Rick Cassman serves up "JENNIFER JANGLE," and immediately you’re paddling in the bright, optimistic shallows of 1960s British Pop. You can almost taste the sherbet lemon fizz. Yet, knowing Cassman’s packing four decades of musical mileage – playing all the guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, and handling vocals here himself, mind you – suggests we shouldn't just skim the surface. This isn't merely throwback fun;...

When you hear the name Stephen Thomas, you might right away think of Charleston, West Virginia, or maybe his own genre name, "Universal" As a label, it does not feel like a neat box. Instead, it feels like an open field where hip-hop and alternative pop music mix. His most recent song, "Breaking Hearts," sounds a lot like that. It utilises sounds from artists like...