You Like Your Music Angsty and Exuberant? Listen to These Dudes.

Nathaniel Rateliff and Barrence Whitfield have got great new albums.

Album Reviews

Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
Tearing at the Seams
Stax

Barrence Whitfield and the Savages
Soul Flowers of Titan
Bloodshot

Robust rock and soul singers are often referred to as “shouters,” a term that doesn’t do justice to the personality and skill some artists bring to their craft. Exhibit A: Tearing at the Seams, the glorious second studio album from Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats. The brawny beats, sultry horns, and funky organ might spark fond memories of the ‘60s glory days of Stax and other classic R&B labels, but there’s nothing retro or reverent about Rateliff’s electrifying performance. Mixing equal quantities of grit and tenderness, he specializes in heart-on-sleeve songs about vulnerability and longing, including “Say It Louder” and “You Worry Me,” sure to resonate with anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with romantic angst. Rateliff can also get rowdy—the stomping “Intro” recalls early Bob Seger at his most exuberant—so he might want to tackle a full set of party songs for a change of pace someday.

Barrence Whitfield, who’s been doing his thing since the 1980s, comes off as a dangerous maniac by comparison. On the exciting Soul Flowers of Titan, the raucous frontman and his aptly named Savages suggest a traditional soul band drunk on punk-rock aggression. For all the raw fury of tracks like “Let’s Go to Mars” and “Slowly Losing My Mind,” though, Whitfield is far more than an old-school shouter. Like the great David Johansen, he tempers his attack with bracing measures of humor and finesse. To relieve stress instantly, go here.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate