With their new single “Backbone,” Joseph Turner & The Dudes of Hazard carve out a gritty, swampy corner of dark Americana directly from the Dutch delta. Turner, operating as core songwriter alongside a rotating collective of collaborating friends, channels the kinetic friction of delta blues and stomp-and-holler rock to craft something deeply rooted and road-worn. https://open.spotify.com/track/7kOvoDCrUHtcHeQpZdYRvc?si=bbfa1f129d3840a2 The track locks into an insistent, cyclical groove that grabs...

Geoff Westen’s album, “Music For My Friends”, thumps onto the scene like a dropped box of heavy disco balls – all shiny potential energy and the slight threat of chaos. It aims for that classic pop song euphoria, the kind designed to rattle car speakers and fuel late-night dance floors, an "aural assault" as Westen puts it. And it does pulse with energy, a...