Return of Americana roots rock revivalists.
Red Means Run return with their first release since 2019, offering a revivalist set of roots Americana. The opener, ‘Isn’t What I Wanted,’ elicits a readily recognizable sound that lands somewhere between the open-hearted big chord joy of Tom Petty and the thicker guitar edge of Son Volt.
On ‘The Sound of Loneliness,’ this mood is maintained; a mix of shimmering guitar work and regret, “When your heart is emptied out, and there’s nothing left to confess.” The heavy guitars harken back to the heyday of 90s Americana bands like Uncle Tupelo and Whiskeytown, when many now-seasoned Americana followers first fell in love with the genre.
In fact, it carries a comforting assurance, with its familiarities, like the weathered, worn feeling of slipping on an old jacket. Its influences practically sewed on its sleeve. The title track blazes with Warren Zevon-esque energy and the sole acoustic ‘Broken Down Heart‘ evokes Wildflowers-era Petty. ‘The Other, Better Side of Me‘ keeps the energy loud despite the lyrical tone, with a rolling piano. It’s John Prine with Jason Wilber in rockabilly mode, with matching nimble self-reflective lyrics that rarely leave the domain of love-lorn regrets and the bumps and bruises of bad love.
If its heart is Americana, it never loses a vision of delivering something bigger and more wide-eyed. The propulsive rhythms, dominating guitars, and strong chorus hooks, such as the standout ‘Me to You,’ which features a swirling organ, curate a sound nearer to the root end of rock. Likewise, the production is bright, with little lo-fi grit.
‘Things You Hold True’ feels familiar but not unoriginal. Its hooks and pleasures are its own.
