The Swampland Jewels by The Swampland Jewels Swampland Jewels, led by Iowa City music veteran Nate Basinger, is a band that’s found its niche, combining music from Louisiana’s musical tradition with a mélange of jazz, country and roots rock. The Jewels also represent the hard-to-define terroir of Iowa music, a “why not?” sense of musical […]
Album reviews
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Album Review: Katie and the Honky Tonks — ‘Two-Steppin’ in the Shower’
Two Steppin in the Shower by Katie and the Honky Tonks You only need to watch Cedar Falls band Katie and the Honky Tonks cover Loretta Lynn’s 1973 smash “Rated X” to understand the rich and influential legacy of women in country music on which they stand. (Luckily, you can: Gallagher Bluedorn has an archive […]
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Album Review: Strangers of Necessity — ‘Vibe Theory’
Mission Creek Festival: Strangers of Necessity/Anthony Worden/Armand Hammer, Gabe’s, Iowa City, Friday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m., $65-215 Vibe Theory by Strangers Of Necessity I miss ’90s hip hop. A lot. And that’s no dig against today; I just miss that sound. Lucky for me, and you too, Strangers of Necessity have us covered. Their […]
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Album Review: Mr. Softheart — ‘Magdalene in Crisis’
Magdalene In Crisis by Mr. Softheart Somewhere in the search engine results for “magnolia,” there is one of many paintings titled exactly that. It’s just a JPG of the original by Martin Johnson Heade, but thanks to the click-to-zoom functionality on slam.org, you can get close enough to see the wrinkles in the white paint. […]
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Album Review: diistancing — ‘this love ain’t a film’
this love ain't a film by diistancing For the last couple of years, Iowa City’s James Hirsch has been releasing music under the name diistancing. His latest, releasing on good old Saint Valentine’s Day, is this love ain’t a film. Featuring seven slow-burning, melancholic love/breakup songs, this diistancing release is stripped-down and raw, incorporating elements […]
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Album Review: GOLDBLUMS — ‘Bless Me for the Get Better’
Bless Me for the Get Better by GOLDBLUMS Over the last few years, the Des Moines-based group GOLDBLUMS have recorded with a wide sonic palette, including elements of garage punk, noise pop, and even some stoner sludge metal into their music. On their latest, Bless Me for the Get Better, they present six tracks full […]
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Album Review: Bellyard — ‘Bellyard’
BELLYARD by BELLYARD Iowa music is nothing if not eclectic. Put a track by early ’90s prog-punkers Fetal Pig side-by-side with something spawned in the late ’90s by genre-less ramblers Why Make Clocks, for example. You’d be forgiven for not being aware that both acts were fronted by Des Moines’ Sump Pump Records maestro Dan […]
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Album Review: William Elliott Whitmore — ‘Silently, The Mind Breaks’
If you’ll permit a strained simile, Will Whitmore is like Iowa’s basketball phenom Caitlin Clark. He’s never been anything short of ridiculously excellent, and he makes it look — or sound — easy. I’ve seen him hold hundreds of drunk college kids spellbound with nothing more than a pawn-shop banjo and his voice. That kind […]
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Album Review: Dandelion Stompers — ‘Whirlwind Sessions Vol. 1’
Whirlwind Sessions Vol. 1 by Dandelion Stompers Recently, John Kenyon — executive director of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature organization and one of our area’s most insightful arts analysts — and I were both in the audience at the Englert for a performance by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Kenyon wrote about the […]
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Album Review: Sirens and Prophets — ‘Delineations’
Delineations by Sirens and Prophets In the opening minutes of Delineations’ forlorn guitar chords, punctuated by steady drums, lead listeners in a gradual crescendo accompanied by boiling cymbals. By the halfway point of this first track, “Lines Drawn,” I’m enveloped by the album. Typically, I’m hooked by lyrics, but this opening instrumental piece (somewhat reminiscent […]
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Album Review: Wave Cage — ‘Even You Can See in the Dark’
Even You Can See in the Dark by Wave Cage “Here we orbit each other with creative collaboration,” says poet Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey on the opening and title track of Wave Cage’s new album Even You Can See in the Dark. That sentiment is central to the record itself. The band’s notes on […]
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Album Review: Sean Tyler — ‘NOR THERE’
NOR THERE by Sean Tyler I first found out about Sean Tyler from one of the great No Touching Sessions filmed at Gabe’s way back in 2020. Tyler’s been performing regularly around Iowa City ever since, and recently played at the Refocus Film Festival. Released in September, NOR THERE is his first official collection of […]
