Hard of Hearing podcast launches in less than a month!

So a podcast. I can barely keep up with a blog.

I broached the idea of a podcast with Shelby after he shut down his Shifted Sound podcast last year. I had a little more time, and I liked what Shelby was doing.

So we talked back and forth and came up with a idea. A podcast, maybe once every two weeks, where we kind of banter a bit, a little trash talk, and we each get three songs. You get a fun podcast that didn't mean Shelby sifting through tons of music each and every week. And I'd pick up a some of the editing and what not (with his help).

He was sold.

So around the end of February, we'll launch Hard of Hearing: Independent Music for Adults. What that means is less snark, and probably more effusiveness for the music we like. Shelby and I have different tastes, but over the past four years we've tipped each other to some pretty awesome bands. It'll rely on feedback from you, there will be an interactive element to the show. But it will evolve and be an interesting experiment.

Hope you'll subscribe and listen. And feel free to drop me a comment telling me what you'd like to hear.

What We're Listening To - Ponderosa's Moonlight Revival

There's so much to like on the Ponderosa's Moonlight Revival, it kinda hurts when it hits its low points. Luckily those few low points are bolstered by enough southern rock swagger to bring back Ronnie Van Zant.

Very firmly paying homage to the Allmans and Skynyrd, Ponderosa also sound a lot like Whiskeytown, early Kings of Leon, and labelmates Old 97s. Which means your getting a lot of songs unabashedly about being young, falling in and out love, chasing girls and drinking. The songs are loose, like they've been played live plenty of times, and the band knows where it's going.

It works a lot of times. On the white boy soul-burning ballad Hold On You, lead singer Kalen Nash is puts every inch of his voice into it. I imagine live, this nearly five-minute diddy gets taken out for a 10 minute Freebird-esque walk. Old Gin Road is raucous and fun, a romp about trying to leave a small town. But the slower, darker songs (Girl I've Ever Seen, Broken Heart) just seem to get in the way of the party here. But there's still fun to be had all over (Pretty People, Devil On My Shoulder), and the band jams so well, it's makes the whole album an easy listen.

But for a debut, it's pretty remarkable. I wish it was a little warmer so I could blast it and drink beer on my porch.

Get Ponderosa's Moonlight Revival at Amazon's mp3 Store

Singled Out - The Rural Alberta Advantage's Stamp

"The hardest thing about this love is that you're never coming back."

The Rural Alberta Advantage, one of our favorite bands of 2009, rip and roar through their new single Stamp. I'm hoping this track is indicative of their new album (Departing, on Saddle Creek 3/1). Lyrics about lost love, Nils Edenloff's haunting vocals, AND THOSE FUCKING DRUMS. Man, those drums sold me on the first album, and they are selling me on this track.

This song is big for just three minutes. And as fast as it starts, it's over. Enjoy the ride by hitting repeat.

You can pick up the track in exchange for your email address at Saddle Creek's site.