The new album from Blank Range was released last week after a month of song previews and I’ve been settling in to the full-length experience. The band has been putting out bits of music since 2013 but this is their first long player. I went back through their catalog, starting with Phase II, to get an idea of how much they’d changed in that time. Turns out, not that much! They’ve been consistently writing Southern rock tinged songs soaked in gravely vocals for four years. This LP is an excellent culmination of those efforts, continuing a flow of worthwhile music but with a bolder confidence in its delivery. 

I certainly don’t consider Mt. Juliet to be the first place to go for experimental ambient music but TheBack ParkingLot’s latest release, Occupying Physical Space, proves that Nashville’s (and surrounding area) still have plenty of surprises. 

The two tracks of this release span a 30-minute runtime, often resulting in a challenging listen. That’s not to say it’s bad in any way but droning music requires a certain amount of zen headspace; letting yourself be patient and immerse yourself in the wall of sound, rather than waiting for the next chorus to kick in.

The title track of the record, a 20-minute piece itself, manages the great feat of breaking out of itself around the 5 minute mark; becoming a brighter and shinier thing for just a moment before it degrades and dissipates back into an ethereal space. 

First and foremost, I must proclaim my respect for any band that chooses to go with a wildly un-Google-able name like And the Boys. They like the name and discoverability be damned! 

Fortunately, these guys are just starting out and there’s plenty of time for the Search Engine Gods to properly associate their name with the music. The first, and only, song from the band “Hate you Now” is a jangly pop song masquerading as a love song buried in pent up frustrations. 

While we wait for more music from the band find them on Soundcloud, Instagram, Facebook and Spotify – there, I did the search work for you! 

If you’ve been paying attention, you know The By Gods have a new album coming out in October. We’ve heard two tracks from Move On already - “Rat in My House” and “Wait Up” – and they’ve been gracious enough to add another track for preview if you head over to their pre-order page. You won’t get the record until later in October but you can listen to “Silver Line” right now.

It’s practically impossible to keep up with the volume of releases from R. Stevie Moore. That’s just an accepted fact. In between his long playing releases of surprisingly brilliant pop music, he also releases quite a few very weird records. Lately, there’s been a slew of them worth checking out. One such release is Phoney, a compilation of phone call conversations from 1973. Some are prank phone calls, some are just random chats and all of them are weird.

You can read the transcripts here and enjoy the oddities.

The debut single from Smart Objects has arrived in the form of “The Autumn Man.” If the vocals sound slightly familiar that’s because this is the latest from Benjamin A. Harper. His previous solo release, Get Thee Behind Me, his work in Magnolia Sons and his releases with The Comfies have more than prepared him for the task of making captivating, layered, moving pop songs. 

Over on YouTube, he’s releasing a music video for this track in 20 second chunks, all animated by different folks. 

Catch Smart Objects live TONIGHT, August 25th, over at The 5 Spot with The Nobility and Phantom Farmer.

Despite being released in 2015, I’d not heard of Boyscott until very recently. Better late than never as their debut album, Goose Bumps, is a delightful romp of pop songs undercut with just the right dose of melancholy vocals. 

There’s a great interview with frontman Scott Hermo over on Baewatch that’s worth a read through to learn more about the band. 

Hopefully you are not like me and already know the delights of this band. They play Little Harpeth Brewing this Saturday, August 25th.