Short Takes

Most talk about Heatless Bastards begins with lead singer Erika Wennerstrom and her dynamic voice. Others have likened it to a mix of PJ Harvey and Robert Plant, showing just how powerful her voice can be. And it’s true, for the majority of The Mountain her voice dominates the soundscape and when you start listening to how powerful the guitar riffs are and how loud the rhythm section can be you truly begin to realize just how awesome that feat is. Her voice warbles and trill its way through most of these bluesy rock songs, the perfect fit for hard rock that is pounding and insatiable at every turn. But make no mistake about, Heartless Bastards is a full band at a very high level throughout The Mountain coaxing every bit of power from everyone on the record. This is a pretty awe inspiring record that fits neatly next to some heavy rock Goliaths.
Heartless Bastards - "Out At Sea"
Heartless Bastards - "Had To Go"

After finally breaking out with the release of his third album, Pride, Matthew Houck has gone and released an album of covers to follow it up. The path of Phosphorescent may not be the path that I’d have chosen, but the album of Willie Nelson covers makes sense for a number of reasons. Most importantly, countless people have compared Houck’s voice with the dry delivery Nelson has been famed for for ages. On To Willie, Houck ratchets up the slow, dry delivery and definitely finds a nice little niche in covering some of Nelson’s songs. He wisely avoids attempting to re-create these tunes in his own image, instead he does the Nelson originals justice with some nicely laid out tracks which musically are fairly solid. The voice is the key here though and Houck does an admirable job all the way through. There are a few standouts, namely the album’s first tune "Reasons to Quit" and ‘Permanently Lonely", which are instant classics in the world of covers. For a cover album this is a pretty well imagined, planned, and executed record, I’m just more excited to hear something new and original from Houck. Hopefully that will come soon.
Phosphorescent - "Reasons to Quit"
Phosphorescent - "Permanently Lonely"

Over the course of the first two Vetiver records Andy Cabic set the groundwork for the style that this musical project will run over. It is different from his more popular work with Devendra Banhart, eschewing the freak part of folk altogether and focusing on the finger picking, sunny lyrics of straight ahead folk. On his third record under the Vetiver moniker, Cabic has finally allowed other elements into play allowing a bit more pop to enter the fray and throwing some light synths here and there to give the album a more layered feel then anything he’s done in the past. It’s these things that give Tight Knit a chance to make its way into your everyday life, adding elements of hooks and style without which it would be a pretty boring record overall. It still follows most of the folk coda though, most of the songs are very hushed and gently played, and you would be forgiven if you drifted off to sleepy land while listening. There are moments, like the lead single "Everyday" and the horns found on "Another Reason To Go" where things pick up a bit, but those moments are fleeting. Tight Knit is a steady sounding record, with some truly excellent musicianship, but it never rises to a level that grabs you and takes you deeper into the music and that’s where it suffers.
Vetiver - "Everyday"
Vetiver - "More Of This"