RYAN DAVIS & THE ROADHOUSE BAND  Dancing on the Edge 2xLP
This one emerged from the proverbial cornfield and knocked quite a few folks sideways, myself included. I haven’t found this level of laid-back, weird Americana satisfaction since my last marathon Howe Gelb/Giant Sand listening session, with Dancing on the Edge coming very close to a Ramp or Swerve level of obtuse, ragged alt-alt-alt glory. Davis’ “Roadhouse Band” sometimes contains some very non-roadhouse electronic drums and the odd keyboard wash, adding a touch of what will often be called, for a lack of a better term, “cosmic”. So be it. 

But it’s the heart-rending pedal steel and the shadowing female vocals that play off Davis’ own warm voice that really carry the day here; even though it’s different women singing with him song to song (including Catherine Irwin from Freakwater, a big favorite around here), there’s a touch of “Gram and Emmylou” sweetness present on all tracks, which is especially pleasing given the often-impenetrable subject matter. Instrumentation is crisp and exceptionally well-recorded, songs are giving both room and immense running time to breathe, and it’s just all & all one of those poetic and strange left-field records that stands apart and alone. It’s likely to be remembered and highly regarded for many, many years as such. (Sophomore Lounge) 

X  Hate City 7”EP
First heard three of these four blistering ‘77 songs – which I think is my favorite 70s Australian punk ever, save for a handful of Saints tracks – on the Why March When You Can Riot comp that came out in the mid-80s. Fifteen years later, Mark Murmann put them out again on an EP on his Rock & Roll Blitzkrieg label as Home Is Where The Floor Is. It’s only right and proper that a new generation gets to own these on vinyl. They’re the very first 4-piece recordings from the Australian X, unheralded in their time but celebrated boisterously by those who know. They’re full of down-under piss & vinegar and are supercharged by propulsive, ultra-raw, almost sing-along appeal. While they don’t really sound anything like Feedtime, you can absolutely hear the minimal, stripped-down and nearly metronomic approach to punk rock construction that led Feedtime to cover them a few years later, while being as snotty & bird-flipping as the disorderly, first-wave Aussie punks they were. (Dirt Cult)

WRITHING SQUARES  Mythology LP
It’s been a decade now of heavy, freak-forward, proto-punk space rock and overmodulated sax from this Philadelphia duo, and they’ve now got a fourth album to go with various EPs (my favorite’s still gotta be that intense Sonic Control CD-R from 2020). And let it not be said that the Squares are not “heavy hitters” in all regards of their craft. If this was baseball you’d call them “five-tool players” and praise them for giving “110%”, be it for hitting drums as hard as can be humanly pounded, or playing distorted bass until all five fingers shred & fall off. However, I don’t think all this quite adds up on Mythology as it has in the past, with the record lacking a unifying center and that one song that slays all comers. There are some stabs at a rolling, rhythmic groove to go with overt Hawkwind/Motorhead moves that point at some new thinking and that’s all to the good, but right now I’m a bit more satisfied looking backward with these guys and not necessarily at what’s right in front of me. (Trouble in Mind)