It’s been a while since Vodka first visited Carsie Blanton with the review for Laziest Girl In Town back in 2014, and Carsie has continued to inspire with her down-home pop goodness. Shunning recording industry standards, Blanton’s philosophy on music as a commodity is fresh. Moreover, her views on the personal vs. political are more honest than most people who stand on the side of one party or another and scream the party line. More importantly, though, Carsie Blanton makes great music. Enter Buck Up (seen/heard here) the title track of…
Read MoreAt least loosely based on the love affair between Frank Gardiner and Kitty (Catherine) Brown (Walsh) and the circumstances surrounding the Gold Escort Robbery of 1862, Lucie Thorne’s new long-player, Kitty & Frank (August 2019) touches on the gold rush that was happening in this area of Australia at the time, the robbery orchestrated by Frank and his incarceration, among other details. Wheogo Hill (seen/heard here) is a reference to what was sometimes called Mount Wheogo, where Frank had his camp. In short, you can consider Kitty & Frank…
Read MoreVodka has been a fan of Smooth Hound Smith ever since we discovered the duo’s California Sway clear back in 2013. Dog In A Manager (seen/heard here) is from the duo’s latest long-player and is without a doubt, the most understated track I’ve ever covered by them. Roots rock and Americana influences are the mainstays of Smooth Hound Smith. Zack Smith and Caitlin Doyle plot a course that is not really country and not really rock and heavily blues-influenced. They demonstrate pleasing and easy cooperation between…
Read MoreThere is something jarringly optimistic about the salvation in the message that Sandtimer’s Dormant (seen/heard here) brings to what seems at the onset as a very down take on personal depression. It’s a song about going through the motions, about not making waves and the feelings of loneliness that just existing can bring. But it is hope, not depression, that wins in the end. This song, only three stanzas in length, is lightly layered in a manner that is hauntingly revelatory. The message is right there on top, but the…
Read MoreIndie-folk can sometimes be a yawner or it can be the edge of something masterful. Enter RedFox and Stay (seen/heard here) from the band’s latest EP, Recovery (May 2019), which fits squarely in the latter category. RedFox, a five-piece out of Montreal, combines elements of rock, bluegrass, and folk, to formulate a sound that is truly unique and wonderful. Vocalist/violinist Daphnée Vandal, uses her instrument to add a leading texture to these four tracks, with the band adding great banjo (Tim Loten), guitar (Jono Townsend), bass (Sam Robinson), and drums (Samuel…
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