Lannie Flowers “New Songs Old Stories”
Back in 2008, Lannie’s first album Same Old Stories was released. It was more of a medley of good song snippets, buried in a concept album. Well several years later… we get the cream of the melodic crop. The raw vocals on “Another Weekend” is like Stones track with Pete Townshed guitar riffs, and then we get to the brilliant “Come On Girl,” one of the best power pop tracks I’ve ever heard.
Like the new Shoes album, each track resonates with energy and excellent composition – a great example is “I Didn’t Know” with buzzing riffs similar to The Raspberries. “Give Me A Chance” has a Brydsian jangle with multi-tracking lead vocals and a great bass line in the chorus. “Another Boy Like Me” has a touch of Texas flavor, and I could go on and on. No weakness, and unlike the earlier album not a second of filler. Add this one to your top ten this year and you won’t be sorry.
The Dahlmanns “Dumb Me Down” EP
The follow up to their highly successful album All Dahled Up, this EP features the new single “Dumb Me Down” written by Francis McDonald of Teenage Fanclub. The Dahlmanns sound has always been a perfect Ramones-styled rock band, with lead singer Line Dahlmann’s vocals being a combo of Debbie Harry and Liz Phair. “Dumb Me Down” is sounds more like Blondie, but the follow up “Go Getter” is more typical fast paced Dahlmanns rock. Add the pretty ballads “I Want You Around” and “This Time” (with some nice twangy guitar in the break) and you have a pretty well rounded EP. I like that the band has expanded its sound here and look forward to the band’s next full length album.
