<\/p>\n
Cory Mon, <\/strong><\/span>Olly Olly Oxen Free <\/strong><\/em><\/span> Inspired by the childhood phrase shouted at the end of a game of hide-and-seek, the album channels a sense of freedom, nostalgia and rediscovery. The album dropped at the beginning of May with a release show featuring singer\/songwriter Sean Hayes.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis album feels like both a return to all things that made me happy as a child and a personal breakthrough,\u201d Mon said. \u201cReleasing it in Salt Lake, surrounded by the community that\u2019s supported me over the years\u2014and sharing the stage with my musical hero and good friend Sean\u2014makes this moment especially meaningful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n One of the best things about Mon and his band is that they are unapologetically themselves. Their personality shines not only through their music, but also on stage. Mon and company joke that their shows are \u201c60% great music and 40% bad comedy.\u201d The band\u2019s humor and spontaneity create an atmosphere where audiences feel less like spectators and more like part of the inner circle.<\/span><\/p>\n While listening to <\/span>Olly Olly Oxen Free<\/em><\/span>, one can almost picture the movements the band members would be making, because the sound is so free, fluid and unique. They have a blues\/rock\/funk vibe that\u2019s infectious and pulls you in. \u201c219\u201d leans heavily on the funk vibes with electric guitar effects and cadence. \u201cShe-Chakra\u201d features Hayes, showcasing their natural chemistry. Mon has done his fair share of touring with Hayes, so it\u2019s no wonder this track sounds so natural. Their styles meld perfectly, elevated further by their experience together.<\/span><\/p>\n The album is chill and mellow, but musically intricate. Before you know it, the 16 songs are over, and one wonders where the time went. There are plenty of standouts on the album, including the one with Hayes, but another noteworthy track is \u201cA Song About Steve\u2019s Murder Down By the River.\u201d It tells the story of poor Steve, who meets his end, but in a groovy and gritty way. There\u2019s still the guitar funk, but then the harmonica comes in, adding a whole new layer to the song. <\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re in the mood for something steady, funky, entertaining and just plain fun, <\/span>Olly Olly Oxen Free<\/em><\/span> should be added to your library. <\/span><\/p>\n Courtesy Photo<\/span><\/span> Chalk, <\/strong><\/span>Be A Part <\/strong><\/em><\/span> While the band has been around for a while, the latest lineup has only been together since 2024, so this is a super-fresh take for the group. Band members Skyler Bush (guitar\/vocals), Jeremy Devine (guitar\/vocals), Sally Yoo (bass\/vocals) and Bret Meisenbach (drums) have come together to create some excellent musical fusion.<\/span><\/p>\n Chalk brings a satisfyingly fuzzy alt\/rock sound and an interesting \u201cwhoever writes it, sings it\u201d ethos, offering some great variety and uniqueness in this new album. (That\u2019s not to say having a lone vocalist is boring, but it\u2019s fun to mix it up once in a while.) Inspired by the likes of Yo La Tengo, The Breeders, Dinosaur Jr and Pavement, the band creates its own satisfying version of alt\/rock.<\/span><\/p>\n Chalk excels in steady rock rhythm, but can definitely solo when the occasion calls for it. They also incorporate some punk sensibilities in their sound, like on their track \u201cFlail.\u201d The song starts out fast and loud, like any punk track should, but steadies throughout while still showcasing that alt\/rock feel.<\/span><\/p>\n Lyrically, a track that stands out on the album is \u201cPenny Century,\u201d which takes a look at the world and how quickly things change, and how young folks have no idea what they\u2019re in for as they grow up. \u201cBorn at the start of a century \/ My, how I cannot wait for you to grow,\u201d Yoo sings in the chorus. I like the last verse the best, with Yoo singing, \u201cLittle boy called me mother dear \/ I had to run from that face \/ Well, will my babies bring a book to show and tell \/ Turn the pages to be held and smelled \/ Will they touch anything other than titanium and grass? \/ Will we be a floating brain dreaming of the past?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Though the band has their \u201cwhoever writes it, sings it\u201d rule, they experimented a lot with harmonies and duets on the album, adding another layer of freshness as one listens through. Tracks like \u201cLeech\u201d showcase such duets and harmonies, allowing members to shine individually, while still melding together perfectly as a group. If you\u2019re an alt\/rock fan, Chalk\u2019s <\/span>Be A Part <\/em><\/span>absolutely needs to be added to your rotation.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.cityweekly.net \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cory Mon, Olly Olly Oxen Free In his 2024 album You Don\u2019t Own Me, Cory Mon touched on themes of healing after very hard times. It led people to call him and ask, \u201cHey, are you okay?\u201d Things are the opposite with his newest album, Olly Olly Oxen Free. This 10th album in Mon\u2019s library […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2434331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2434330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Music-review-New-album-releases-for-Cory-Mon-and-Chalk-scaled.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2434330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2434332,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434330\/revisions\/2434332"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2434331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2434330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2434330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2434330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/span>In his 2024 album You Don\u2019t Own Me, Cory Mon touched on themes of healing after very hard times. It led people to call him and ask, \u201cHey, are you okay?\u201d Things are the opposite with his newest album, <\/span>Olly Olly Oxen Free<\/em><\/span>. This 10th album in Mon\u2019s library focuses on a return to joy, playfulness and creating for the sake of creating. <\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span>Just in time for their Kilby Block Party debut, four-piece rock group Chalk released their latest album <\/span>Be A Part<\/em><\/span>. They helped kick the day off at KBP on Saturday, May 16 with the album releasing the day before\u2014definitely a great start to the summer season. <\/span><\/p>\n