Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers

If you’re looking for sizzling summer blues with a touch of Americana and rock n’ roll harmonies, Molly Hanmer and the Midnight Tokers have you covered in their single “Fool’s Run,” the first from their highly anticipated album Stuck in a Daydream. The Los Angeles based indie band have already captured the hearts of critics with their stunningly organic approach to making richly textured melodies, and now they’ve set their sights on international chart domination and produced a single that is more than capable of generating a segue. I’ve always said that first impressions are everything, and even though I had never listened to Molly Hanmer or her Midnight Tokers prior to “Fool’s Run,” you can bet that I’ll be listening to everything they release in the future.

2018 has been a pretty unconventional year for pop music. We’ve seen a major spike in surrealism’s influence over pop, rock and hip-hop, and we’ve seen a steady migration of country fans over to the folkie/Americana scene at a pace that is starting to make Nashville really worried. Molly Hanmer and the Midnight Tokers are a part of a pretty recent trend within indie rock that fuses the ethics of punk rock and DIY with the sonic experimentalism of psychedelia and the stripped down song structures of folk and traditional blues. “Fool’s Run” is one of the more exciting songs I’ve heard out of what many of my contemporaries are calling the neo-Americana movement, and I could actually see Molly Hanmer being a good ambassador of its style.

Stringing together poignant lyrics with an elegantly restrained vocal from Hanmer, “Fool’s Run” does one thing better than any other song I’ve reviewed this year; it doesn’t try to be something it’s not. There isn’t any ridiculous added vibrato or manipulated walls of sound to prop up the song more than its actual chords do. There’s an earnest quality to its arrangement, almost as if to suggest that we’re listening to a backyard jam somewhere rather than to a studio album, and rather than coming off as amateurish, we feel like we’re being treated to an intimate performance where there’s nothing between us and the band themselves. It’s a transcendent, refreshing listening experience in contrast to anything that their closest competitors have come up with lately.

There’s still plenty of room for this band to grow into their sound a little more and define their identity a little more clearly, but judging from the tenacity and self-control that Moller Hanmer and the Midnight Tokers demonstrate in “Fool’s Run,” I think that it’s safe for us to assume that this is just the beginning of what is certain to be a very successful, accomplished career. At this stage of the game virtually anything is possible for them, and the fact that they’re already cutting tracks that are as vividly stylized and attractively produced as this one speaks volumes about where they stand to go over the course of the next five or ten years. I’ll be keeping an eye on them, and I’m positive that I won’t be the only one.

"Watch the Video for Fool's Run" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCeu2kJMkis

Photo credit: Dave Clancy.

Mindy McCall - No Depression - Mindy McCall

November 11, 2018
Americana, Music, Reviews
MOLLY HANMER AND THE MIDNIGHT TOKERS – STUCK IN A DAYDREAM



Based out of Los Angeles, Molly Hanmer’s new recording with The Midnight Tokers in tow solidifies her reputation as one of the best singers/interpreters working the indie scene today. Stuck in a Daydream features a dozen songs of superior skill and quality and never panders for listener’s attention. Instead, stylishness and gravitas combine with immense musicality to bring this release together and it easily rates as one of the most satisfying releases I’ve heard in 2018.

The romping opener “Take a Walk With Me” practically has a punk rock edginess to it and the juxtaposition of Hanmer’s emotional voice against The Midnight Toker’s relentless energy is quite a thing to hear. Producer Marvin Etzioni does an exceptional job balancing the competing sonic elements of the song without ever favoring one facet over the other, but yet Hanmer’s voice draws you in from the first. “Real Love”, the album’s second track, is much more laid back in comparison and its earnest sentiments shine through in every line. The loose, relaxed groove hit on by The Midnight Tokers makes this one a keeper as well.

We explore much bluesier territory with the third cut “Fool’s Run (Different Song)”. Hanmer’s voice doesn’t hint at potential grit in the aforementioned tracks but, here, she unleashes – and it satisfies while still conforming to the same sensitivity we heard from those first two numbers. The guitar work is particularly tasty and the harmonica entering into the track during its second half more than hits the right note. The album’s title song, “Stuck in a Daydream”, has a much more acoustic bent than we’ve heard from the first three songs mentioned, but the melodic shift is welcome and sounds part and parcel with everything we’ve heard so far. The electric guitar flourishes along the way are particularly effective.

The Hammond organ fueled shuffle of “Come Back” links up quite well with Keith Palmer’s drumming and a strong acoustic jangle. It’s another energetic charger and holds up well under multiple listens. The opener’s punky energy returns for “Outlaw Blues” and it’s difficult, if not impossible, to ignore the first take charisma behind this number. It’s an unlikely Dylan cover hailing from his halcyon sixties work, but Hanmer never treats it too reverentially. “Drag You Along” isn’t the cheeriest tune, but the understated near jazz inflections of it lure you in and never weigh on listeners.

The muted finale, “Mama’s In the Spirit World Now”, is equally chilling, yet considered. The plain spoken language of its lyrical content will make you take notice, but it never strains for effect. Molly Hanmer and the Midnight Tokers have successfully collaborated to produce one of the year’s best releases, any genre – Stuck in a Daydream has immense melodic merits, but the intelligence underlying the writing is undeniable as well. It also shows more than a capability to rock out with abandon while still never failing to impress listeners with its musicianship. Highly recommended and not a dud in the lot. - Too Much Love Magazine - John McCall

Molly Hanmer and The Midnight Tokers offer a lively, rich take on the Americana tradition with the release Stuck in a Daydream while avoiding any hints of imitation or filler. The dozen songs included on the release range from surprisingly punky minimalist arrangements into outright blues and singer/songwriter fare pared down to the essentials and never chancing self indulgence. Hanmer has experienced a number of personal struggles in her recent history and we hear some of that invested in these songs, but her melodic gifts work exceptionally well with the Midnight Tokers and never risk dragging down a listener’s mood.

The aforementioned rugged punk energy is apparent with the album’s first tune. “Take a Walk With Me” fits in well with the album’s overarching Americana vibe, but it also rampages more than you’d expect and has the added bonus of bringing that musical energy together with a singer who can more than carry a tune. One of my personal favorites on the release, “Fool’s Run (Different Song)” has some knowing bitterness running through its lyrics, but the music is quite soulful and melodic and you can’t help but be impressed by how thoroughly Hanmer inhabits the lyric.

BANDCAMP: https://mollyhanmertokers.bandcamp.com/album/stuck-in-a-daydream

The authoritative drumming bringing “Old Number Seven” to life is soon joined with some jagged electric guitar, but John Bird’s keyboard work is very effective as well. The straight forward charge of the material contrasts well with the upper register qualities of Hanmer’s voice and her relish tackling the words is palpable. The starkly titled “Love Song” promises delicacy and delivers. The melody present in the guitar is quite nice, but Hanmer punctuates it with a deeply felt vocal enveloped with just enough smoke to lend it added atmosphere. It makes for quite a moment on the release and proves she and The Midnight Tokers are aiming for a broad based stylistic plate with this release.

The trio of tracks beginning with the album’s title song, rolling through the blues drenched “Come Back”, and concluding with an improbable Dylan cover of “Outlaw Blues” is another highlight on the release. The title song is cut from similar acoustic cloth as the earlier “Love Son”, albeit spiked with some other elements, while “Come Back” introduces some fiery organ playing from Bird and “Outlaw Blues” sounds gloriously off the cuff. “Dead Happy”, the album’s second to last track, revisits the organ with spectacular results and the musical playfulness emanating from the track will win over many. Stuck in a Daydream is an unusually vibrant work, never treating retro elements like butterflies pinned under glass but, instead, refurbishing these sounds for a new day and generation. Hanmer is more than just a good singer; she lives the drama and fun of these songs for us vividly and the band more than complements her inspired take on the album’s twelve songs. If you love Americana and blues with its own identity, you will find yourself revisiting this album on a regular basis without any measurable disappointment. It’s a real winner. - Gashouse Radio - Sebastian Cole

I don’t care much for albums with an inordinate amount of polish. Too often musicians working in the Americana vein will opt for glossy over authentic, but you don’t get any of that with Molly Hanmer. Her vocal and musical skills are unquestionable, but she also clearly pushes herself to dig as deep into a song as she can and isn’t afraid to put herself on the line. The opener to her Stuck in a Daydream album with the Midnight Tokers, “Take a Walk with Me”, has an unexpectedly rugged edge, but it’s mucho convincing. You can hear Hanmer’s passion boiling over in every line and the interplay between her and the band is fantastic.



That earlier mentioned authenticity comes through most strongly in the album’s third song “Fool’s Run (Different Song)”, but she expands its possibilities hitting a note of heartache any listener will appreciate. The payoff lines for this tune are just dandy and she never overplays them, just stressing the right emotional key to bring listeners deeper into the experience. “Old Number Seven” returns to territory she attacked so successfully with the album opener and she brings an additional amount of kick ass to this verging on rock. She pulls back the reins with the tender track “Love Song”, but dismiss any leanings towards cliché out of your mind – this is first class adult material with a hard won perspective and the musical acumen to back it up.



TWITTER: https://twitter.com/mollyhanmer?lang=en



John Bird’s organ work really sets the track “Come Back” on fire and the near blues shuffle push engages you physically while the lyrics are equally potent. She conjures up a strong Dylan cover with the little known “Outlaw Blues” from his Bringing It All Back Home album and deserves major props for renovating it to her style rather than lapsing into a tired Dylan imitation. The production is a particular strong suit here as well. “Drag You Along” affected me deeply – her unflinching look at life’s hardest questions is accompanied by first class musical backing and she gives herself totally over to the lyric.



“Worker’s Lament” has a lovely retro sound thanks to its accordion, but never sounds too removed from our modern experience. The lyrics have a number of surprising turns, as well, and Hanmer embraces them from the first line, throwing herself unreservedly into even the harmony vocal parts. It’s a great track to precede the clear musical fun of “Dead Happy” and the staccato guitar work counterpoints her melodic strengths very well. We are treated to a final surprise with the last song “Mama’s in the Spirit World Now”, a song that alternates between regret and truth, and has a lean arrangement clearly fitting her emotive talents as a singer. Molly Hanmer ends Stuck in a Daydream on a graceful, challenging note and it makes for one of the more involving listening experiences I’ve enjoyed this year. Let’s hope she collaborates more with The Midnight Tokers in the near future because I’m sure they could produce more works on par or bettering this outstanding full length album.

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/album/1zvyro62d18wEUrckaR2UA

YANDEX: https://music.yandex.ru/album/5931325 - NeuFutur - Kim Muncie

Molly Hanmer is a survivor; LA’s up and coming singer-songwriter has been through some of the highest highs and lowest lows over the years, including the passing of her mother, who tragically died. I’m always amazed by the willpower it takes to triumph such horrible events. Hanmer channels all of these powerful emotions into her music, as she and her band The Midnight Tokers’ roll out a varied, powerful rock/country/blues/folk LP in Stuck in a Daydream.
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4LfEA4gKJYTuB2fQVnleJA?si=GBZ6sv-5SHWeKs5_0cllhw
Rough and tumble opener “Take a Walk with Me” sees Molly ripping into Joplin’s snarl but finding grace where Janis would have roared out every word. There’s a perfect balance between aggression and smooth, fluid grooving here with rockabilly bass lines, Keith Palmer’s cracking snare drums and a dueling acoustic/electric guitar bravado blaring throughout. Some beatnik organ melodies only further the 60s charm of the music, though Hanmer and the Tokers are more attack than psyche-out on this tune. “Real Love” crawls into existence on a growly bass guitar riff with countrified/blues licks coming into play alongside a smattering of piano twinkles. The mood here is playful and teasing with a swirling 70s sense felt in every flickering lead guitar sting and Molly’s breathy, crooning vocals. Kicking up a similar dust-storm “Fool’s Run (Different Song)” relies on smoldering, sizzling amplified fuzz that supports a stream of conscious like vocalizing and stomping dirt road madness.
FACEBOOK: https://b-m.facebook.com/MollyHanmerMusic/
“Old Number Seven” lays into a cabaret sort of rock n’ roll blues with a waltzing tempo getting some slick treatment by the organ and the glistening, melody-intensive vocals. Everything keeps to this nice mid-pace that allows each hook to ebb and breathe within the structure of the song. “Love Song” and the title track make for an engrossing, largely acoustic pair; the former being a cascading, skyward-bent folk tune while the latter sinks into some meatier country n’ blues vibes, all the while Hanmer’s voice reaches for and hits every highest crescendo peak. Whether she’s burning down into a huskier lower register or going up the note, she sounds great doing it.
Ripping into a punchy electric guitar lick, a few Manzarek-tinged keyboard leads and a jangly rhythmic grind, “Come Back” is a low key, affectionately pleasing rocker that’s one of the album’s best cuts. It’s a far cry (and proof positive that this is an eclectic album) from the immediately following mariachi horns and Dodge City swing of “Outlaw Blues.” I daresay there’s a hint of Marty Robbins to be found here. Elsewhere, “Drag You Along” is dark n’ jazzy and has a hint of lounging jazz in its confines, “Worker’s Lament” piles on authentic acoustic country flavors, “Dead Happy” oddly and wonderfully sounds like a combination of funk rock with a touch of the first 3 Deep Purple’s (the funky organ bringing that thought to mind) and closer “Mama’s in the Spirit World Now” is an appropriate finale full of distant organ howls, plaintive melodic vocals, and tender acoustic guitar.
Stuck in a Daydream jettisons Molly Hanmer out into the public eye, placing her gorgeous, unique rock n’ roll for all of the world to see. There’s not one bad song here and her and her band’s focus combining together so many different styles of music is immaculate. Anyone that has a taste for the blues, country music up to the late 70s stuff, wandering old school folks and beyond should find a great album to enjoy with Stuck in a Daydream.
BANDCAMP: https://mollyhanmertokers.bandcamp.com/album/stuck-in-a-daydream
by Lori Reynolds
*A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Molly Hanmer was herself, a cancer survivor. - Vents Magazine

Stuck in a Daydream, by LA based Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers, is a well-crafted and exuberant debut album featuring the excellent Molly Hanmer herself. It takes you through 12 tracks that don’t exactly stick to the Americana script, if there even is one. Hanmer has a way of putting her own stamp on whatever style she’s playing, and the band playing along just the same, but it’s mostly Americana, Roots and Blues music with a strong folk swagger which leaves room for all kinds of possibilities in the songs which deliver a lighthearted track list of catchy stories and lovely tunes.

BANDCAMP: https://mollyhanmertokers.bandcamp.com/album/stuck-in-a-daydream

They kick off with “Take A Walk With Me” to get things grooving and it’s both a mid-tempo and occasionally rocking track. Hanmer’s playful vocals are what carry most of the charm, but the players tend to follow in the same fashion for a cohesively good opener. The band really-back her up well and that continues throughout the album. These are all excellent musicians, including Keith Palmer – Drums, Percussion, Vocals

John Bird – Organ, Piano, Wurlitzer, Vocals, Bryce Abood – Bass Guitar, Upright Bass, Vocals. With Guest Musicians: Marvin Etzioni, David Ralicke, Ashley Jarmack and James Fearnley on various instruments.

“Real Love” is one of my favorites from the album, not only is it one of the catchiest tracks, it comes off as honest as good music gets. A song you can’t find anything about isn’t easy to come by, but this is a little slice of perfection if you’ve ever heard it. Just a contagiously brilliant song, nothing more and nothing less, but the whole album does follow the same charm, it’s just an early stand out number in the set for me. I could use a stack up album’s worth of such magic, and that is putting it lightly. If it were up to me, this could be an obvious choice for a radio-ready single.

The album is full of excellent tracks as they just keeping coming on strong with stuff like “Fools Run (Different Song), which is one of the epic moments with so much going on it’s not easy to describe other than to say it’s more of the same but completely different, as the title suggests. Hanmer doesn’t hesitate to draw you in and simply keep you there for the duration with everything from her great skills to her sense of humor being all she needs. This track also includes some very gritty harmonica fills that help keep it loose, but otherwise it is a masterstroke altogether.

PRIMARY URL: http://www.mollyhanmer.com/

Other moments include “Old Number Seven” with quite the drinking song appeal to it, and another one of the stand out tracks “Love Song” which runs an entire 7 minutes. Hanmer and CO also get playful with tracks like “Outlaw Blues” with its vintage sound and great storytelling style lyrics. And there’s “Dead Happy” which is remarkably contagious in-its own right, with way more positive vibes in the subject matter than not. They even manage break pop barriers in the process of this fantastic release which closes with the beauty of “Mama’s In The Spirit World Now.” Top marks to Molly Hanmer and everyone involved.

Mindy McCall - IndiePulse Magazine

Here is a google drive link with our top of the chart ratings for our newly released tracks "Come Back", and "Dead Happy". -

LA-based Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers have shared the title track from their highly-anticipated sophomore LP with the single “Get Loose.” Written during the peak of the pandemic and throughout the social upheavel that we’ve faced as a country over the last year, “Get Loose” is a potently bluesy anthem that sees Hanmer and company moving beyond the Americana-psychedelica that infected their songs on previous releases.

Picking up her dad’s Lyle Dove guitar at just six-years-old, by the time she was thirteen she was hooked and her dad had hired local guitar instructor Robert McNamara to teach her. From there her influences grew to include Bob Dylan, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Jackie Greene; she even remembers the moment she heard “Hard Rain” by Dylan for the first time as a freshman in high-school.

Silvana Estrada The Ford
After cutting her teeth with solo gigs in San Francisco and Monterey, a chance encounter led to a kindred friendship with music industry professional turned psychotherapist Claudia Miles. The two became close writing partners and Miles eventually encouraged her to move to Los Angeles, where she released her Ireland trip inspired debut EP On My Way and her freshman album Stuck in a Daydream.

On “Get Loose,” Hanmer struts with her smokey croon, shaking the dust from her hair to the cathartic grumble of woozy riffs and tumbling drum rolls. “Come on and get loose,” she invites with her droning wail — a sincere call to wake up to the priceless value on being alive, healthy, and able to lose yourself to the music. “Get Loose” follows the previously released “Sick of Me,” another raucous rock track that grinds away with Hanma’s now signature unbridled passion, with both promising that the upcoming album will be no less boisterous than the last.

Jaws of Love Residency silverlake lounge
Grimy Goods Presents
“‘Get Loose’ is our carpe diem song. The pandemic woke us up to the value of being alive. And this single is a reminder to savor that, to open our hearts and minds, to break the so-called rules. Carpe Diem, dance as if no-one is watching sort of thing.”

Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers’ sophomore album Get Loose is slated for release September 2021. The band will also be playing a live set tonight August 24th on Instagram live at 8:30 PST as part of a backyard release party for the new single. Visit Hanmer’s website, Twitter, and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements. - Grimy Goods

When a band delivers their second album, is when we can truly begin to appreciate the idiosyncrasies that make them who they are as recording artists. It's a time of renewed confidence when most of the kinks and quirks are have been ironed out by the experience of recording and touring and the smoke begins to clear out from around them. But for Molly Hanmer and The Midnight Tokers, the smoke is a different thing, perhaps part of the mystique and even part of the name and ethos of the band. Besides, it's not like their debut album "Stuck In A Daydream" was a start on shaky legs at all, it was only a sign of things to come.

The psychedelic-Americana blend of the L.A.-based outfit doesn't just flirt with the ongoing and very healthy Stoner-Rock movement of today, it's a huge part of their edge, making their music stand out righteously among the vastness of artists and genres that dominate the modern industry. And of course, Stoner-rock isn't the only thing you'll hear in this album, far from it, it's more like a potpourri of first-class rock 'n' roll, blues, and more.

I would strongly advise against using the word "Retro" to describe Molly Hanmer & The Midnight tokers, as their sound is an entirely genuine revival of classic elements of musical culture that are simply not meant to exist in the "oldies goldies" bin of collective memory but to be present and active in the current artistic landscape. Perhaps more so now than ever before.

With Molly Hanmer herself, and manager Claudia Miles authoring, all songs save for one (more about that later)you can feel happy that we're hearing a product that's entirely involved and personal for everyone, and I'm more than happy to report right off the bat that we're getting some excellent songwriting. But enough gushing, let's take a quick, closer look at each song.

Gunman

If you're making a Vietnam-era war movie, and you want to not use Fortunate Son, but you still need something that sounds the part, you pick Gunman by Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers, simple as, no ifs or buts. The song is a heady, hazy and dense cloud of Blues and Rock & Roll, made complete by an amazing organ sound by the hand of John Bird and a sick guitar work by Molly Herself, and boy did she knock it out out of the park.

Born On the Bayou

Talk about wearing your influences on your sleeve like a heart tattoo that reads MOM. If the previous statement didn't make it sufficiently Creedence-clear, then this ought to. The song by John Fogerty is a certified classic and there's not much I can add to the conversation that hasn't already been said over the years by better music critics and journalists before me. I personally loved Molly's version and thought she did it perfect justice. I know some people have strong opinions about covers, especially about classics, but if you tell me they botched it, then you're deaf and dumb, sorry.

I Just Wanna Love you

This song isn't "Rock & roll" per-se, though I am one to claim Rock & roll is not a genre but an attitude and a spiritual disposition, and this song certainly has that in spades. "I Just Wanna Love you" is an upbeat Soul song that is an immediate jolt of good vibes from the very first note. The strong style, backing vocals and the absolutely killer Brass sections just keep this track on a very high note all the way through, an instant classic you could imagine Aretha Franklin herself singing back in the day, and I get chills just writing about the fact that it exists.

I Bet You Think You're Cool

Another very catchy song, far deeper into the Americana bloodline. The band digs up the Harmonica for this one and really puts it front and center. it's patently obvious by now that they're exploring almost every sound in the book in a very noble quest to revindicate the analog and the folksy, to prove that something new and contemporary is made in the same pattern and with the same tools that the forebears of the genre used to drive audiences wild with music that showed such passion and skill alike.

Sick Of Me

The band surprises us once again. This time, with a heavy guitar sound and unmistakable punk energy. The Song's funny self-deprecative narrative lends itself to the light atmosphere and faster sound very easily. This time we're able to appreciate Keith Palmer's drumming a bit more, as he seems able to really "Get Loose" some more from the more previously traditional structure, coming up with more intense fills here and there that drive the song like an engine. Not that his work has been unimpressive or lackluster so far, but it's just in the nature of speed to make percussion stand out much more, in my opinion.

Get Loose

The Title Track of this album takes the cake for catchiness, and it brings it back around to that slightly more acidic, Stoner-Rock playground where the distorted, cool-as-hell guitar riffs invade every inch of space around you. The song has his somewhat slow waltzy honky-tonk sound that still manages to maintain the electrifying high-energy momentum of every track so far, just in a different, more sensuous way, edging closer to Desert Rock than ever before and capturing the vibe of the band as a whole.

Hard Day’s Work

This song boasts some excellent penmanship again. It slows things down a bit more than "Get Loose" but not in a way that breaks the pace of the album at all, it follows on the mood progression set by its predecessor and brings it to a grim and even hazier place with a mournful backing organ sound and a military funeral march for the Snare Drums. The Bluesy Backing vocals and chorus are absolutely killer, making the song as catchy as the rest, and here Molly sings her best in the whole album, I believe.

Blah Blah Blah

Brings the album right back up and touches upon the spirit of Molly Hatchet, again showing us the huge range of influences and skill that this band boasts. "Blah Blah Blah" makes full use of the band's layered sound to blend so many influences together, it probably makes it the most inter-generational-sounding track of the entire album. Very fun, very impressive, and of course: Very catchy Did I say Molly Hatchet? there's definitely some Green Day in there too.

Rise

Looping back around classic Americana, leaning heavily on the Harmonica, this song reminds me heavily of Kristoffer Kristofferson's legendary tale about one Bobby Mcgee.

For this song, the band brought David Kalish on the Slide Guitar, doing an absolutely killer little number on it, even if he has to compete with Molly's insane harmonica grand finale.

Boil it down

Almost as if everything up to now wasn't enough, Molly had to close the album down with a song in the classic soul/folk style. Accompanied only by one insistent single thump for a beat, the song pays its utmost respect to the very roots of just about every genre of music in America's artistic veins with this, and I couldn't think of a more fitting and dignified way to say goodbye in an album this consistently good.

Final thoughts - I'm far beyond pleased and impressed with "Get Loose". It's a terrific album in every way, not a single song is lacking, never did I feel like I was listening to padding of any kind, and in fact, the 10-song-journey feels short if anything. The only point of criticism I feel can be fairly leveraged here, is that I found Molly to be a bit shy with her own vocal range and intonation, she can definitely vary the way she sings something, but I felt it wasn't something she leaned hard enough on. This is not a problem on an individual song-to-song basis, but across an entire album heard in a single sitting, it is noticeable enough that I can nitpick about it.

That considered, "Get Loose" is most definitely one of the best albums I've heard all year, and on musicianship alone, Molly and the Band can take pride in the fact they carry on the flame of rock within them. For anyone who says "Good Rock & Roll is not being made anymore" I'm more than happy to say: Shut up, you're wrong. - Rival LA