The Pretty Things weren't for everybody back in 1964, and they're not for everybody now. But they're still exactly who they are. It's quite remarkable.

Listen to extended clips here and download "All Light Up" (an amazing beast of a song) here.

Larry Bagby, On the Radio (EP)

Larry Bagby's plaintive voice and melodic, heartland-country songs have a polished sound but a rootsy, almost archaic appeal. The hero of the intense title track is a musician playing small bars, dreaming of making it big and getting played on the radio (a primitive music distribution system popular in the 20th century). The acoustically funky "Done Giving Love" rocks unselfconsciously, like music used to do before everything became ironic, and "Player with a Heart" does right by its old-timey rockabilly feel.

"Counting My Lucky Stars" is an old-fashioned love song with imagistic lyrics and a lovely melody. The other two ballads are forgettably prosaic and could have been culled. But this an EP worth checking out if you're a fan of rootsy, Dixie-fried, acoustic-based country rock. If nothing else, it proves that Larry Bagby is a lot more than the bully from Buffy.

Listen to tracks from On the Radio here.

Jenn Franklin, Errors & Omissions (EP)

Jenn Franklin's assured debut is getting a fresh release this Fall. There's a savage honesty in her piano-driven songs and poetic lyrics ("Broken compass, we just never knew/When north became south became lost") that make them stand out despite the straightforward pop-rock forms in which she and producer Peter Overton work. The disc feels more like a a brief, pointed album than an EP. Its six songs stretch for 26 minutes, after all - longer than a typical LP when the Pretty Things were starting out!

Although Franklin is a piano player and a good one, her sound is more Evanescence than Vanessa Carlton, more Alannah Myles (especially in "Mercy") than Tori Amos - though "Impasse 900" does bring to mind the latter's hit "Cornflake Girl." Her voice is captured with a slightly distancing effect that reminds me of the way female vocals were recorded in the problematic 80s, but that's a minor quibble.

The opening song, "What Took You So Long," rocks the hardest but, overloaded with crunching guitar tracks, it feels the least honest. "Impasse 900," on the other hand, successfully snaked into my veins. My favorite is the intensely dramatic ballad "Fade," while "No Mercy" and the lovely "Cozumel" are fully juiced with blood and guts.

Listen or purchase at her website. Or listen to some full tracks at her Myspace page.