If good radio could clean up the nation we’d be making a start here. Sound salvation? It could be, it’s whatever works for you. Today’s crew help out by offering many routes to the same good place.

Jeremy Messersmith’s new LP Fox/Coyote is all about ambience. Take opening cut “Billionaires” as a case in point. Its hypnotic slow-shuffle buffets a sweet-mellow pop vibe. It’s like you’re floating above all those tawdry economic conflicts going on below. “Boomers” is cut from the same stylistic cloth and further develops Messersmith’s populist economic critique. More hummable than Marx’s Capital that’s for sure. “Huckleberry” completes this urban pop triptych. The sonic atmosphere is akin to anything you might hear on the charts but still retains some semblance of melody. “Stallions” also fits into this dreamy pop milieu. From there the album starts to take a turn, back to more familiar Messersmith curio song stylings. “I Don’t Trust That Boy” puts the guitar and a twisted lyrical sense back front and centre. “Spiral Bound” has to resonate with any progressive politically-aware American these days. The album also sees Messersmith auditioning to be somebody’s boyfriend in his trademark droll, sad sack way on tracks like “Rainy Day Boyfriend,” “Lucky Number” and “The View.” And “Nothing At All” has great advice for world-wrecking tech bros everywhere. Favourite cut? It would have to be “Can’t Get Out Of My Own Way” with its Beatles ’67 meets ELO aura. My advice is spend some time with Fox/Coyote – it’s a dose of what’s right in American independent music today.

Imagine if those kids from theatre camp started a band. Now listen to Boys Go to Jupiter. It’s like you’ve been dropped into some manic musical, but without all the dance routines. Second album Now You’re a Circle takes up where the band left off on Meet Me After Practice with more big and bold numbers. Opening cut “Sunshine (Never Trust Anyone Named Jeanette)” has a 1970s Jeff Lynne sense of spectacle, with just a touch of disco strings. Actually I can totally see this as big Broadway staged production. From there the tempo shifts into smooth pop on “Wake Up Layla” and “Do It Over.” Then “Flying Machine” comes out of nowhere with its enticing mix of acoustic instruments and harmony vocals. “Revenge Tour” is like one of those second act songs where the lead’s best friend does some truth telling. Then I imagine “Handstand” is the sweet melancholic summer’s end goodbye from that girl in the Beach Boys’ “Girl Don’t Tell Me” (she really meant to write). The album closer is an emotional powerhouse where “The Rules of You” sees vocalist Jess Kantorowitz channeling a Joni Mitchell-esque tenderness. Trust me, a spin or two of Now You’re a Circle will make you a believer that lasts into the run-out groove.

A master doesn’t have to step on the gas pedal quite so much to get where he’s going. That’s Robert Ellis Orrall – songwriter, performer, producer, hit-maker, and then some. You can hear what I’m talking about all through the title track of his new LP Wonderland. It’s an understated masterpiece, grand and sparely delivered all at the same time. Then with “Brand New Me” and “I’m Coming With You” we steer into a familiar AM radio pop groove. “Carol Ann” departs from the formula, adding an ominous undercurrent to its radio friendly hooks. Orrall’s arranging skills come to fore on this LP. He really knows how to dress a song. Listen to how he drapes both “I Disappear” and “Underground” with alluring guitar lines. It’s easy to hear how both “When Will You Love Me Again” and “Where Do We Go From Here?” could be larger-than-life hits for any number of artists but I like Orrall’s even tempered 1980s treatments. This is really apparent on “I’m Only Me (When I’m With You),” a song that practically begs to be big and dramatic but Orrall keeps it low-key and pretty, only upping the punch slightly in the chorus. The record ends with “End Title Song,” an amusing tip of the hat to all those songs that run out over the movie credits. Wonderland really reminds me how much I’ve been missing this kind of performance.

Imagine your favourite 45 year old band returned with a new album and it sounds as fresh and inspired as their early work. That’s what you’re gonna get with The Krayolas new LP Barbed Wire. Ok, only six tunes here are new but the mix of old and new just makes my point – everything here is quality tune-age. The record rocks in a number of styles: very Stonesy on title track “Barbed Wire Road,” more swamp rock blues a la George Thorogood with “Long Leaf Pine,” and turning to a 12 bar vamp on “Goose Is Cooked (Yakety Song).” But folk styles fill out a great deal of the record too, from the harmonica-laden Dylanesque “Hurtin’ Me Baby” to the more English folk feel of “Bird Don’t Fly Away” and “Does She Know.” “Deceiver” switches gears again, reminding us of the band’s strengths with mid 1960s pop motifs. “Exit Saleda” closes things out with a strong Mexicali flavour, featuring Augie Myers and Flaco Jiminez. What a band! And they’re promising a whole LP of new material sometime in 2027.

Well we’ve filled out a few more inches on the reel-to-reel. Take your pick and tune in more closely to whatever sounds like salvation to you with the hyperlinks provided.

Photo courtesy Joe Haupt Flikr collection.