Melbourne's TJ Howlett throws a shovel full of coal-dusted reality into the guitar-driven blues-rock furnace with his "Not Mine" EP. Two songs. Just two. But, my word, they carry the weight of generations. Suddenly, I'm thinking about Dorothea Lange's photographs, only... louder. https://open.spotify.com/album/6lCrWQGWQo9LsVDL94CR4k?si=97afEOrjR1WPe9AVG2pfgw "Not Mine," the title track, and then "Drinking Man" – they're not just following each other; they're wrestling in the dirt. This EP...

If you’ve ever tried to catch a seagull mid-flight with a butterfly net, you’ll understand the elusive joy that Funky Blackman's "The Beach" EP serves up. Not that there are any feathered friends involved, directly. But the feeling? Yeah, it’s there, a fleeting, beautiful awkwardness. https://open.spotify.com/album/5Sk7pagwbS02FPhsKKAzOb?si=QYWmoCruQv2lw3xMISpLJQ This isn’t some synthesized shoreline; forget the stock wave sounds. This is a memory, maybe yours, maybe his, re-assembled. He’s...