Six Quick-Hit Reviews of Local Albums 

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The local records keep flying onto the music editor's desk: bluegrass from the southern part of the state, metal from the Northeast Kingdom, hip-hop out of Montpelier. Vermont musicians have been churning out new music, and sometimes two reviews per week just won't do. Here are six releases from area artists — as well as some expats we like to keep tabs on.

Living Room Romantics, On Fire

(Self-released, digital)

There's an age-old tradition of rockers breaking away from their loud, bombastic bands to make intimate, softer solo records. Burlington musician Hunter Phelps has been in two of the local scene's louder bands in the past few years: punk band Mr. Doubtfire and emo act the Silent Mile. Under his new guise as Living Room Romantics, Phelps channels his inner Dashboard Confessional, combining punk energy with singer-songwriter aesthetic and restraint. The result is a strong solo debut showcasing a songwriter in the midst of growth. There's a real late '90s/early aughts vibe to the four-song EP's atmosphere and overall feel. But On Fire is hardly a nostalgia trip.

Key Track: "The Crowd"
Why: Is there a more emo line than "Finally moved on this week / When you became a part of me / I wanna write you poetry / But I can't, it's too shitty"?
Where: livingroomromantics.bandcamp.com

Dos En Uno, Jaguar

(Self-released, digital, vinyl)

Plattsburgh, N.Y., has enjoyed a bit of a rock and roll resurgence of late. Bands such as Shabadü and Ursa and the Major Key have caught some attention, and now Dos En Uno have released their debut record, Jaguar. Mixed and mastered by Jack Endino — renowned for his work with Nirvana and Soundgarden, among others — the record boasts a strong strain of alt-rock DNA and good ol' fashioned garage rock. The guitars are fuzzy as fuck, the lyrics are full of slacker ennui, and the dynamics are sharp. There are plenty of new sounds, as well, as the band combines a love of '90s Chilean punk with an urgent, almost danceable sense of energy to create an intriguing kind of pop-punk-grunge rock that somehow works.

Key Track: "GMO Child"
Why: Dos En Uno start skanking as they go near full-ska, a brave move from a band full of confidence.
Where: dosenuno.bandcamp.com

Brunch, Parasocial

(Self-released, digital)

Being a Vermont music critic for years has taught me to view food-based names with a healthy dose of skepticism. The minute you see a band named Crunchy Prawn or the like, you know you're getting an album full of long, drawn-out and impotent jams. One of the newer acts on the Burlington scene, Brunch, just might change that association. Describing themselves as a "US government psyop," Brunch steadfastly refuse to adhere to a genre. There's punk in there, sure. Some angular college rock. But the eight tracks on Parasocial touch down on multiple shores, whether it's "Man Is Old" dipping a toe in blues or "Ugly" edging into industrial metal territory. It's a record full of invention and daring, a strident opening statement that can shade toward dissonance at any moment. Recorded by Urian Hackney (Rough Francis, the Armed) at his studio, the Box, Parasocial is one of the stronger, stranger rock albums of the year thus far.

Key Track: "Big Bird"
Why: Brunch combine dreamy shoegaze with a controlled sort of chaos, making for a memorable song.
Where: brunchtheband.bandcamp.com

CONANT, Gavia Immer

(Self-released, digital)

Vergennes-based singer-songwriter and banjo player Chad Conant has released his debut solo album as CONANT. Heavily influenced by songwriters John Prine and Gregory Alan Isakov, Conant has created a sun-dappled, foot-tapping EP full of classic folk and bluegrass sounds. Gavia Immer — Latin for "common loon" — is infused with the feel of the wind, the sound of water and an overarching love for the natural world. It also shows the songwriter's penchant for folky humor, as displayed on the rollicking "White Trash Toaster." The tune features musician Colin McCaffrey, who pulls double duty as the EP's producer. McCaffrey also coproduced fellow Vermont folk artist Fern Maddie's stellar Ghost Story, and, in a nice bit of full circle, she shows up as a guest on several songs. Considering Conant only picked up the banjo after his wife bought him one for a recent birthday, it's impressive how he has developed such a clear playing style and strong songwriting chops.

Key Track: "Hello Wind (featuring Fern Maddie)"
Why: Conant's banjo peels off a series of ponderous notes that slowly build into a clever lick as he sings of the "celestial comfort from the cold."
Where: conantmusic.bandcamp.com

Steve Blair, Code

(Self-released, digital)

I don't have any stats, but the number of absolute badasses on the guitar per capita in the Green Mountains must be off the charts. And it's hard to find a better jazz guitarist than Steve Blair. Known for playing with jazz luminaries such as Michael Brecker, Antonio Sánchez and Andrei Kondakov, as well as fronting his own group, Science Fixion, Blair is also an instructor and the former director of jazz studies at Northern Vermont University. On his latest LP, Code, Blair once again displays frighteningly good skills on the guitar, flying across his fretboard with equal parts energy and eloquence. For all the standard, jazz-oriented signposts that dot the album's songs — and Blair's playing, in general — a host of other sonic avenues await in every song, from prog-rock shredding on "Igor" to the new-age slickness of "Tango." It's another record from Blair that contains as much high-octane skill as it does a beating heart.

Key Track: "Four on Five"
Why: In this cross between Latin rhythms and jazz fusion, Blair pushes his guitar into strange tonal territory to stunning effect.
Where: Spotify

Charlie Hill, Chuck Pond

(Self-released, digital)

When Charlie Hill's indie rock band, Bison, split in 2018, I was utterly devastated. The three-piece was the perfect combination of DIIV and Television, and Hill's vocals and guitars were a big part of it. So when he launched his solo career as Chazzy Lake, playing as an Americana and folk-leaning troubadour, I was initially hesitant to jump on board. I soon discarded any reservations, however, as Hill's songwriting continued evolving in intriguing ways. A Laurel Canyon sound started working its way into the songs, meshing with Hill's idiosyncratic style, somewhere between Stephen Malkmus and Father John Misty.

Now plying his trade in Nashville, Tenn., Hill has released Chuck Pond, a record that sounds like a summation of his career thus far, in that it rarely rests in one place for long. From the hazy regret of "Give Two Fucks" to the raw emotion of "Baby's Arms," Hill has stories to tell, and he does so with heartbreak and a wry grin.

Key Track: "L.A. Fever"
Why: It's hard to write a killer "going to L.A." song, but Hill delivers with lines such as "Yea, we've tried every trick in the book to find greener grass / But the longer you keep dead flowers, the more they start to smell like ass."
Where: hillcharlie.bandcamp.com