After nursing a severe hangover this week coming out of the Olympics (you mean I actually have to focus on work all day now and not the delights of beach volleyball, gymnastics, and the pool? That’s harsher than knocking the bar over with your dong and missing the finals after training for four years…) I wanted to help ease the transition back to “semi-productive society member” by sharing a handful of acts that’ve captivated my ears recently. We’ll focus on three who’ve released a pair of albums this year (or will have shortly) as alluded to in the title and then chase that with a couple additional recommendations, just for good measure. To get us started we’ll begin with the man from San Benito, Texas (nowhere near as catchy or cinematic as The Man From Waco, which is probably why he didn’t opt for it as the title for his excellent last album), Charley Crockett.
Crockett has led a life befitting a Hollywood character (or the many he sings of in his songs) — growing up in a trailer park in extreme rural Texas (riiiiiiiiight in the tip of the state’s iconic point near the Mexico border), he left high school (and home) at 17 and took to the road, hustling his pawn shop guitar with him as he busked in New Orleans and Dallas. He did this for a number of years, hopping trains and hitchhiking around, before landing in New York and eventually being discovered by a label rep and given a record deal. He released a couple albums there while eking out a living before moving to northern California for a few years, working on farms and performing at night, wandering around Paris for a year, even stopping here in Chicago, sleeping in the Greyhound station while performing for the lunch crowd at Potbelly’s during the day for some food and spending money. (Can you imagine hearing that voice come down from the loft while you’re crushing a wreck and dream bar?!) Eventually he moved back to Dallas where his career really began to take off and it’s been firing on all cylinders ever since.
Crockett dropped his thirteenth album on us back in April, $10 Cowboy, and it’s another fantastic blend of country, blues, and soul songs, all sung with his Johnny Cash-style baritone and swagger. It’d been less than two years since his last outing (the aforementioned Waco was released late in 2022), but that actually amounted to the longest stretch between releases in his career. Since he got going in 2015 he’s released an album a year, if not more, between his official releases and those of his alter ego Lil G.L.’s cover albums, but for whatever reason took a little longer this time to resurface. It was worth the wait, though — from instant winners like the opening title track and “Hard Luck & Circumstances” (the latter of which won him a coveted #Fridayfreshness prize over at our ‘Gram account) to soul-tinged tunes like “America” and “Gettin’ Tired Again” or more traditional country fare like the sad sack tandem of “Good at Losing” and “Ain’t Done Losing Yet,” Crockett shifts styles with a facility as effortless and winning as his million dollar grin.
So despite still having his previous album in the rotation it was surprising to learn he’d dropped a surprise second one a few weeks ago, the equally excellent ode to his hometown, Visions of Dallas. In spite of it being a mere four months since his last one (the spray painted stencils for Cowboy still haven’t faded from the sidewalks in my neighborhood!), Crockett drops a whopping twelve more songs on us and there’s a bunch of winners to sink our teeth into. From the upbeat title track and “Lonesome Feeling” to lush ballads like “Charlene” and “Loretta,” the billed “Chapter II” of the $10 Cowboy saga doesn’t disappoint. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform almost the entire first album and good chunks of the second last night and the songs sound every bit as good in the cool night breeze. (Special shout out to his backing band whose trumpet player and steel guitarist were absolutely epic, as well as opening soul legend Lee Fields who joined him onstage for a song or two.) Per usual there’s a lot to enjoy across the two albums, but two of my faves are the mariachi-inflected “Spade” and its soulful companion “How Low Can You Go” off the new album. Give both of them a listen here:
We’ll shift next to another pair of winners of everyone’s favorite weekly ritual, the aforementioned crowning of the kings and queens of the release queue, #Fridayfreshness. The first is Appalachian singer/songwriter Ryan Gustafson (better known as the Dead Tongues) who recently recorded and released a pair of albums in his native rural North Carolina, his sixth and seventh overall. (His last, Dust, came out in 2022.) The first of those albums, Body of Light, came out back in June and has been in the rotation ever since, winning me over with its mix of melancholy and beauty that frequently reminds me of Ryan Adams’ early work. Songs like “Big Nothing” and lead single “Dirt for the Dying Sun” call to mind Gold-era gems like “Harder Now That It’s Over” and “La Cienaga Just Smiled,” while the title track and “Fading Away” hearken back to Heartbreaker tunes like “Oh My Sweet Carolina” and “Why Do They Leave?”
Its sister album, I Am a Cloud, came out in the past few weeks and is undeniably the weaker of the two, veering into spoken word and the avant garde more than I’d like, but it still has a couple of strong tunes as well. The hypnotic, spare “Where Love All Happened” and title track both shine, as does the aching, elegant “Lightning.” Check out the latter, as well as the aforementioned “Fading Away” from its predecessor here:
Last but not least is our final #Fridayfreshness champ, this one hailing from the coastal Canadian town of Moncton in the country’s southeastern corner. Singer/songwriter Graham Ereaux (better known as Devarrow) released the first of two planned albums back in May, the excellent A Long and Distant Wave, while the second isn’t due for a couple months still. (Heart Shaped Rock is slated for release Oct 4.) Ereaux appears to be making up for lost time as his previous albums had four year gaps between them, so something seems to have inspired him lately. (His self-titled sophomore outing came out in 2019, while his debut The Great Escape was released in 2015.) Whether it was being locked away during the pandemic or some other newfound muse I can’t complain about the result because it’s given us some great tunes to listen to, which I’ve been doing repeatedly since its release.
The first album calls to mind some classics — there’s splashes of Elton John and Paul McCartney on songs like “Else” and “In Time,” while tunes like “Kickin’,” lead single “Hard Times Coming,” and “Race Car Driver” mix glimmers of Townes Van Zandt (a named inspiration of his) with Wilcoesque flourishes that make them shine. (Tell me you can’t hear the latter’s Nels Cline playing those guitar parts…) Ereaux’s already released a trio of singles from the upcoming sister album as well, with the catchy “Every Little Thing” earning him his second #Fridayfreshness crown of the year. I also really like the latest, “Likewise,” so give that and “Something About Getting Old” from the first one a spin while we wait for the rest come October:
Speaking of Wilco, they recently released a solid EP, Hot Sun Cool Shroud, which sports a quartet of winners alongside a pair of nervy, disposable instrumentals. The band’s still out touring for their last album, 2023’s Cousin, which landed at #4 on my year-end list, but it’s nice to get a handful of additional tunes to fold into our rotation while they’re on the road. “Annihilation” is a bright, vintage tune that wouldn’t sound out of place on any of their recent outings, while the closing “Say You Love Me” smacks more of solo Tweedy and the ultra-earnest (and lovely) love songs he’s been writing more of in recent years. (It also gives off McCartney/Beatles vibes, which is never a bad thing.) Give both of em a listen here:
We’ll close with the growing phenom Chappell Roan whose recent Lollapalooza set looked more like a championship rally for one of our sports teams (remember when we won things guys? Ah, memories…) and was in the running for largest ever at the festival. (The fact that it came on day one at five PM makes it even more impressive.) Crowd size not withstanding, Roan is noteworthy primarily because of how catchy her songs are, garnering praise from the aforementioned Rocket Man, Adele, and Lady Gaga, among others. Her Lolla set and Tiny Desk Concert both showcase why — if you ignore the over the top getups and just listen to the songs, it’s almost impossible not to get them lodged into your head for hours. Just try — check out “Red Wine Supernova” (her generation’s answer to Oasis’ classic, just swapping spirits maybe?) and that Tiny Desk show here:
That’s it for now — we’ll see you in a few weeks. Until next time, amici…
–BS