The Lacking Permanence

There are many two-genre combos that will fit on Blitzen Trapper like a tailored suit, but my current favorite is “country psychedelia”.

Kurt Vile’s surgical lyrics and out-there guitar playing overshadow the fact that he is a bona-fide troubadour, a distinctive voice and presence that hangs out in your head and strums out their weird tunes from an armchair in the corner.

Posthumous releases are always a tricky proposition, but Sharon Jones was a talent literally larger than life, and the combination of her of deep rich voice slathered over the funky Dap Kings has yet to fail.

With its Byrds-inpired jangle, harmonized “whoah-oh”s, and overflowing nervous energy, this could very well be an unearthed recording from the liminal era between “new wave” and “alternative”.

It’s been a while, but Elvis Perkins’ songwriting chops remain as lush as ever, an unexpected oasis of skewed harmonies and surprising arrangements in a dry sandy desert of plinky singer-songwriters.

Sneaks uses electronic layers and a disaffected delivery to create something that lives in the past and in the future and only circumstantially in the present.

Weird manic indie funk-verging-on-pop with a weird manic sense of humor and they’re not afraid to throw in a horn section here and there to bolster their hooks and riffs.

Yes, it’s the Drive-By Truckers, and they remain consistent to their deep Southern roots, but I had to keep checking the player to see who was sounding exactly like Dinosaur Jr. or riffing off Hall and Oates.

The Budos Band have a distinctive sound that blends afrobeat, funk, and a herd of thundering elephants that could also be one of the most aggressive brass sections around.

I can’t tell if having a name that sounds like something SNL cooked up for a sketch about a pair of Austrian DJs is good or bad for this pair of Austrian DJs. These soulful electronic compositions unearthed from the last century are no joke, though.