Jack and Eliza “Hold the Line”   This Brooklyn duo have an eerie vocal presence and their songs largely consist of a great trebly guitar and their overlapping singing, which is sometimes harmony, sometimes countermelody. Jack sounds quite Shins-like on this track but there is also a Mamas and Papas feel, if that group had gotten into some darker material. This song is drawn from their solid 2014 debut EP No Wonders. Their new album is Gentle Warnings and features a few tracks from the EP. Another solid song featured on both is “Secrets.”

Jack and Eliza website

Don Dixon and Marti Jones “Why, Why, Why”                                           If Don Dixon had only ever recorded the song “Most of the Girls Like to Dance (But Only Some of the Boys Do)” I would have been happy. But fortunately he has continued to record, sometimes with his very talented partner, Marti Jones. This song is from their joint 2011 album Living Stereo and features a great chorus that largely describes my marriage.

 Don Dixon and Marti Jones Facebook

Chris Corney “America”   Corney leads The Ravines, who have a great new album that I plan to write about soon. But this track is from his 2012 solo album, Airways Mansions. Though from Bedford, England, there is something very American to me about Corney’s sound. Too poppy to be Springsteen-esque and yet the song establishes its cinematic quality right from the start – you can see the montage rolling by: factories, dilapidated fences, old cars, etc.

Chris Corney website