New songs for January 12th 2026

 "Fool's Gold" by Buffalo Traffic Jam:  By now, a song like this might be considered a throwback song! A Mumford and Sons-ish galloping rhythm, a bluegrass-y vibe similar to Trampled by Turtles, and a voice like the lead singer of Caamp all combine into one bluegrass-rock tune on "Fool's Gold" by Buffalo Traffic Jam! The titular "fool's gold" seems to be numbing ways of distracting oneself from the difficulties of life, such as drugs. In other words, things like that are just a crutch. They may seem like "gold," but they're really just another way of saying "I'm OK" when you're really not. This song is like an Americanized Mumford and Sons going through a revelation that nothing in life is as it seems!

"In Your Ocean" by Iron & Wine:  The sublime, alternately tuned folk-rock sound on IAW's latest song, "In Your Ocean," makes it sound like it was an outtake from an earlier album they did! The song seems to be a love song, and it's filled with nature-y imagery like oceans, flowers, sparrows, thunder, and horses. However, when Sam Beam says he "only wants to drown" when he finds himself "swimming" in his lover's "ocean," that can be taken a few different ways. It can be taken as a declaration of undying love, but it can also be viewed as how he wants everything to be over when he's with this person. The song never makes it quite clear. There are other lines of uncertainty in it, such as, "Never know who you'll be but when you're gonna break" and "You can die where you stand/Try to land the best you can." Either Sam's deeply in love or wants desperately to get out of it. I can't quite tell!

"Pharmacy Chronicles" by The Black Crowes:  "Pharmacy Chronicles" doesn't sound like the name of a song as much as it does like the name of a novel, but it is a song! One of the Crowes' more folk/country-influenced tunes, "Pharmacy Chronicles" is probably called what it is because it describes people numbing themselves through drugs and alcohol. It's not necessarily a pro-drug song, though, as Chris Robinson's voice warns the listener through the chorus not to "call the doctor" or "call the priest," as if to say that asking people for guidance when you made yourself addicted might not be the best idea.

"The Old Law" by Father John Misty:  Over hazy, psychedelic folk-rock-meets-prog-rock that follows an unusual chord sequence, Father John Misty's "The Old Law" might be called that because its original title, "God's Trash," probably ruffled a few feathers! As implied by "The Old Law"'s old title, this is a song where FJM rants against religion. Even the song's current title is more than likely an oblique reference to the Old Testament ("There is no law but the old law, baby"). It depicts religion not as godly or divine, but as human, and how we should not see ourselves as "free from error" just because of what we might believe in.