WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!! (November 22, 2024)

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

November 22, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!!

The Delines, "Left Hook Like Frazier" Mr Luck & Ms Doom  (El Cortez, Feb 14)

We caught wind of a new Delines project a number of weeks ago. Each album reads like one of Willy Vlautin's stories set to music, sung by Amy Boone. With its cool horns, breezy guitar, and yacht rock keys, "Left Hook" sounds laid-back, though its lyrics say otherwise: I know it's hard to be kind to yourself / When you've been put down all along / You think you deserve it / That's why it feels right when you're certain that it's wrong. Musically and lyrically, nobody sounds like the Delines. 

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Will Stewart, "Penny" single  (Earth Libraries, Nov 12)

Birmingham's Stewart shared Live In Norway this Summer, but it's been a couple years since his last solo studio set. "Penny" is a surprise, delivering a rough, nearly punk edge to Stewart's Southern roots sound. We're hearing that it's the first of a possible series of cuts weaving tales around the denizens of Tuscaloosa's storied Moon Winx Lodge: Penny ain't tough / She just ran outta tears to cry / Plays a good punk, but she ain't really qualified. 

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Luther Russell, "Downtown Girls" Happiness For Beginners  (Curation, Jan 17)

Last we heard from LA's Luther Russell, he was collaborating with Fernando Viciconte on the fabulous Traitor's Table in 2019. Always one to work at his own terms, both as a producer and as a solo artist, Russell is poised for his return with January's Happiness For Beginners. The first single is a gritty urban portrait with jangle guitar fresh out of the early 90s: She's the perfect blur in a photograph. 

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Patterson Hood, "A Werewolf & a Girl (ft Lydia Loveless)" Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams  (ATO, Feb 21)

The initial single from Patterson Hood's first solo album in more than a decade is about everything you'd hope it could be. The moody cut features a duet vocal from Lydia Loveless, providing the woman's perspective on a song that the Drive-by Trucker intends to be about a the coming together and falling apart of Hood and a high school sweetheart. We can also look forward to contributions on the record from Kevin Morby, Waxahatchee, Wednesday, and more. 

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Edith Frost, "Hold On" In Space  (Drag City, Feb 28)

"Hold On" marks Edith Frost's awakening from a twenty-year artistic hibernation. After dwelling deep in the alt of alt.country, the Chicago outsider stepped away from the studio (only to resurface years later poking fun at Elon Musk and getting herself banned from Twitter). Drag City declares her return, the most Edith Frost record yet made. 

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ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER (November 21, 2024)

A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER

good news about good noise 

November 21, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

There certainly have been weeks when it's proven more difficult to track down good original content from our fellow bloggers. As is our traditional, we've narrowed down to just nine (9 or 10), plus our recommendation for some favorite additions from our continuous release calendar. 

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Bandcamp Daily published an interesting expose on how working country artists make ends meet in Nashville. 

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Cameron Winter from Geese visits with NME about what lay behind his decision to release a solo record at this time in his career. 

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Billy Strings is chosen as Bluegrass Situation's artist of the month. He speaks to the site about his commitment to the bluegrass genre.   

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The Other 22 Hours is Michaela Anne's video blog that explores how fellow artists spend their time when not on stage. This week she spoke with with Brandy Clark.  

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A pair of documentaries are being offered for fans of the late country traditionalist Luke Bell. Check out a trailer for the forthcoming Where Ya Been, and/or watch a thirty minute piece from public television.  

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Sophie Gault released the excellent Baltic Street Hotel back in September. Lonesome Highway chats with her about the collection. 

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Since I Left You interviews indie folk songwriter Jennifer Castle on the occasion of the release of her highly celebrated Camelot project.

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Magnet features a conversation with Kelly Willis about the twenty-fifth anniversary reissue of her seminal What I Deserve. 

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Been a couple of months since X shared their excellent Smoke & Fiction. John Doe is still out there making the rounds, speaking with Glide about books, the evolution of punk, & the touring end of his iconic band. 

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Avett Brothers are apparently responsible for a stage show based on their songs. Relix checks in with the brothers about Swept Away. 

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We'll keep adding stuff to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster as long as these new release announcements continue to happen. Among the great stuff we've added this week is a stripped down new Lucero collection we rumored a few weeks ago. Set January 24 as the street date for Lucero Uncovered featuring Ben Nichols and Rick Steff (Liberty & Lament). Great to see a Valentines release date for the next project from the Delines. Mr Luck & Ms Doom arrives courtesy of El Cortez. Americana/blues artist Paul Thorn returns to the fray with the announcement of a new LP. Life Is Just a Vapor is set for a February 21 appearance. It's been almost thirteen years since Drive-by Trucker Patterson Hood shared a solo album. That wait is over with the scheduling of Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams (ATO, Feb 21). Edith Frost will see his thirteen years with a full twenty-five since her last release. She's set February 28 for the turning loose of In Space (Drag City). 

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LOOKBACK MACHiNE: STEVE EARLE

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

November 20, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Our journey down the Steve Earle memory lane reminded us of the extended period when he was producing some of the best americana and alt.country songs of all time. Between 1995's Train a'Comin' and 2004's Revolution Starts Now, it proved tough to limit ourselves to just a couple tracks per record. Heck, we could've included nearly the entirety of Transcendental Blues, which R&B selected as our very favorite album of the first decade of the century. As one of the foremost rabble rousers in all of popular music, Earle was also responsible for some of the strongest politically-themed numbers at a time when such a thing was considered passé. While it's truly unfair to represent the last fifteen years of his output with just one selection per record, we're drawing the line between very good and masterful. Steve Earle's recent releases have been interspersed with excellent full-length tributes to Townes Van Zandt (09), Guy Clark (19), his son Justin Townes Earle (21), and Jerry Jeff Walker (22), names alongside which he has earned a place. He incorporates the working class songcraft of Springsteen, Dylan's deep knowledge of American musical history, the generational storytelling of Townes, and an amalgamation of country, rock, and folk that is all his own. 

STEVE EARLE: thirty favorites

- "Guitar Town" Guitar Town  (MCA, Mar 86)

- "My Old Friend the Blues" Guitar Town

- "I Ain't Ever Satisfied" Exit 0  (MCA, May 87)

- "Copperhead Road" Copperhead Road  (MCA, Oct 88)

- "Devil's Right Hand" Copperhead Road

- "Nothing But a Child" Copperhead Road

- "The Other Kind" Hard Way  (MCA, Jul 90)

- "Goodbye" Train a'Comin'  (Warner, Feb 95)

- "Tom Ames' Prayer" Train a'Comin'  

- "Feel Alright" I Feel Alright  (Warner, May 96)

- "Hard-Core Troubadour" I Feel Alright

- "Telephone Road" El Corazon  (Warner, Oct 97)

- "Ft Worth Blues" El Corazon

- "I'm Still In Love With You" The Mountain  (E-Squared, Feb 99)

- "Transcendental Blues" Transcendental Blues  (E-Squared, Jun 00)

- "All Of My Life" Transcendental Blues

- "Over Yonder (Jonathan's Song)" Transcendental Blues

- "Ellis Unit One" Sidetracks  (E-Squared, Apr 02)

- "John Walker's Blues" Jerusalem  (E-Squared, Sep 02)

- "Jerusalem" Jerusalem

- "The Revolution Starts ..." The Revolution Starts Now  (E-Squared, Aug 04)

- "Tennessee Blues" Washington Square Serenade  (New West, Sep 07)

- "City Of Immigrants" Washington Square Serenade

- "Oxycontin Blues" Washington Square Serenade

- "Way Down In the Hole" Washington Square Serenade

- "God Is God" I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive  (New West, Apr 11)

- "21st Century Blues" Low Highway  (New West, Apr 13)

- "You're the Best Lover That I Ever Had" Terraplane  (New West, Feb 15)

- "So You Wanna Be An Outlaw" So You Wanna Be An Outlaw  (New West, Jun 17)

- "Devil Put the Coal In the Ground" Ghosts Of West Virginia  (New West, May 20)

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To enjoy any Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:

GOLD STAR - HOW to SHOOT the MOON

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

November 19, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

What is the sound of LA? Does Los Angeles sound like the folk- and country-rock of Laurel Canyon? Maybe it sounds like the hair metal bands that erupted onto the Sunset Strip in the 90s? Some might conjure memories of the Bakersfield sound (though Bakersfield is actually two hours North). Gold Star has been part of the LA music scene since before their debut EP in 2012. Fronted by Morgan Rabenreither, the band effectively began to reach ears on a national level with 2017's Big Blue, building on that attention with 2018's Uppers & Downers and '22s Headlights USA. More recently, Gold Star has traded in a larger, almost anthemic sound, reflecting the perceived glitz 'n glamour of the City of Angels. At heart, however, Rabenreither has always been a singer-songwriter, a fact that he embraces on his new Shoot the Moon project, returning Gold Star to the more organic folk-rock of Big Blue. 

Produced by Sean O'Brien, Shoot the Moon pairs the ambitious songwriting of Headlights USA with the studio intimacy of Gold Star's earlier work. Recorded largely live with Rabenreither on guitar, Jordan Odom on bass, drums by Jay Rudolph, the guitar and pedal steel of Connor 'Catfish' Gallaher, and Mikey Whiteside on keys, the new collection explores the choice of measured optimism, even in the face of possible failure. A born to run spirit rings through the album, carried by the ubiquitous harmonica and pedal steel. The title cut rises and falls like a tide, a soft echo on Rabenreither's longing vocal: Now I'm fading / And I'm fading fast / The door's wide open / And my life don't last / These days, they turn to night ... "I Think You Should Know" shuffles with a fingerpicked electric, keys adding bright notes of hope. We're a small part in everything tonight, he sings to stoke the fire for an unnamed compatriot: The night has died a thousand times / These close calls keep me so alive / There's a reason for everything tonight. 

While Gold Star's vague, abiding hope adds a romantic ambition to How To Shoot the Moon, it's not a cheap or unrealistic notion. Songs like "Fentanyl" anchor the collection in the shadows of lives lived in the balance. Based on the experience of the songwriter and his friends, the track layers weightless fingerpicking over a wavering tone, Gallaher's pedal steel keening: And we did what we were bound to do / And in this way we were born to lose. The beautiful waltz-time "In Ruins" plumbs these same emotional depths, adding unsteady percussion: I climbed out your window / I swore we were the same / And I know how it ends up / And I know how much you've changed. "Some Sunday Mornings" reads like an early morning stumble home, a train whistle pedal steel echoing from the corners of the track. Like the later work of Justin Townes Earle, Morgan Rabenreither can write lovingly, threading his songs with lyrical passages and gorgeously melodic moments that prevent Gold Star from dwelling overlong in the dark. 

The upbeat chug of "Fade Away" buoys the collection: Someday you know we're gonna get lucky / Sometime we're gonna get a break / Hold on for that day. While Gold Star is Rabenreither's vision, these largely live recordings ring with the sound of a full band, more War On Drugs than Ryan Adams. "Wild Boys" drawls like the Futurebirds. The record closes with an anthemic statement of devotion in "Look Around You", the singer repeating, Look around you / Look around you / Look for me. 

Despite the sonic similarities with Big Blue, the organic arrangements and the more grounded sonics, Gold Star's new recordings don't mark a retreat as much as a return, applying the expansive spirit of those recent recordings back to Rabenreither's folk and California country roots. How To Shoot the Moon sounds like LA, with its ambitions and dreams intact, but dusted in the grit and the realities of the everyday. 

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TRAiPSiNG THRU the AiSLES: add these to your basket (November 18, 2024)

TRAiPSiNG THRU the AiSLES: add these to your basket

November 18, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

These are blogs that publish yearly lists of their favorite EPs. I don't get that. We don't understand separating EPs from LPs simply for the number of songs. That said, while we'd happily consider EPs for our year-end records list, we'd never include a single. While we yammer away here, the point is that EPs deserve the same consideration as fuller collections. It just so happens that for this week's Episode of Traisping Thru the Aisles, we're focusing on a trio of EPs ...

Clover County, Porch Lights EP  (Undercover Lover, Nov 15)

AmandaGrace Schiano performs as Clover County, a stage name she selected to represent the itinerant nature of her youth, a quest for greener grass. Presently settled in Athens, Georgia, her six-song debut is a great example of the coming together of a terrific artist, quality songs, and perfect production. Clover County's music achieves an equilibrium of pop and country that flatters her voice and makes the most of her songs. "Ultraviolet" chimes, its heartbeat percussion and fresh arrangement sounding contemporary and relevant: Ink stains inside my mind / I'm a victim of my own design. "Glass Coke Bottle" simmers with the singer's patter and a touch of pedal steel, Clover County casting her own role: I'm Chuck Taylors in a cotton dress. Production duties are handed from one well-credentialed producer to another, but the overall vibe of Porch Lights remains consistent. Ian Fitchuk oversees "Under These Conditions", encouraging the same roots pop balance he created with Kacey Musgraves. Even with smart, dynamic arrangements, there is no sense that Clover County is being dragged along behind her production. An online voice and piano video of "Uncharted" from an earlier time demonstrates that nothing has been sacrificed in the appeal of both the singer and the song, even with guitar atmospherics underlying a tasteful strum: Love me til I'm not so black and blue / Til I'm just as clean as you. There's a real charm to Clover County in these six tunes, an original voice and musical integrity that exceeds expectations for a debut. On "Limbo", she sings: Father tell me, when I get to the gates / Can I get a plus one for me and my dates / 'Cause I've been praying for them every night and day. 

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Sean Barna, Internal Trembling EP  (Kill Rock Stars, Nov 22)

Sean Barna's last LP, 2023's An Evening At Macri Park, was a glam-adjacent ode to queer New York nightlife, a heartfelt and dramatic document that rivals Low Cut Connie for full-body commitment. This new EP was birthed two-thousand miles away, beneath the big sky vistas of Western Colorado. With instrumental backing by the folk trio Hawktail, Internal Trembling's change of venue is reflected in the intimate acoustic spirit of the five new tracks. Comprised of Paul Kowert, Brittany Haas, and Jordan Tice with guest Dominick Leslie, Barna's accompaniment proves a lovely if unlikely setting for his stark, impassioned vocal style. The songs on Internal Trembling juxtapose the disciplined string playing of the ensemble with the singer's ecstatic approach, strings swelling with intensity on "Jack Rabbit Hill". "Firefly" replaces Hawktail with the fingerpicked guitar of producer Kyle Joseph, with breathy backing vocals by Mirah adding a subtle but haunting spirit throughout the project. Among the year's most worthy singles, "Wallflower" is a powerful acoustic march, Barna intoning the names of the five victims of a 2022 shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs. Jesus we are tired / These spaces are sacred, he cries, weighing our rights and our responsibilities: Today I need peace / Not another memory. To date, Sean Barna's singles, EPs and two LPs have been exemplary, a strikingly passionate testimony of the queer story. The dramatic change of venue for his new EP attests to Barna's versatility. But even surrounded by a stellar folk ensemble, the singer's work remains at heart fiery and uncompromising: Do I have your attention / Would you like to hear my point of view / Can I make you feel better / Would you like to read my old love letters?

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Will Johnson, Sleuthed/Full Cuts EP  (Keeled Scales, Nov 19)

Our favorite serial collaborator has spent the last couple years as a touring member of Jason Isbell's 400 Unit. In creating his 2023 No Ordinary Crown, Johnson sent bare demos for his new songs to his band, and giving them free reign to add their own accompaniment. Sleuthed/Full Cuts features three of those initial demos, in addition to a pair of unheard full band tracks from the No Ordinary Crown sessions. Where "Swine" and "Along the Runner" became cloaked in drone and electric feedback, stripping them back lends a vulnerability to Johnson's lyrics and exposes the beautiful grain to his acoustic demos. Of the new cuts, "Frame It" is as melodic as anything on Crown, colored with beautiful streaks of pedal steel "Sleuthed/Full Cuts" is an evocative, panoramic instrumental. He has named his band of frequent collaborators Wire Mountain, and they will come together for an Austin festival show next month. Also on the horizon for Will Johnson, his Centro-Matic will be joining Isbell and the 400 Unit for a January show in Mexico City. Even more promising, there are rumors of a new record on the horizon for 2025. 

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ROUTES-cast November 17, 2024

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

November 17, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

ROUTES-cast November 17, 2024

- Ryan Bingham, "Jingle and Go (ft Texas Gentlemen)" Live At Red Rocks  (Bingham, 24)

- Courtney Patton, "What Is Done Will Be Repeated" Carry You With Me  (Patton, Jan 24)  D

- Michaela Anne, "Just More Love" single  (Georgia June, 24)  D

- Gold Star, "How To Shoot the Moon" How To Shoot the Moon  (Gold Star, 24)

- Lilly Hiatt, "Thoughts" Forever  (New West, Jan 31)

- Joe Kaplow, "Windowless Room" single  (Sonder House, 24)  D

^ Rose City Band, "Seeds Of Light" Sol y Sombra  (Thrill Jockey, Jan 24)

- Clover County, "Under These Conditions" Porch Lights EP  (Undercover Lover, 24)

- Heather Maloney, "Exploding Star" Exploding Star  (Signature Sounds, Jan 31)  D

- David Wax Museum, "My Chosen One" Secret Creature  (Mark Of the Leopard, Dec 24)  D

- Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms, "Faraway Skies" Gold In Your Pocket  (Free Dirt, 24)

- Charley Crockett, "Hey Mr Nashville" single  (Son Of Davy, 24)  D

- Dwight Yoakam, "Brighter Days" Brighter Days  (Via, 24)

- Zach Bryan, "High Road" single  (Belting Bronco, 24)

- Sunny War, "Walking Contradiction" Armageddon In a Summer Dress  (New West, Feb 21)  D

- Loose Koozies, "Wobbly Wheel" Passing Through You  (Tall Texan, Dec 6)  D

- Massy Ferguson, "When You're Not Around" You Can't Tell Me I'm Not What I Used To Be  (North and Left, Jan 25)  D

- Silverlites, "No One To Follow" Silverlites  (Sunyata, 24)

- Des Demonas, "Duke Ellington Bridge" Apocalyptic Boom Boom  (In the Red, Nov 29)  D

- Wussy, "Disaster About You" Cincinnati Ohio  (Shake It, 24)

- Yola, "Symphony" My Way EP  (S-Curve, Jan 17)

- White Denim, "Look Good" 12  (Bella Union, Dec 6)

- Angel Olsen, "The Takeover" Cosmic Waves Vol 1  (Jagjaguwar, Dec 6)  D

- Nadia Reid, "Hotel Santa Cruz" Enter Now Brightness  (Chrysalis, Feb 7)

- Beirut, "Caspian Tiger" single  (Pompeii, 24)  D

- Julia Holter, "Laugh Is In the Eyes" single  (Domino, 24)  D

- Penny & Sparrow, "Jeopardy" Lefty  (I Love You, Jan 31)

- Sun June, "41 Dollars" single  (Run For Cover, 24)  D

- William Matheny, "Living Half To Death" Poor Message Bringer EP  (Matheny, 24)  D

- Langhorne Slim, "We the People (Fuck the Man)" single  (Dualtone, 24)  D

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To enjoy any Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!! (November 15, 2024)

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

November 15, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!! 

Sun June, "41 Dollars" single  (Run For Cover, Nov 13)

About this time last year we were paging through Sun June's Bad Dream Jaguar, a collection of hazy roots pop that ended up on our top thirty albums for the year. As Laura Colwell, Stephen Salisbury and their band depart for a short tour, they've left behind this lovely single, along with a loose demo for "16 Riders". With its slack guitar and echo-licious backing vocals, "41 Dollars" is monumentally smooth without losing track of its alluring melody. 

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Nadia Reid, "Hotel Santa Cruz" Enter Now Brightness  (Chrysalis, Feb 7)

Three songs into the reveal for her fourth full-length, it's evident that the New Zealand singer-songwriter is venturing out from her familiar folk roots. You are everything I'd like to be, she sings on the breezy track, an ode to Reid's hometown of Port Chalmers. Electric guitars and a pop arrangement from producer Tom Healy create a lush pocket for the singer's sweet but sturdy vocals. 

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Des Demonas, "Duke Ellington Bridge" Apocalyptic Boom Boom  (In the Red, Nov 29)

Oh, this is fascinating. Des Demonas are a DC punk/soul act composed of veteran contributors to a handful of area bands such as Kid Congo. Though they are designated for other instruments for their current assignment, three of the bandmembers are drummers. "Duke Ellington Bridge" delivers an immediate garage appeal, with farfisa organ and baritone guitar, frontman Jacky Cougar Abok holding court from deep within the fuzz. 

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White Denim, "Look Good (ft Tameca Jones, Jessie Payo)" 12  (Bella Union, Dec 6)

We know a lot more about wearing white denim pants as a result of scouring the web for information on the third single from the band's December 6 project, 12. Frontman James Petrali left Austin for LA during the pandemic, leaving him to piece together his twelfth record via email. The video we're sharing is a live studio take of "Look Good", featuring the vocals of Jessie Pavo, while Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes sits in on acoustic guitar. The studio cut, which we'll include on Sunday's Spotify ROUTES-cast, features a supercool flute, which we've always wanted more of on Routes & Branches. 

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Sunny War, "Walking Contradiction"  Armageddon In a Summer Dress  (New West, Feb 21)

Few artists walk the line between roots and punk as blatantly as Sunny War. Announcing the sequel to 2023's Anarchist Gospel, the Tennessee artist shared her wish to create a larger-sounding collection. In addition to Steve Ignorant from the British punk legends Crass, Sunny War is joined on her new record by Valerie June, John Doe, Tre Burt and more. A bluesy number with a honed punk edge, "Walking Contradiction" wastes little time in pointing fingers: Like a junkie with a worn out Minor Threat cassette / You're a walking contradiction but I ain't upset / All your words I take with a grain of salt / Cos I know you're fake but it's not your fault. 

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