BURN THIS / January 2015

1. Ben Howard "Rivers In Your Mouth"
2. Vance Joy "First Time"
3. Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors "Here We Go"
4. Shakey Graves "Dearly Departed"
5. JD McPherson "Bossy"
6. Benjamin Booker "Happy Homes"
7. The Revivalists "When I'm Able"
8. O.A.R. "Favorite Song"
9. SOJA "Tear It Down"
10. Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad "Whatever Cost"
11. Rebelution "Fade Away"
12. Blue King Brown "All Nations"
13. The Beautiful Girls "Until My Kingdom Comes"
14. Tristan Prettyman "Waves"
15. Guster "Never Coming Down"
16. Ray LaMontagne "Ojai"
17. Piers Faccini & Vincent Segal "Cradle To The Grave"
18. The Mattson 2 "Dif Juz"
19. Tommy Guerrero "The Lone Pistolero"
20. Adam Topol "Bumping At The Breakwater"

#reviewoftheweek / The Beautiful Girls - Dancehall Days

It's quite possible that the Beautiful Girls were never going to make another album. Well, that's no longer true, and this one picks up right where their last one left off. The cool thing about this album is it visits another era in the roots reggae history of the band's influences. If their groundbreaking and critically acclaimed album "Ziggurats" showed off their eighties reggae and heavy Police/Clash influences then this album brings the band's influences firmly into the late 80s and early 90s. There's a lot of synth and piano driven beats mixed with incredible lyricism throughout the entire album. Their love and influence of dancehall reggae is evident, not only by the album name and title track, but by several other songs as well. Aside from the excellence of the title track, the other standout on the album is "Until My Kingdom Comes," which leads off about a minute of piano and keyboard driven instrumental, leading into smooth vocals combined with funky horns. The Beautiful Girls have been breaking the mold since their debut release, and keep reinventing themselves and their sound, keeping fans on the edge of their seats wanting more. This album is both a welcome addition to their catalogue and cool reinvention of their signature sound.

BURN THIS / October 2014

1. The Beautiful Girls "Dancehall Days"
2. Angus & Julia Stone "Grizzly Bear"
3. Bahamas "Waves"
4. Lucius "Don't Just Sit There"
5. Jukebox The Ghost "The Great Unknown"
6. Walk The Moon "Shut Up And Dance"
7. Guster "Simple Machine"
8. Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes "Phantoms"
9. Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness "Cecilia And The Satellite"
10. Meiko "Be Mine"
11. Will Dailey "Castle Of Pretending"
12. The Jason Spooner Band "Fireflies"
13. Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers "Another Rolling Stone"
14. St. Paul & The Broken Bones "Half The City"
15. Ray LaMontagne "She's The One"
16. Vance Joy "Mess Is Mine"
17. Judah & The Lion "Scared"
18. The Barr Brothers "Half Crazy"
19. Wild Adriatic "Lonely"
20. Benjamin Booker "Have You Seen My Son?"

BURN THIS / June 2010

1. The Beautiful Girls "10:10"
2. Michael Franti & Spearhead "Shake It"
3. C-Money (featuring G. Love) "Arroz Con Pollo"
4. Dirty Heads "Sails To The Wind"
5. Iration "Let Me Inside"
6. Passafire "49th"
7. Timmy Curran "Swim"
8. Ry Cuming (featuring Sara Bareilles) "Always Remember Me"
9. Kai Brown "Moments Like This"
10. Justin Nozuka "My Heart Is Yours"
11. Pete Francis "Light Up My Day"
12. Josh Ritter "Southern Pacifica"
13. Good Old War "My Own Sinking Ship"
14. Griffin House "River City Lights"
15. Robert Francis "One By One"
16. JBM "Friends For Fireworks"
17. Ruarri Joseph "An Orchard For An Apple"
18. Angus & Julia Stone "Yellow Brick Road"
19. Xavier Rudd "Set Me Free"
20. The Cat Empire "Beyond All"

CD REVIEW: The Beautiful Girls "Spooks"

It's hard to follow up the best album of your career. The Beautiful Girls last album "Ziggurats" was one of the best reggae albums to have ever been recorded, combining their signature acoustic reggae sound with influences from The Clash and The Police, taking their game to a whole new level. Now that the have established themselves as incredible reggae musicians who make outstanding reggae music, they've had the task of coming up with a whole new collection, as good as the last. Their latest, "Spooks" may not have the sheer classic excellence of "Ziggurats," but it is an outstanding album just the same. This time the guys have pulled together a sound that builds off of their previous album, and dives more into a bit of dancehall reggae. The entire album features a horn section from the instrumental title track opener to the bouncy "Rockers! (Downtown Upstyling)." Female vocalist Vida Sunshyne makes a guest appearance on the single "10:10," the album's definitive standout, as well as "Gratitude." "Don't Wait" and "Running" are both classic hard rocking reggae, and The Beautiful Girls have proven that they have mastered and can record any and all styles of reggae. With each new album The Beautiful Girls continue to amaze with their creativity, authenticity, and energy, and on "Spooks" they take their music in a direction that will only further expand their fanbase and satisfy their loyal fans.

New Release Tuesday

New releases out today worth checking out:

• The Beautiful Girls - Spooks
• Todd Carey - After The Morning After
• Stone Temple Pilots - Stone Temple Pilots
• Truth & Salvage Co. - Truth & Salvage Co.
• Keller Williams & The Keels - Thief

BURN THIS / January 2010

1. Samantha Stollenwerck "Oblivious"
2. John Butler Trio "One Way Road"
3. The Beautiful Girls "Don't Wait"
4. State Radio "Calling All Crows"
5. Passafire "Here In Front Of Me"
6. Trevor Hall "Volume"
7. Mike Doughty "Pleasure On Credit"
8. Bob Schneider "Tarantula"
9. Carbon Leaf "Mexico"
10. Still Time "Old Soul"
11. Rob Drabkin "Little Steps"
12. Jon And Roy "Another Noon"
13. Barefoot Truth "Damage Done"
14. Piers Faccini "A Storm Is Going To Come"
15. Angus & Julia Stone "And The Boys"
16. Kings Of Convenience "Boat Behind"
17. Ben Howard "Cloud Nine"
18. Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard "California Zephyr"
19. Coconut Records "The Summer"
20. The Drums "Let's Go Surfing"