Music Releases For February 17th, 2014

Are you ready for all the kick ass tunes dropping in store this week?!  I was hoping for more than three in my selection but I will take what I can get (and apparently you will too).  I am going to throw my eggs into the quality basket this week versus the quantity.  Here we have three very established groups all looking to show off some new material here in 2015.  And with good reason as some artists like 36 Crayfists have been without material for 5+ years!

So as usual folks, show some love and pick up a copy of your favourite (or all three) albums at your local record store.  If not, then be sure to buy from an online retailer, or a trusted digital source.  Cheers and have a great week!

(Imagine Dragons - Smoke + Mirrors)

"Smoke + Mirrors," like their premiere album, “Night Visions,” shows that successful albums can be achieved without sex, drugs and profanity. With messages that all people can relate, the album is fresh and unifying.

“Night Visions” left the guys with big shoes to fill, as songs like “Demons” and “Radioactive” earned numerous awards, including Grammys, and got them on the map. “Smoke + Mirrors” not only proves that the band is filling the shoes just fine, but they also are taking listeners on the journey with them. -Las Vegas Sun

(Steve Earle & The Dukes - Terraplane)

Terraplane comes across as a mostly pleasant surprise. This is a blues album that opts to boogie rather than weep, celebrate not commiserate, as Earle pours himself into the genre’s tropes: pining for Ms. Wrong (“You’re the Best Lover That I Ever Had”); striking a deal down at the crossroads (“The Tennessee Kid”); and splitting a comical he-said, she-said duet with Eleanor Whitmore (“Baby’s Just as Mean as Me”). The real heroes of the album, though, are Earle’s backing band, The Dukes, who sound like a genuine blues outfit rather than a group trying to squeeze into the genre. The Dukes prevent this brisk record from ever becoming a slog, deftly shifting between gliding, fiddle-accented ragtime (“Ain’t Nobody’s Daddy Now”) and grittier, more rollicking fare (“The Usual Time”). -Consequence of Sound



(36 Crazyfists - Time and Trauma)

AFGM: 36 Crazyfists - Time and Trauma

Time and Trauma is a very unique and overly gratifying album in its own. The band’s new lineup of mainstays Lindow and Holt is joined by a returning Mick Whitney on bass, and 2012′s addition, Kyle Baltus on drums. Combining their skills, the band put together tracks that bleed massive riffs with a melodic structure that make up their trademark sound. The lyrics are just as positive to hear, as it is a sure look at what this band had to overcome in the past and how they will, and did, prevail. The sound of the album is very reminiscent to their older work, but engage in a more mature and colossal approach. Having already spawned two singles in “Also Am I” and “Swing the Noose,” the first of the two is definitely a track that stands out, showing that maturity can be brought to fans with awesome breakdowns to showcase. It is a powerful song with a motive, to uplift someone to endure the obstacles in life. -Cryptic Rock