Delaney & Bonnie and Friends - Motel Shot: 7 (B+)

# blues rock [at least 4 listens]

Jon Langford & Skull Orchard - Here Be Monsters: 8.5 (high A-)

The Mekons - Ancient & Modern: 8 (A-)

The Bottle Rockets - South Broadway Athletic Club: 8 (A-)

The Bottle Rockets - Studio albums as of 2015: batch review

In preparation for seeing the band live tonight, on tour for the new one (see adjacent review), I took the opportunity to revisit their entire catalog. In checking to see how my assessments compared with those of others, I found a lack of reviews. Here's how I would rate them though:

8 (A-) - Bottle Rockets (1993)

10 (A+) - The Brooklyn Side (1994)

8 (A-) - 24 Hours a Day (1997)

7 (B+) - Brand New Year (1999)

7 (B+) - Songs of Sahm (2002)

7 (B+) - Blue Sky (2003)

8 (A-) - Zoysia (2006)

8 (A-) - Lean Forward (2009)

8 (A-) - South Broadway Athletic Club (2015)

7 (B+) - Bit Logic (2018)

As you can see, in my view, their only completely undeniable album is The Brooklyn Side, which I consider to be essential. Most of their other studio albums are strong, although perhaps a little samey. In any event, the only alt-country band that I am behind. Basically, I love them. Update (September 2025): One day I will get around to giving each of these albums the individual posts they deserve, and maybe tweak the grades slightly to fit my new grading system. Most likely this would result in slight upward revision.

Blaqstarr - Divine EP: 7 (B+)

Sold back - probably more of a "liked." Not sure how Christgau gave this a full A. Hull gives it an A minus and files it under Techno/Electronica. # electronica [at least 4 listens]