is. It’s a no-win situation.... Read more

(Amble Down Records, CD)... Read more

(Self-released, CD)

If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Furthermore, what exactly is the sound of one hand clapping? And if God is omnipotent, could he make a stone so big even he couldn’t lift it? These are questions that have perplexed the world’s great thinkers for millennia. They are also similar to the conundrum that plagues the self-titled debut from Brooklyn’s Bucky Hayes and the Radio, and that vexes music critics tasked with writing about it.... Read more

(Self-released, CD)

When James Kochalka files his taxes, what do you suppose he puts down as his job title? Musician? Cartoonist? The all-encompassing artiste? Based on the strength of his latest record, Digital Elf, I would like to propose a more fitting, albeit obvious, title: Superstar.... Read more

(Self-released, CD)

At first glance, Tim Brick seems to be a man out of time. Beneath a black Stetson hat, he sports a long, equally pitch-colored mane and a fearsome, if immaculate, goatee. His look is both countrypolitan gentleman and roadhouse roughneck, as though he might bust your head open with a whiskey bottle, but then pick you up off the floor and buy you a drink. Men like Tim Brick are a dying breed; a throwback to a simpler, brutish yet strangely elegant time.... Read more

(Self-released, CD)

One of the distinct little pleasures of being the music critic for the state’s preeminent arts rag is that I get a front-row seat to the evolution of not only Vermont’s numerous scenes, but also individual local bands and artists. Truth be told, it’s a pretty sweet deal. The last few years have seen a seismic shift toward loud rock music, especially in Burlington, as a slew of up-and-comers (In Memory of Pluto, The Vacant Lots, et al.) have all made strong cases to be counted among the area’s best and brightest.... Read more