Music reviews: Five new notable albums from five Connecticut musicians

The summer stages are getting breezier, and soon bands will be moving indoors for comfort and companionship.

Connecticut has an indestructible local music community, all the stages, studios, clubs, labels, music stores and bumper stickers needed to support a scene.

That state that gave you everybody from The Five Satins to Gene Pitney to Michael Bolton to Miracle Legion to Weezer continues to inspire and encourage artists of all ages and styles.

Here are five new notable recordings from Connecticut musicians, all of which can be found on bandcamp.com.

The Balkun Brothers

‘735 Farmington Ave.’

Is there a more hometown-friendly album than one recorded in the band’s childhood home with the street address as the album’s title?

West Hartford’s much-honored Balkun Brothers likely shook the walls of their old homestead, applied their patented overflow of trip-hop funk rock to an array of classic rock and pop covers. Various family members chime in on vocals, and there’s a genuine boyish charm to this homecoming.

Highlights of the album, mastered not in Hartford but in London’s famed Abbey Road Studios, include a rather bleak “Cat’s in the Cradle” (kind of the ideal song for an album devoted to exploring one’s roots; an extra-thumpy take on The White Stripes’ “Icky Thump”; and a whirlwind, beat-heavy “When the Levee Breaks,” which truly evokes a ferocious flood.

Classic metal is represented by Motörhead’s “Love Me Like a Reptile” and a medley of two Black Sabbath songs, “Jack the Stripper” and “Fairies Wear Boots.” Also covered: The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Suck My Kiss.”

Even if you’ve always hated any these songs, these re-imaginings are worth a listen. As good as some of them are, the originals “Dennis Chambers” and “The Balkony” show The Balkun Brothers at their multi-styled mind-melding best, with sizzling sax work-outs by Tommy Weeks.

Nineteen Times

‘That Won’t Be Today’

This one-man pop-punk outfit has been posting catchy raw original tunes to YouTube all year. The latest has a punchy beat and trembling lyrics about gearing up for a big discussion, then not having it go as planned. “Maybe then one day I’ll tell you, but that won’t be today.”

On his website, Nineteen Times (who goes by the name Camden in real life) notes his influences as everything from The Clash, Green Day and My Chemical Romance to grunge, alt-rock and “any ‘80s rock song with an arpeggiated riff.”

Some of those acts he cites are overproduced, yet he wisely opts for a full but rough-edged sound that’s hooky, rocky, vulnerable and a touch goofy.

Frank Critelli

‘The Muse EP’

Frank Critelli’s a Connecticut music scene icon: co-host of WPLR’s Sunday night “Local Bands Show,” host of myriad music showcases over the years in local coffeehouses and clubs and a diehard fan of the scene.

He’s also one of the most prolific members of it, mostly as a solo artist but as leader of bands as far flung as Brutally Frank and FCB and collaborations with The Sawtelles, the late Norman Cross and others.

Critell’s often shorthanded as a sensitive folk singer, but he can be darker and weirder than that, something “The Muse EP” proves handily. There are dashes of psychedelia and Beatlesesque whimsy, with welcome COVID-era plaints of patience, understanding and peace.

The excellent production is credited to Sam Carlson at Sans Serif Recording in New Haven. Carlson also drums, with Mike Voyce on bass, Ilya Gitelman and Cary Pollick on electric guitars and Mark Mirando on keyboards.

Critelli is on the forefront doing what he does best, playing acoustic and singing, but it’s those extra players that bring these sweet self-aware songs of longing and musing to the next level.

Kevlar Kohleone

‘The Devil and the Deluge’

The rapper that gave us the social statement “On Behalf of Connecticut” has a whole new eight-song album out. The title song samples gospel music and anti-drugs rhetoric from Ronald Reagan.

Many of the tracks have Kohleone rapping over jazz, soul and R&B riffs, but he keeps it sharp and lively. When he gets into a neatly scanned verbose groove it can mesmerizing. A soulful experience, but with strong messages about injustice.

Them Airs

‘VR Fletching’ and ‘Exploded Whips’

Not content to stay in one comfortably alt-pop place, Them Airs (whose list of influences couldn’t fit in an encyclopedia) have recently shifted to singular new sound that incorporates electronics, minimalism, harmonies, Velvet Underground-like spoken-word overlaps, Stereolab-like somnolence, guitar riffs, noise and drama.

The band’s recent singles “Exploded Whip” and “VR Fletching” are as complex and compelling as a lot of band’s full albums. “VR Fletching” has variant “Nightcore” and “Slowed + Reverb” mixes. This is the sort of studious, endlessly creative sort of studio pyrotechnics and mental gymnastics that will really make you realize that schools are back in sessions and the smart young bands are out in force.

Christopher Arnott can be reached at carnott@courant.com.