When perusing reactions in the fanosphere to these West Coast-based southern rockers, terms such as ‘honest’ (as if the world is full of mendacious, disingenuous rock bands trying to deceive) and ‘no frills’ are often used. But while the motto on Robert Jon & The Wreck’s Bandcamp page reads “music, miles and whiskey”, bands like this often need an extra spark to set them apart from their fellow roadhogs and good ol’ boys. On this ninth official album, the latest in a prolific string of releases, their determination to find that is well in evidence.
Here they’ve benefitted from the input of Nashville super-producer Dave Cobb (who has also helped polish the sound of names such as Jason Isbell, Rival Sons, Sturgill Simpson and Brandi Carlile), but wisely they’re not trying to reinvent the southern rock wheels on which they have been rolling around the US for the past decade or more.
