A long time favourite Two Cow Garage has a new album Brand New Flag out on Last Chance Records (USA) and soon on At The Helm Records (UK). I was a little bit disappointed with the previous one The Death of the Self Preservation Society, but I’m definitely back on board now and probably should revisit the previous one with my current set of ears (I might have been an ignorant feel then and in the end it’s just as great as this new one or Sweet Saint Me for example). Anyway, the new one is just brilliant. The lead track Let The Boys Be Girls is quite an anthem and it ruled my world a year ago. It still sounds absolutely wonderful and the rest of the album is also capable fullfilling the skyhigh expectations that were set by that first outtake.

Two Cow Garage is a hard working American band from Columbus, Ohio. It’s led buy Micah Schnabel and Shane Sweeney, but it’s not just their show. Two Cow Garage is a very tight 4-piece rock’n’roll band and I hope I get to see them live one day. I’m kind of keeping my hopes up that Frank Turner takes these guys with him on a Northern Europe tour and Two Cow Garage ends up playing in Finland. When it comes to songwriting, I’ve been a bit more of a Micah guy up until now. I’m still a huge Micah fan, but Shane is on damn good form on the new record and has reached the same level of brilliance as Micah. That’s why this feels like the best Two Cow Garage album yet. Both guys are on top of their game and the band blasts these gorgeous songs into my heart. Here’s a couple of fantastic tracks from the new and magnificent Two Cow Garage album Brand New Flag. I wanted to post like a half of the record, because there’s so many should-be hits on this one and I’m afraid I almost did do that. Sorry about that. This record is just too damn good and I got little carried away.

Two Cow Garage Website

I’m finally listening to Shuyler Jansen’s 2016 album The Long Shadow that came out very early in the year on Big White Cloud Records. I’ve been meaning to get the vinyl, but that hasn’t materialized. Therefore I bought the download for now, so I can get familiar with its beauty before it’s time to start pointlessly ranking the 2016 albums in order. Even after just a day of listening, it’s pretty safe to say that this will be on those year-end lists that I’ll write in December. I’ve been really missing out, because I haven’t been listening to such a great album for the past ten months.

Shuyler Jansen is a Canadian songwriter and The Long Shadow is his fourth solo album. My expectations were sky high after his fabulous concert at Bar Kuka where he was supporting fellow Canadian mastermind Ryan Boldt. The Long Shadow is a beautiful sonic adventure that keeps on revealing new layers with each listening session. At one moment, I end up in the west coast country rock circles that makes think of things like Dillard & Clark (We Were So Young) and a while later I’m mesmerized by magnificent folk songs, experimental pop beauties or even dreamy psych-rock bits and pieces. Somehow it still doesn’t feel like it’s all over the place and it works as a whole album. Perhaps Shuyler’s awesome singing is the glue that holds it together. I’ve been listening to this for about ten hours during the past two days and I’m addicted. A damn fine record. You’ll find a couple of songs below, but you really should listen to the whole thing.

Shuyler Jansen Website