TRAiPSiNG THRU the AiSLES: add these to your basket
July 22, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
Brandon Coleman, frontman for this Mobile, Alabama quintet, is a star. There are few voices as powerfully versatile as his, as demonstrated on Red Clay Strays' second full-length project, produced by Dave Cobb. The act's 2022 debut, Moment Of Truth, spawned the phenomenally popular "Wondering Why", which catapulted their Southern rock 'n soul onto national stages far larger than roots bands who have been plying their trade twice as long. Coleman wears his heart on his sleeve, injecting his vocals with the sort of emotion fellow shredder Chris Stapleton might reserve for the final minute of a song. Red Clay Strays work from a bed of Christian faith, even as songs like "Drowning" or "Devil In My Ear" acknowledge depression and anxiety, the struggle to live a decent life. Atop the soulful guitar of "No One Else Like Me", Coleman sings, I'm a broken writer / I'm a restless fighter / and I'm looking for a little hope. "Disaster" and "Wasting Time" lean into the band's Southern rock roots, with heavy guitars, organ, and pounded drums. "On My Knees" drags Night Sweats' "SOB" into the chapel, while "God Does" is an altar call with harmonica. Red Clay Strays are nominated for Emerging Act in September's Americana Honors, standing out alongside more country-oriented names like Charles Wesley Godwin and Kaitlin Butts. They face an uphill battle for that award, but their energy and stage appeal will ensure Red Clay Strays find a larger devoted audience.
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In 2021, we received news that the perennial Philadelphia band would cease touring. The future of Dr Dog was ever more uncertain as the members pursued individual solo projects (most notably including Scott McMicken and the Ever Expanding). Six years since their last formal studio LP, the band temporarily silence any concern with a self-titled collection, dialing back any fancy production or ambition in favor of recapturing the immediacy of their earlier recordings. The word ramshackle has been employed on countless Dr Dog reviews, and certainly applies to this new funhouse project as well. Scott McMicken and Toby Leaman continue to trade vocals, with drummer Earl Slick stepping forward for his first lead stint on the Fleet Foxes-like "Tell Your Friends". An older live staple finally set to tape, "Fat Dog" is a loungy orchestral track with typically enigmatic lyrics: Sleeping with a fat dog / Dreaming like a catalog / Staring out the window. Dr Dog's dedication to 60s and 70s psychedelic pop is never far from the surface, especially on "Handyman" and the junkyard arrangement of "Authority". While tunes like "Fine White Lines" and "White Dove" might sound tossed off at first listen, there is a reliable vein of knowledge and purpose beneath McMicken and Leaman's laissez-faire mess. With some help from M Ward, "Love Struck" closes the sessions on a highlight, a terrifically good-natured romp with banjo, fiddle and folky drone: You and me, we turning into us / Now I know that I'm alive.
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It's not often that artists we feature claim influences as diverse as King Crimson, Fleet Foxes, Pink Floyd, and Alan Watts. As last week's New York Times profile story well illustrated, there's a lot going on in Izenberg's mind, battling mental illness since childhood. For every moment on his fourth full-length project that threatens to lure listeners into ambitious prog-folk territory, however, Izenberg just as readily draws them back with an impressive grasp on California country-soul and melody. Produced with his childhood friend Greg Hartunian and mixed by indie rock vet Phil Ek, Alex Izenberg & the Exiles is ultimately a beautiful collection that follows its own star. "Only the Moon Knows" features 60s country rock guitar lines, alongside Connor Gallaher's alluring pedal steel. That pedal steel peals throughout Exiles, dreamy on "Dreams Of Deja Vu", and sparkling on "Gospel Of Exiles". Izenberg's creative range brings to mind the late Richard Swift on this record that truly earns the overused descriptor cosmic.
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