Brian Fallon
Not Bad For New Jersey
(Lesser Known)
★★★★☆

EXCEPTING his last album, a set of traditional hymns, New Jersey’s Brian Fallon has long followed his chosen path of Springsteenesque heartland rock with some punk and soul thrown in for good measure.

His new record sticks to this winning formula. Rushing out of the speakers, these are songs of devotion and heartache, brimming with street poetry and life, and death-level emotional highs and lows. The influence of The Boss circa 1975-85 can’t be overstated — just listen to the intro to The Big Sleep. 

Fallon also mentions his passion for radio hits like Bryan Adams’ Run to You, which makes sense when you hear the shout-a-long anthem Better Before and Ramones tribute Nobody Likes You In NYC.

With a little help from friends including Brandon Flowers and Lori McKenna, Fallon is back to what he does best.

Antony Szmierek
Decoding Birdsong
(Mushroom Music)
★★★★★

HAVING released his debut album last year, it feels like Manchester’s Antony Szmierek is about to be propelled into the big time with Decoding Birdsong.

The dancey beats and talk/singing sound like the back end of a night out with The Streets and the band Real Lies. But Szmierek has his own special sauce — he started out as a writer, and his often philosophical lyrics arguably have a depth and originality that evades his peers. 

The idea of a heron as a kind of spiritual teacher, along with a recent break-up, are just two threads on the record. Elsewhere the movie Magnolia and the TV show Aussie Gold Hunters are name checked.

And many of the choruses are mass singalong ready — from single Seminal to the melancholic banger of a title track.

A great British songwriter is born.

Hollow Hand
Wish Road South
(Loose)
★★★★☆

LEANING heavily into droning British electric folk artists like Fairport Convention, Wish Road South’s opening track feels like a red herring. The rest of the new album from Hollow Hand — AKA Brighton’s Max Kinghorn-Mills — is full of classic-sounding indie rock.

The Modern Lovers, Violent Femmes and Lou Reed are mentioned as influences, though it’s the Beatles circa 1965 I often hear. Specifically an American slackerish feel on tracks like Drinking With Judy and Here Are The Tulips, no doubt deepened after supporting the current talk of the town, MJ Lenderman. “Went to my job, it’s a waste of time,” Kinghorn-Mills sings on Black Metal Corpse Paint, which precedes a track called I Turned My Back On The World.

Fresh and assured, with an appealing sonic and emotional range, Wish Road South rocks quite nicely and is rather good.