Justin Larkin – No Gravestone
Genre: Blues, Americana, Alternative Rock
Similar artists: Tyler Childers, Chris Cornell, Sturgill Simpson, Shakey Graves, Allman Brothers, Gov’t Mule
It takes a whole lot of time to get good at anything. A time that most people don’t have, or can’t spare. Consequently few people become masters of anything. Let someone else sort those things out!
Punk-rock has done a lot for the world. Its ethos of “three-chords needed to start a band” has helped produce a lot of terrific music. But, it’s also made people question whether technical abilities are needed in rock music at all.
They’re not required, but it’s amazing when someone possesses them. Justin Larkin has the singing tone that thousands of novice singers will be chasing for a long time. He lends this vocal ability to the grungey, bluesy No gravestone, a track included on the album Nowhere Is a Place. It takes a long time to get really good at anything. Now that Justin Larkin has arrived at this place, shaping sound to his liking is all that’s important.
5 Dogs – Loverview
Genre: 90s Rock, Pop Rock
The worlds of sport and entertainment are full of What If stories. Beyond those, nobody really cares about wasted potential.
There are so many stories like this, in fact, that often the public forgets what’s in front of them. It usually takes some sort of tragedy, or a series of poor decisions for work to begin to be appreciated.
One of the greatest stories of this kind is Mother Love Bone, the uncrowned stadium pop grunge band. The sad death of Andrew Wood put an end to their ascendency. Still, friends of theirs, like Chris Cornell, would waste no interview in proclaiming their brilliance.
The Italian group 5 Dogs has a strange knack of sounding like the Seattle pompous rock group. Loverview is a large rock song complete with extended guitar solos, and attention-grabbing vocals. 5 Dogs are the stadium rock band we didn’t even know that we needed.
