Turn It Up - 6/30/25

Earworms, obsessions, recommendations

We celebrate this week’s 249th birthday of the Declaration of Independence with songs that are anti-war, anti-Bush and pro-gun control, plus a Dylan cover, a Yaz cover, some Zamrock, R.I.P. to Rebekah Del Rio, and more.

The Leatherwoods – “Proof Positive” (from Topeka Oratorio, 1992)

The Leatherwoods were Todd Newman and Tim O’Reagan, two musicians from Lawrence, Kansas who relocated to a Twin Cities scene teaming with like-minded college rockers the Replacements, Soul Asylum, and the Gear Daddies, among others. If you recognize O’Reagan’s name it’s because for the last forty years or so, he’s been the drummer for another Minneapolis band you know, the Jayhawks. Chances are you don’t recognize Newman’s name, though, so let’s change that... My KU grad wife introduced me to the Leatherwoods’ only album, Topeka Oratorio, soon after we met in 1993, and its lead track, “Proof Positive,” became part of our playlist together. I remember her assuring me back then that the “Pablo Louseorama” listed as contributing some bass and keyboard work to the project was actually Paul Westerberg. Couldn’t prove it, but I believed her. (For the record, Bob Mehr confirmed she was right in his 2016 Replacements bio.) Much more recently, I’d tried to share the track on the socials a few times only to find it wasn’t streaming anywhere. Not sure when that changed, but I’m glad to report that Topeka is now available in all the usual places—and that Newman’s 1995 solo EP Too Sad for Words and his 1996 album Temporary Setback are both on YouTube. If you’re into introspective and smart, fuck-up-with-a-heart of-gold power-pop balladry, I recommend all of Newman’s recorded work: He’s the kind of singer-songwriter you could imagine patiently waiting his turn in a guitar pull with Westerberg, Martin Zellar, Adam Schmitt and, say, fellow Kansan Freedy Johnston—and, for all I know, he has. “Proof Positive” remains my favorite of his songs. It’s got jangly, irresistible guitar hooks, a broken-hearted tale of car-crash relationships both romantic and musical, and a pleading but winning sing-along chorus. If you’ve never heard it, please meet your next old-school song of the summer. You’re welcome. – DC

Public Enemy – “March Madness” (single, 2025)

I figured the title’s NCAA-tournament pun was going to celebrate the recent No Kings marches. It does not. “March Madness” instead finds Chuck D and Flavor Flav (“and 911 is still a joke!”) raging in support of gun control and against the NRA, the terrifying marches being the “left-right marches to the courtyard” of kids after school shootings. Madness indeed. (Bonus: the anti-Ye cover pic.) – DC

The Shootouts – “Only You” (from Switchback, 2025)

Did not have a bluegrassy version of a song from English synth duo Yaz on my BINGO card, but the Shootouts’ “Only You” is just lovely. What it loses in Vince Clark’s chilly dance-floor grooves, and what it misses in Alison Moyet’s Brit soul, the Shootouts gain in road-song rootedness. Is it a love song or a just nostalgic reminder of a love that’s just about done? Then again, Ryan Humbert’s wistful lead hints that maybe all that has yet to be decided. With support from singer Lindsay Lou, mandolin man Sam Bush and harmonica legend Mickey Raphael. – DC

Lilly Winwood – “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You” (from Had to Cry Today, 2025)

By contrast, this cover—a take on an oft-covered Dylan gem off Nashville Skyline—isn’t surprising at all. Lilly Winwood’s country-soul approach isn’t surprising either: She’s based in Nashville herself, and her famous dad was no doubt a handy role model for keyboard-shimmering white-boy soul. Then again, when it comes to humble declarations of love, or at least a fun sleep over, surprise matters way less than sincerity and commitment. The arrangement might seem busy to you if I started listing all the instruments in play here, but the effect is, uh, surprisingly spare. Lilly’s vocals begin languidly, and though she gets more a bit more heated as things heat up, she doesn’t overstay her welcome. – DC

Chris Jones and the Night Drivers – “Mama Bake a Pie (Daddy Kill a Chicken)” (single, 2025)

One more cover, this time of Tom T. Hall’s great Vietnam-era protest, “Mama Bake a Pie (Daddy Kill a Chicken).” Hall’s song shows off all of the Storyteller’s songwriting virtues: a gift for humorous understatement; an eye for poignant observational details and an ear for the ways real people really talk; a love for his characters in all their complexity. Hall’s recording of “Mama Bake a Pie…,” off 1970’s 100 Children, is fantastic. I do have to say, though, that I think I actually have come to prefer, after a couple dozen times through now, Chris Jones’ new version with his band the Night Drivers. Jones would probably chastise me for that, I suspect—humble bluegrassers, you know, plus he counted Tom T. a colleague and friend. But Jones’ embodiment of the song’s disabled vet narrator here is almost unbearably pitch perfect, capturing every bit of bitterness disguised as humor and predicting how his people are either going to fuss over him too damn much or they’re going to look away from his injuries all together. The first Hall punchline that Jones delivers here is “The war is over for me / I've forgotten everything except the pain,” and he has me crying straight off. The final punchline—" I see here in the paper / Where they say the war is just a waste of time”—might as well be an actual punch in the gut, but by that point I’m already sobbing. – DC

James McMurtry – “Annie” (from The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy, 2025)

James McMurtry’s new album has arrived, and I’m happy to report that James McMurtry remains fucking great. The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy is one of McMurtry’s strongest, in fact, a rollicking and bone-deep collection of songs that allow the great Texas songwriter to unfurl his signature character portraits over a particularly vibrant set of arrangements and melodies. The 9/11 remembrance “Annie” is a typical McMurtry magic trick, a fiddle-driven ballad with a knockout melody that manages to capture both the disorienting stun of that fateful morning and the discomforting realization that the guy in charge of our response was neither trustworthy nor up to the job. The verses slide through retrospection, taking in the larger War on Terror and Iraq invasion before concluding that “we’ve all seen worse now, but his name’s still mud.” Amen to that. Sing along. – CH

Charlie Hickey – “Feel Nothing” (from Could’ve Been Anyone, 2025)

The perils of anhedonia and apathy are one of pop’s deepest thematic wells. “Feel Nothing,” the lead single from the second album by Charlie Hickey, is a welcome addition to the field, a sweet-voiced lament with the Californian recounting all the things that should evoke an emotional response but fail to make a dent. The seeming calm of Hickey’s voice and the plucky, plucking strings that support it belie the emotional turbulence, which moves to the foreground during an electric-guitar solo that further emphasizes Hickey’s connections to Golden State elder Lindsey Buckingham. A heartsick earworm that yearns to experience “all the feels” again. – CH

WITCH – “Kamusale” (from SOGOLO, 2025)

The recent return of essential Zamrock band WITCH (“We Intend To Cause Havoc”) has been a most welcome development, and their new SOGOLO proves that they haven’t missed a step. The opener “Kamusale” is a fiery invocation, using a children’s marriage dance as the basis for a commentary on looking beyond the superficial. But it’s a powerhouse even if you lack the context or the language. Built around a pounding riff over which Hannah Tembo and Theresa Ng'ambi sing the title syllables, “Kamusale” settles into a deep groove for verses where the voice of founder Emanuel "Jagari" Chanda leaps forward from the soupy funk of the mix. It’s a relentless ride that starts SOGOLO off with a bang and conjures up an album’s worth of speaker-rattling jams. – CH

Annahstasia – “Believer” (from Tether, 2025)

The debut album from California-based, Nigerian-American artist Annahstasia is a stunner, an intoxicating mix of sounds takes firmest root in a broadminded vision of folk-pop but draws in welcome textures of jazz, R&B, and rock ‘n’ roll. The closer “Believer” has the fuzzy crunch of ‘90s rock, with the singer’s smoky alto bouncing between loud-quiet-loud sections before a resumptive, cathartic final section propelled by a responding gospel chorus. “Can I be lonely,” she wonders, “can I be lonely here with you?” It’s an impossible invitation to turn down, and a fitting conclusion to one of the year’s best records. – CH

Rebekah Del Rio – “Llorando” (from Mulholland Drive, 2001)

The tributes to singer Rebekah Del Rio, who died this week at only 57, have understandably centered on one moment: when Del Rio emerges onto the stage at Club Silencio in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive and sings an unaccompanied Spanish version of Roy Orbison’s “Crying.” (As revealed at the scene’s end, Del Rio is lip-syncing to her own recording.) It’s an emotional climax for the great film as well as a stand-alone stunner that serves as among the most memorable single-scene performances in film history. Working in Nashville in the mid-90s, she recorded “Llorando” in 1995 as a tribute to Selena, finding both solace and catharsis in the towering emotions of Orbison’s operatic melody. Following Mulholland Drive, she made several other soundtrack appearances that included a performance in Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return, as well as releasing a powerful 2021 album that further revealed her unique gifts as a vocalist and performing concerts around the world. It’s most unfair to sum up a career, much less a life, in a single moment, especially when that life was marked by significant highs and lows. But, if such reductions must occur, Del Rio’s performance of “Llorando” in Mulholland Drive is not a bad way to do so. It’s unforgettable and, thankfully, it’s immortal. – CH

Recommended reading:

-Steacy Easton talks to Willi Carlisle about Winged Victory, for Good Country

-Taylor Crumpton talks to Mickey Guyton, for Essence

-Mark Anthony Neal on the “sensual soul” of Jon Lucien, for Medium

-Richard Sandomir on late character actor Gailard Sartain, for The New York Times

If you like what you’re reading here, please think of subscribing to No Fences Review! It’s free for now, although we will be adding a paid tier with exclusive content soon. Also, if you’d like to support our work now, you can hit the blue “Pledge” button on the top-right of your screen to pledge your support now, at either monthly, yearly, or founding-member rates. You’ll be billed when we add the paid option. Thanks!