Matt Pryor started The New Amsterdams when The Get Up Kids were still active, devoting his folkier/mellower output to the moniker. They’ve never sounded better.
The spurting post-Zep string strangle winnowed through The Cult’s resurrection of that feel via the best moments of late ’80’s “hey baby” cock rockery.
Hot Water Music guitarist/vocalist Chuck Ragan went solo acoustic after the break up, now focusing 100% upon what made the albums riveting: The melodies.
Acoustic chords rife with subtext and vocal lines that kill you with their details. Songs of deep affection and choruses equally addictive and slightly awkward.
Several Arrows Later hinted they were wishing they were more rockin’, here they sound like they’re trying too hard, and at the expense of the melodies.
They get your fingers snapping, can stir ska and funk into the soup without tickling your gag reflex, and they can play your wedding or your backyard kegger.
After venturing into folktronica territory with The Tourniquet, Magnet (Norwegian producer/songwriter Even Johanssen) has returned to a rootsier, organic sound.