Album Reviews: Six New Records From Vermont Artists

The Vermont music scene is going strong in 2025. We’ve received tons of new albums from every corner of the Green Mountain State, and we listen to every single one that’s sent in. When the review queue starts to get a little too long for comfort, music editor Chris Farnsworth switches into overdrive, bringing you six new records from local artists.

Bad Accent, Children of Glory

(Self-released, digital)

Burlington’s Bad Accent dropped one of the most eclectic records of 2024 with Children of Glory. On it, the six-piece band pulls together disparate threads of multiple genres, including folk, rock, surf and jazz, all under the banner of tongue-in-cheek theatricality.

The name of the band — formed by Czech multi-instrumentalist Evzen Holas and his wife and lead vocalist, Karine Poulin, originally of Montréal — is a wink to its members’ accented English. That sense of fun permeates the record, with songs about a couple leaning into their dirtier side on “Dominated Love Slave” and the Latin-tinged rave-up “Rainbow Over Havana” keeping things light. It’s an album of stories, a sort of quirky, folk-rock version of The Canterbury Tales that shows off the band’s musical chops and ability to synthesize multiple approaches into a single, sophisticated brew.

Key Track: “Jesus Was a Quarryman” Why: It’s a slow-burning jazz-folk fusion that questions the truth of our myths. “History is a funky girl, I can tell you that / One big liar turns Paganini into playing a clarinet,” Poulin sings. Where: Major streaming services

Alex Raine, For Your Health

(Self-released, digital)

When indie rockers Community Garden split up in 2024, they left a hole in Burlington’s dark, new wave-loving heart. The trio bowed out with a triumphant swan song on the EP Me vs Me before singer and guitarist Alex Raine moved to Albany, N.Y.

Raine didn’t wait long to debut his solo album, For Your Health. In theory, it’s his relaunch as an alt-country crooner. And stylistically, there are definite nods to the genre. His acoustic guitar and vocals drive the four songs, with little room for the instrumental mood-building of his old outfit. But Raine can’t quite shake the melancholic, almost Anglophilic nature of his true songwriting self — there’s still that lo-fi, college-indie-rock coating on the tracks, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

It’s unsurprising that Raine’s solo effort sounds similar to his former band; his twin brother and Community Garden drummer Evan Raine is still on the kit. They tracked the album with producer Jer Coons — who also handles bass duties, keys and pedal steel — at his studio in Jericho. The trio serves up a dreamlike slice of folk rock that bodes well for Raine’s post-Burlington music career.

Key Track: “Rut” Why: It’s the best synthesis of indie rock and singer-songwriter alt-country on the EP, like R.E.M. with a hint of twang. Where: alexraine.bandcamp.com and major streaming services

Molly Millwood, Bright Is the Light

(Self-released, digital)

It’s been almost six years since singer-songwriter Molly Millwood dropped her last album, Something Even Wilder. The wait for her follow-up, Bright Is the Light, was understandable: Millwood may be a folk troubadour by night, but by day she’s a clinical psychologist and author who wrote the book To Have and to Hold: Motherhood, Marriage & the Modern Dilemma between the two albums.

The time off didn’t dim Millwood’s keen songwriting. Together with producer and fellow singer-songwriter Colin McCaffrey — who is a massive part of the album’s sound — Millwood centers Bright Is the Light on movement, change and empowerment. Tunes such as “Come In From the Storm” and “I Don’t Have to Crawl” possess a dark heart, but are told from the perspective of a person wising up.

Millwood cut Bright Is the Light at McCaffrey’s Greenroom studio, backed by a killer band including Trey Anastasio Band drummer Russ Lawton. Now with three full-length albums under her belt, Millwood seems to be getting comfortable in her singer-songwriter skin.

Key Track: “Rest a While” Why: Millwood’s tender, intimate vocal is all but whispered over a gothic-folk tune and subdued guitar leads from Millwood’s son, Quinn Kirshenbaum. Where: mollymillwoodmusic.com and major streaming services

Amystera, Amystera

(Self-released, digital)

During some dark night of the soul, have you ever asked yourself, What if goth kids got into slap bass? Well, Burlington’s Amystera have you covered. The debut project from bassist extraordinaire Aram Bedrosian, keyboardist Aislynn Taber and drummer John Elwert — the latter two formerly of the industrial metal band Nechromancer — Amystera are a truly strange beast.

Built on equal parts progressive funk and icy, gothic synth foundations, the trio’s sound is a pulsating, highly melodic kind of rock that seems tailor-made for video game soundtracks. Bedrosian’s sheer technical mastery is always a marvel, but the way he interacts with Elwert’s muscular yet erudite percussion and Taber’s soaring synths brings out the bassist’s best.

As an all-instrumental unit, Amystera have ample room for Bedrosian’s bass heroics, but Taber is the band’s secret sauce. An argument could be made for more synth in the driver’s seat on future records, but the band is hardly short of melodic ideas on its debut.

Key Track: “Beyond the Veil” Why: On an album full of bass solos, Bedrosian drops one of his finest. Where: amystera.bandcamp.com and major streaming services

Moondogs, Trialogues

(Self-released, digital)

Burlington psych-rock band Moondogs started as a solo project for singer and guitarist Will Sturcke. As a student at the University of Vermont, he wrote and performed all the music on the 2020 debut record, ACiD TeST, but soon assembled a power-trio live band. Thus Moondogs became a true pack.

Their latest LP, 2024’s Trialogues, displays the power the band has accrued over the past few years as a live rock act. While their sound retains its jammy center, Moondogs delve much deeper into ’90s alt/pop rock, landing somewhere between Counting Crows’ radio-friendly crunchiness and the more focused efforts of other jam-adjacent acts such as moe. Trialogues is at its best when the band indulges its more adventurous instincts, such as on “Sidewinder,” a track on which Sturcke’s mazelike guitar licks trigger a cosmic blues-rock excursion.

Key Track: “The Cosmic Serpent” Why: Moondogs show off their prog-rock side in this song, whose title sounds like an incredibly intricate sexual maneuver. Where: Major streaming services

Raptors, Treasure Box Vol.1 (a song based experience)

(Self-released, CD, digital)

Winooski electro-pop act Raptors’ latest album, Treasure Box Vol.1 (a song based experience), is a 17-track collection that bleeds into one continuous song, a meandering but often intriguing mix of ambience and indie rock. And its name is more literal than you might think.

The lone physical copy of the album is an actual treasure box. According to Raptors’ Bandcamp page, should someone order Treasure Box Vol.1, they will receive a box containing (as listed on the album cover): hair from an animal, a Mike Piazza baseball card, a drum key, a regular key, prayer beads, Jesus Christ, a Ding Dong, a video game, a solider standing at ease and, finally, “some new music.” If you doubt the box’s contents, the band doubled down in an email, stating, “The box contains everything listed on the album cover — and more.”

Sonically, Treasure Box Vol.1 is all over the place. The band operates as something of a collective, occasionally consisting of up to 12 members but often just a trio. Though the musicians describe the new record as their “first rock album,” there are elements of hip-hop, industrial, psych rock, power pop and shoegaze, all wrapped in a Frank Zappa-like coating of surreal humor. The final, “hidden” track is titled “Man on the Street Pt.2” and features a man wandering the streets asking passersby if they “have Raptors in their life.”

Key Track: “A Hugging Man” Why: Raptors toss hip-hop and Latin grooves into an indie-rock Cuisinart to create a truly strange, captivating track. Where: raptorsarethebest.bandcamp.com