Will Johnson - Swan City Vampires (2015)

Rock and roll had an awful day last September when it learned that Centro-matic would no longer perform following its 2014 tour. For nearly two decades, this workmanlike band from Denton, Texas churned out fuzz-laden Crazy Horse-style rock, set to some of the most cryptic lyrics this side of Ezra Pound. They were a band’s band, to be sure, with artists like Justin Townes Earle citing them as a personal favorite.

Lucky for us, there is life after death. Frontman Will Johnson is continuing to write songs (and paint), and his fourth solo album Swan City Vampires, out September 25, is presented here in full for streaming. Recorded over two separate sessions, the album is not a far stretch from his work with Centro-matic, and even features an elegy for his late band “(Made Us Feel Like) Kings” as well as a tribute to his recently departed mother (“The Watchman”).

“When the record was coming together, I was dealing with loss and a lot of uncertainty,” Johnson said. “It was a strange time, emotionally. I didn’t necessarily know what I wanted the album to transmit. There was a lot of raw emotion flying around. For the first time, I didn’t have some sort of grand picture or plan for the whole record. I wanted to get as much down as I could and figure it out later.”