Brown Horse
Total Dive
(Loose)
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

WHILE the grain silos on the album cover bring to mind images of the US Midwest, for some it will be towns in the east of England like Diss. And therein lies the interesting musical and cultural space inhabited by Norwich-based alt-country band Brown Horse.

Slimmed down to a four-piece, on their third album they deliver the goods, and then some. This is big music, full of grungy, distorted guitars, echoing the early Son Volt records, made for what the press release calls “wide Norfolk skies.” On the opening lines of Watching Something Burn Up leadsinger Patrick Turner seems to transform into Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder.

With the music often veering into hard rock, there is a terrific excitement to the set. I wonder, though, if a different producer might let the songs breathe a little more?

Johnny Blue Skies & The Dark Clouds
Mutiny After Midnight
(High Top Mountain)
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

I CAN’T think of another other musician who is moving as fast and to such interesting places as Sturgill Simpson.

The Kentucky-born singer-songwriter has released albums of cosmic country, bluegrass, and anime-themed hard-driving psychedelic rock. In 2024 he started releasing records as Johnny Blues Skies, which brings us to Mutiny After Midnight, perhaps best described as his country funk record.

Channelling Prince, the set foregrounds getting it on, apparently with his wife of many years. Opener Make America Fuk Again sets the tone, with the funky as hell Situation full of lines like “Your body’s hotter than a brothel in Guam” (Simpson was in the US navy).

The rambling anti-Trump closer Ain’t That A Bitch finds him musing about oligarchs threatening democracy, “babies in cages,” being tortured and, er, flying to Mars with Katy Perry.

A wild ride.

The Sophs
Goldstar
(Rough Trade)
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

A NEW Rough Trade signing, the six young guys from Los Angeles have created a monster debut that’s likely to turn quite a few heads.

I guess they are a guitar band, but what’s noticeable is just how varied the set is, with songs often taking several turns.

There’s a magpie-like sense of stealing from lots of great music. Blitzed Again ends with a Devotchka-style Gypsy knees-up, while the galloping Sweetiepie suggests frontman and lyricist Ethan Ramon is a huge fan of the album I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning by Bright Eyes.

Elsewhere the intense spoken word They Told Me Jump, I Said How High bizarrely includes a line about killing Benjamin Netanyahu, along with references to Joan Didion, Colin Powell and a “stimulated cock.”

Unpredictable and full of youthful angst, it’s an exciting musical and emotional rush.

On tour in Britain until April 22: see thesophs.com.