LEO Weekly has Spotify playlists for each Listen Local column featuring selected tracks from each reviewed release. Check them out here!
Gravel n Mudd Band
Waiting on the Sunrise – album
“This was started after I had a hearty, almost deathful dose of Covid, and then last year had a massive heart attack. So I decided if I was to finish the music I had started, the time was now!” said songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Douglas Slaughter. He, along with co-writer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Brent Greco and a few guest musicians, (including several members of Slaughter’s own family), accomplished that mission, and the result is the 11-track album Waiting on the Sunshine. Combining Americana, adult contemporary, and soft rock with folk and pop sensibilities, they’ve managed to create an original sound that’s hard to pin down. Perhaps an amped-up James Taylor, John Denver, and Johnny Cash mixed with a bit of Blues Traveler and Switchfoot might give you a rough idea. Tracks like the Led Zeppelin 3-esque “You Bring Me Home”, the upbeat classic country stomp and swagger of “Angry Words”, the mid-80’s alt-rockish reimagining of the John Stewart classic “July, You’re a Woman”, the slow-burn update of the Bryan Adams hit “Summer of 69”, the modern rock take on The Beatles “Eleanor Rigby”, and the upbeat Bob Dylan meets The Replacements feel of album closer “Melancholy Mood”, (which is anything but melancholy) are certainly highlights here. In his email to me, Slaughter said, “Just hoping maybe a few [songs] will resonate with some folks out there and they find some enjoyment.” With tracks like this, I don’t think that is going to be a problem!
distrokid.com/hyperfollow/gravelnmuddband/gravel-n-mudd-band
Small Time Napoleon
Subverted Expectations – album
You know ’em, you love ‘em… Ladies and gentlemen, please get your dancing shoes ready because Small Time Napoleon is back! Although there have been a handful of singles released over the past few years, the 11-track Subverted Expectations marks their first substantial release since 2017’s Too Big To Fail EP, and their first full-length album in 10 long years. And my, how they’ve grown! Although the band stays true to their huge, hook-laden, upbeat jazzy swing sound with that funk-based backbone they’re known for, gone is the Dixieland ragtime jazz and, for the most part, the lounge and folk elements of previous releases. Nary a horn to be heard this time around. However, they have stepped up their songwriting game considerably by incorporating more of an R&B/soul-rooted style that’s peppered with alt-pop and indie rock. Not that this is worlds away from their previous material, just more refined. A little less of what they didn’t need, and a little more of what they did. Imagine Pokey Lafarge jamming with My Morning Jacket on some James Brown tunes and that’ll get you in the neighborhood of STN’s sound. This is 36 minutes of feel good music that’ll have your feet hurting from dancing and face sore from smiling. Subverted Expectations is about as solid of an album as you can possibly get. Not one single filler song here. Small Time Napoleon is the kind of band you hear and wonder why the hell they’re not much, much bigger when literally every component is there. Not only should they be playing Bourbon and Beyond, they should be headlining it!
smalltimenapoleon.bandcamp.com
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Stay Bent
Always Blue – EP
[image-4] Stay Bent is one of those bands that has been on my radar for a while. They’ve been around for a few years now, and I see their name pop up fairly often, so I’ve been meaning to check them out, but they’ve managed to slip through the cracks so far. Not anymore! The band’s sophomore EP Always Blue, (their first non-single release since 2022’s Good on Paper EP – three singles were released between the two EPs), is 13 minutes and some change of high-energy, punk-rooted, emo-tinged, post-hardcore/grungy alternative rock that brings to mind the likes of early Fall Out Boy, At The Drive-In, Taking Back Sunday, The Wonder Years, and Koyo. But I must state that Stay Bent certainly leans more towards the punk side of things rather than pop, as some of the aforementioned bands tend to do. And even with “heart-on-your-sleeve” lyrics “channeling the rush of romantic chaos and self-discovery” (per their band bio), don’t expect to hear any ballads here. This is punchy, guitar-driven, melodic rock with actual sung vocals that range from dramatic and heartfelt to flat-out hardcore shouts and has more than enough power and stomp on the backend to keep the pit moving. Recorded at DeadBird Studios (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Jack Harlow, Low Cut Connie, Anemic Royalty) and mastered at West West Side Music by Grammy Award-winning engineer Alan Douches (Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, System of a Down), Always Blue has a raw, edgy, yet clean sound and serves as an excellent showcase for the power and talent of Stay Bent. I’m already ready for more!
Why DOMS
Say Sum Else – album
Although Why DOMS seemingly came out of nowhere about a year ago and pretty much took over the music scene in Louisville, the truth is it’s been a long journey, and they’ve busted their ass to get where they’re at. The duo of Why Mark and J DOMS have been working together since meeting in high school in 2016, honing their craft and getting better and better with each release, and it’s paid off in spades! Released just six months after their last full-length album, Just Because, Say Sum Else is absolute proof of DOMS’ unrelenting drive to outdo themselves with each new release. Far from being complacent with being one of Louisville’s premiere rap duos, Why DOMS come out swinging here, eating mics and spitting fire, proving they’re still as hungry as ever. This time the duo teams up with prolific beat maker and rapper Jethro, whose slow-groove jams mix light jazz, Motown, R&B, and lounge to form the perfect backbone to propel the seemingly unmedicated, hyperactive flows of Why Mark and the in-your-face, take-no-shit rhymes of J DOMS. And they both hit hard! Say Sum Else isn’t an album you’re going to put on in the background and ignore; this album grabs you by the throat and demands your attention immediately and holds you there until every word has soaked in. No autotune or corny radio rap, Say Sum Else is 15 tracks of straight-up hardcore shit from two of the hardest players in the Louisville rap game! You need this!
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Want to see your music reviewed in LEO Weekly? Louisville and Southern Indiana-based bands/artists, send a link to your music along with a band/artist bio, a high-resolution pic of the release’s cover art, and any additional information that may be helpful for the review (the more, the better) to music@leoweekly.com.
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This article appears in May 23 – Jun 5, 2025.