All Music Guide sez: 1372 Overton Park might be Lucero’s major-label debut, but the Memphis-based band retains all of their rough-and-tumble indie charms. Gruff-voiced frontman Ben Nichols still sings about people with dead-end lives: the type of characters whose “heroes are the losing kind.” But Nichols definitely finds ways to make these troubled souls... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: A bit of a stop-gap product while waiting for LaVere’s full-length follow-up to the still-going-strong Anchors & Anvils, Died of Love is a five-song, 22-minute hodgepodge of an EP: two traditional songs, two covers, and a new version of the A&A standout “Washing Machine.” There are none of the songwriting surprises here that animated... read more

All Music Guide sez: The simple arrangements add to the album’s left-of-center appeal, with steel guitars, fiddles, and guitars whipping up a lazy mixture that falls somewhere between old rock and country with perhaps a touch of jazz thrown in. At one moment, LaVere and company cover Tex-Mex (“Overcome”), the next, funky rock (“People Get Mad”). Even on a fairly... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: This second record from the instrumental soul-jazz trio absolutely floored me. But the thing is, The Set-Up is one of those records that just keeps getting better with repeated listening, so now I can’t put it down. I find it quite helpful to put this record on when writing or working — though I understand one could also dance to it. Tracklist: 1. The Set Up 2.... read more

Lucid Culture sez: Dance music doesn’t get any better than this. Sounding like they just got off the train from Memphis, 1968, the City Champs lay down an irresistible hip-twisting groove in the same vein as classic soul instrumentalists like Booker T & the MGs, the Meters, the late Willie Mitchell and the Bar-Kays. The production values are strictly oldschool – this may be a cd but... read more

All Music Guide sez: Telecaster-wielding John Paul Keith has been rattling around the fringes of the roots rock arena since around 1994. He has racked up hundreds of smoking shows with a variety of outfits including the V-Roys, one of his earliest, with little to show for it. The Knoxville, TN based guitarist/vocalist moved operations to Memphis in 2005, took a few years to put together a... read more

All Music Guide sez: Every bluesman needs a catch phrase. Mississippi Fred McDowell’s was, “I do not play no rock & roll.” Well, Monsieur Jeffrey Evans isn’t strictly a blues guy, but it is one of the ingredients in his long-simmering musical stew (along with folk, country, bluegrass, and rock & roll). His catch phrase — at least for the purposes of this... read more

Prefix sez: Matador Singles ’08 may be Reatard’s most complete album-length accomplishment to date. It eschews the “same song over and over” criticism that’s been lobbed at Reatard by people only familiar with his latest works. (When I saw him open for the Black Keys in Minneapolis this spring, one particularly drunk guy kept yelling “Same song!” during every break. I think the... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: This collection of singles from Memphis punk savant Jay Reatard is essentially a bit of housecleaning from his old label (garage-rock-identified indie In the Red) — a way of emptying the vault before an upcoming singles collection from Reatard’s new label (indie-rock behemoth Matador) ushers in a higher-profile phase of Reatard’s rocketing career. The 17... read more

All Music Guide sez: Blood Visions is considerably more listenable in terms of fidelity: R. Stevie Moore’s ’70s and ’80s albums would be a reasonable home-recording touchstone. Musically, it’s also a big step up, as well as a step into the past. Blood Visions has the antic, jumpy quality of many now-obscure new wave records of the early ’80s, from the era when... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: In Spin’s list of 2009′s best albums, it’s no accident that Watch Me Fall lands at #13. Nor is it a surprise that 65 of the 75 assigned words are reserved to attack Reatard’s character. The favored alternate-reality of the press is that Watch Me Fall magically appeared while Reatard spent the entire year inserting the F-word into his Twitter.... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: Make no mistake about it, this children’s music album from local musicians Harlan T. Bobo, Doug Easley, Tim Prudhomme, and Alex Greene is quite weird, and, truthfully, I’m not completely sure that if I had younger kids I would let them listen to it. That said, it’s still a hoot to listen to as an adult. Highlights include Easley’s beautifully... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: At a precise moment stuck between what he himself calls a “slippery past” and an “uncertain future,” Harlan T. Bobo crafted this beautiful, shivering hymn to hard-won contentment. From joyfully tongue-in-cheek title to righteous opening (“Sweet Life”) to swooning climax (“Drank”) and every bull’s-eye musical choice... read more

C-60 sez: Backed by members of the Reigning Sound, Fuck and Viva l’American Deathray Music, and recorded at Easley McCain Studio, Harlan’s record has already been hailed as the best Memphis record of the last five years by the Memphis Flyer. Too Much Love made every Memphis music writer’s Best Of list and was named Record of the Year 2005. And rightfully so- it’s a... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: Harlan T. Bobo became an instant icon in his corner of the local music scene with his lovelorn 2004 debut Too Much Love. To his credit, Bobo declined to offer up Too Much Love 2 with this follow-up, which instead investigates the roots and limitations of the romantic messiness that made his debut so popular. And, over time, I’ve found I’m Your Man to be... read more

All Music Guide sez: Yarber’s honesty and delivery, not to mention his appreciation of a well-written song, somehow make this scattered collection of songs sound timeless and essential. Tracklist: 1. White Lie, Black Eye 2. Stupid Cupid 3. Wire Tapper Calling 4. Dollar to Death 5. Teeny Weeny Little Bit 6. Make it Hard 7. Bank, Gun, Jail 8. Head of the Class Clowns 9. Earthquake... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: From the chugging chords that open “Flipside Kid” to the snarling, swinging lyrics of “I Want You,” Jack Yarber, aka Jack Oblivian, lays down yet another incredible rock record. “I don’t care what they say,” he growls on “Golden Age,” playing both guitar and drums and pushing “record” on the four-track... read more

Los Angeles Examiner sez: Jack Oblivian clearly has a nose for good music, a fact that has never been more evident than on his latest record with the Tennessee Tearjerkers, “Disco Outlaw.” Released by Goner Records in May, it’s probably his most well-wrought, completely realized and – dare I say? — poetic effort to date. Each song is like a cut diamond, a small story, a display of... read more

The Memphis Flyer sez: On Memphis, the Magic Kids (Bennett Foster, Alex Gates, Will McElroy, Michael Peery, and Ben Bauermeister, with Scandaliz Vandalistz’ Alice Buchanan and Katherine Dohan apparently auxiliary members) showcase their genial, ramshackle deployment of myriad traditional, pre-punk influences: Peppermint Twist rhythms, Foster’s Lou Christie-style near-falsetto... read more