Californian rockers return with a set of songs rooted in the Deep South.
Hailing from Southern California, Robert Jon & The Wreck have their feet firmly on the ground in the east beyond the red clay of Texas. Working with legendary producer Dave Cobb in his Savannah recording studio, the band have soaked up every ounce of leftover energy from the Georgia surroundings, mixed it with their own, and produced a wonderful collection of songs. Cobb has worked with so many artists, including Waylon Jennings, Dawes, Jason Isbell and Chris Stapleton, and there are certainly elements of these in the music.
The band have been around for over a decade, self-releasing the majority of their material until joining Journeyman Records for their “Ride Into The Light” album in 2023. As with previous outings, the heavy southern rock guitar riffs, thunderous bass and twin guitars are all still there, so fans will not be disappointed. Whether it’s the Georgia air or Cobb’s production, the recordings have come alive. The Wrecks sound like they are having a great time, and the balance between the loud, heavy, and laid-back grooves is just about right.
‘Sittin’ Pretty’ opens proceedings with a sound reminiscent of Led Zeppelin in the vocals. It’s a heavy stop-start bluesy number with some killer guitar that finishes abruptly, leading you into the mellow vibes of ‘Ashes In The Snow’. The single ‘Highway’ is where the twin guitar comes to the fore, and it is absolutely stunning. There is an Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy vibe to the sound that builds before going into a slowed-down verse section. Lyrically, it’s a love song which starts with the brilliant opening lines “She was a dream / That I didn’t want / The I never cared for / But now she’s everything to me”. The track started as an acoustic idea. Guitarist Henry James Schnnekluth developed the song with the band to evolve into its finished product. ‘Dark Angel’ is a collaborative songwriting effort with Leslie Satcher (George Strait, Gretchen Wilson and Vince Gill) and is a story of a real-life experience Satcher had as a touring musician with some poetic license thrown in. There’s that heavy guitar riff and power chords over the drum and bass. Jon’s gravelly voice picks up the story of the mysterious subject of the song but leaves us as mesmerised as the vocalist.
The tracks are all mutual affairs with all the members credited. That comes across in the music, where everyone has a part to play. The vocals and guitars are at the forefront, but listen to the cut of ‘Long Gone’ and the superb cymbal play from Andrew Espantman in the background, Jake Abernathi’s excellent keyboards on ‘Better of Me’, which could inspire a gospel spirit in anyone, regardless of your religious leanings.
There are albums where you feel good or even great songs trying to get out, and they never quite make it. Dave Cobb has allowed the words of Robert Jon & The Wreck to be free and let the band fill their lungs with fresh Georgia air—a fully formed collection, leaving the fume-filled LA roads behind, they have been able to breathe.
