Maybe the most interesting part about the musical descriptor \u201ca cross between Paul Westerberg and Lucinda Williams\u201d is that both artists remain alive and well and making music, so a collaboration wouldn\u2019t be out of the question. In the meantime, though, let\u2019s not waste the opportunity to be surprised by others attempting to locate that potentially rather magical musical intersection between literate singer-songwriter country-rock and boozy, foot-stomping alternative rock.<\/p>\n
Mick Rhodes & The Hard Eight are a Los Angeles quintet that appears bound and determined to ply their trade in that heretofore imaginary Williams-Westerberg nexus, and does a damned respectable job at it. Punk-turned-roots-rocker (and singer-songwriter) Rhodes has a clear vision that the band behind him\u2014Wyman Reese (keyboards, production), Brian Wells (drums), John Sleeger (bass) and Steve Strugis (background vocals)\u2014is more than a capable of bringing to life. <\/p>\n
Said vision includes everything from honky-tonk rock (\u201cSince You\u201d and \u201cUnder The Bustle\u201d), to delicate country ballads (\u201cDon\u2019t Remind Me\u201d), to punky three-chord power pop (\u201cKeep It Simple\u201d). Each of these thoughtfully arranged tunes approaches Rhodes\u2019 tunes from a slightly different perspective. <\/p>\n
Leading off, \u201cMarried Girls\u201d features a rockabilly heart, a big fuzz guitar, and some sound life advice (\u201cDon\u2019t fall in love with a married girl\u201d), before \u201cSince You\u201d delivers some fine, fine honky tonk, with fat guitars, barrelhouse piano, three-part harmonies, sassy horns, and a big, bluesy solo by since-departed Hard Eight lead guitarist Brian Hall.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast Summer\u201d pairs an anthemic heartland rock feel with a melancholy lyric (\u201cIt\u2019s the last summer of your life\u201d) that would make Tom Petty grin. The middle section of the album leans to the country side of the band, with \u201cThat Kind Of Love\u201d executing a steady build from acoustic and pedal steel into a big-boned, full-band ballad postulating that imperfect love is better than none at all.<\/p>\n
The slight, delicate \u201cDon\u2019t Remind Me\u201d is a more traditional country ballad about the narrator wanting to be reminded of his \u201cwicked selfish ways\u201d that has a bit of a Jimmy Buffett feel to a lyric full of resigned self-knowledge. Contrasting nicely, \u201cKeep It Simple\u201d pays tribute to Rhodes\u2019 punk roots with \u201cThree chords and a point of view \/ pawn shop guitars and an attitude \/ Aww, keep it simple, baby\u201d over a fat guitar hook.<\/p>\n
Later on, \u201cWhisky Girl\u201d offers a moody character sketch heavy on Wyman Reese\u2019s organ and big harmonies, with strong tension between its brooding verses and booming choruses that reminds of classic Petty or Black Crowes. For tongue-in-cheek nostalgia, it\u2019s hard to beat \u201cHeavy Metal Heyday\u201d (\u201cWorkin\u2019 so hard to look run down\u2026 You weren\u2019t in the band \/ but you were on the guest list\u201d), about looking back to your partying days from the front seat of a minivan full of kids. Closer \u201cGo To The Love\u201d turns matters serious again, a soulful tune about battling addiction, featuring rich harmonies over a spacious arrangement.<\/p>\n
Rhodes\u2019 vocals and lyrics have a kind of everyman charm; neither could really be termed exceptional, but whatever he occasionally lacks in polish, Rhodes more than makes up for with heart and sincerity on these smartly arranged, powerfully performed tunes. Paradise City<\/i> finds Mick Rhodes not just walking a tightrope between bar-band roots rock and literate country-folk, but falling off to one side or the other again and again before hopping right back up on the wire. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":32610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[9770],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-44376","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-mick-rhodes-the-hard-eight","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44376"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}