I’ve packed on pandemic pounds. I barely even qualify as Kansas City skinny. The party’s over. The lavish buffet and open bar in my home are closed until I lose 20 pounds. Two months of gnawing hunger and tormenting thirst should reduce me to hard-won scrawniness by April Fools’ Day. Until then, expect me to be crankier than usual. Unpopular opinions on five recent releases I wouldn’t consider publishing on a full stomach follow.
*Emmet Cohen- Future Stride
Jazz’s latest whiz kid is a canny traditionalist.
*Foo Fighters- Medicine at Midnight
The differences between Foo Fighters and Nickelback are so marginal that they’re practically the same band.
*Lucero- When You Found Me
A once-vital sound is entirely played out.
*Arlo Parks- Collapsed in Sunbeams
Watery chicken soup for delicate listeners allergic to grit and spice.
*The Weather Station- Ignorance
A fine tribute to Everything but the Girl.