by Theresa Kulbaga Brittany Howard may be my very favorite contemporary woman in rock. I’m a long-time fan of the badass band Alabama Shakes, having written about them before for this magazine. And when I learned that Brittany Howard was embarking on a solo project, I was sold on the idea well before the album was done. Released in June 2019, Jaime is an album that showcases Howard’s powerful songwriting. The first track, “History Repeats,” has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance. Maybe it’ll win. (In 2016, Alabama Shakes earned four Grammy nominations for their album Sound and Color and won three…
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Song of the Moment: “Meticulous Bird” by Thao & the Get Down Stay Down
A Man Alive is over three years old now, but I keep returning to it because, first of all, Thao Ngyuen bought me a drink at the Taft Theatre back in 2014, so she is obviously the best, but more importantly, the songs on this record continue to reveal new, sparkly little gems with every listen. “Meticulous Bird” begins with a funky danceable beat and Ngyuen’s clever rhymes, and could totally be a pop song, except that it soon veers into the kind of complexity that in less-skilled hands would render it dissonant. In Nguyen’s hands, however, we get a song that is pop and jazz, hip-hop and electronica at…
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Lopin’ Along Thru the Cosmos with Forgotten Folk Genius Judee Sill
By Theresa Kulbaga She was a 1970s folk-pop artist with long hair draped over her sweater. She had a one-of-a-kind voice, tinged with a charming, breathy lilt and a preference for underused vocables. She made poetry out of lyrics and guitar and piano. She liked the word “grim.” She is a favorite of Carrie Brownstein and many others—in fact, she had a major influence on the mainstream songwriting of the 1970s and beyond. Her first name begins with a swooping J. No, I’m not thinking of Joni Mitchell. Instead, I’m describing forgotten folk genius Judee Sill. Sill had glasses and a sharp, intelligent face. She was classically trained, a great…
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Song of the Moment: “Night Shift” by Lucy Dacus
Lucy Dacus writes the kind of songs that I immerse myself into slowly, one note at a time, or measure by measure, word by word. It’s easy to miss her complexity at first, wowed as you are by her voice and storytelling. “Night Shift” is a slow-building breakup anthem that ends in a furious crescendo. At the beginning of the song, Dacus’s voice is soft and sweet and vulnerable. You want to hug her. By the end, she is pure anger and anguish (while also looking to an as-yet-unrealized future), and you kind of want to back away but not really, because you’re staring. You’ve got a 9 to 5,…
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The Bluesey Jubilance of Maya Banatwala and Heavy Hinges
On New Years’ Eve–with the most glacial January in recent memory just around the corner–I was warmed all the way through at the Northside Tavern by Maya Banatwala, her bluesey singing voice and stunning stage presence, and the sheer rockin’ talent of her band, Heavy Hinges. Maya fronts the blues- and gospel-inspired rock band on vocals and ukulele; the other band members include Dylan Speeg on guitar and vocals, Andrew Laudeman on bass guitar, Kirk Hunter on lead guitar, and Brian Williamson on drums and percussion. I caught up with them all two weeks later, on the coldest and darkest day of the winter. Theresa: is it too cold for…
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Fatty Cakes and the Puff Pastries: A Grrrl Band Who Understands
Take one listen to Fatty Cakes and the Puff Pastries’ eponymous album (released November 9 and produced by Alice Bag), with its playful synthesizers and insistent guitar and drums, and vulnerability will not be the first thing to come to mind. Take another listen, however, and you’ll realize that this is a grrrl band who understands. What do they understand? Panic attacks, for one thing: the opening track, “Panic Attack,” is an homage to anxiety in all its unpredictable terror. “I’m a weirdo, I’m a weirdo, I’m a weirdo, I’m a weirdo” captures the repetitive bully that is a negative thought that will not go away. They understand fear in…
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Laura Dolan is Driven
by Theresa Kulbaga Laura Dolan is Driven Laura Dolan and I are driving through Helltown in her vintage silver Corvette. Windows down, wind in our hair, a perfect warm September Sunday. Laura’s black vinyl jumpsuit, fingerless gloves, and blonde hair—cropped in front, long and loose in back—rival the car’s red leather interior for sheer badassery. She shifts the stick as she talks to me, puts pedal to the metal. “I’ve always loved music that makes me want to drive fast,” she tells me, shouting a bit above the noise of the wind and the engine. “I know I have a successful song when it makes me press the gas.” Laura,…
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Melanie Faye, Guitar Hero
YouTube star Melanie Faye's vids may be homemade and minimally processed, but they reveal a guitarist of skill and sophistication.
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Good News from Treya Lam
Daffodils, violets, lionesses, redwood trees, wind and waves: Treya Lam's metaphors come from the natural world.
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Born to Take the Highway
The open road can be lonely, but at least Mitchell is in the driver’s seat.
