Old sounds in new songs create album of could be classics.
Ted Z and the Wranglers came together in 2012 in southern California, and have since been sharpening their chops as a live band for more than a decade. The time spent together shows. This is a band that works with balance, precision, and consideration – each member gives the other room to shine.
The Wranglers have a great rhythm section consisting of Marcos de la Cruz on drums and Henry Clift on bass guitar. But they don’t just lay down a beat. They provide a force that is noticeable in every song, several of which open up with the bass. Their work is interwoven with the guitar work of Jackson Leverone (lead) and James Hamilton. And they all sing. Ted Zakka, lead singer, principal songwriter and also on guitar, brings it all together. Veterans of playing together in innumerable bars, clubs and other venues, the Wranglers have created a unique sound.
Like a lot of veterans, their roots show. Proudly. The Wranglers have shared a stage with the last surviving members of the bands from which they take inspiration, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Steppenwolf. Skynyrd, from Florida, was the prototypical Southern rock band, most noted for the hit song ‘Freebird’. Steppenwolf comes out of the same California scene as the Doors and Buffalo Springfield, and its biggest hit was the bikers’ anthem, ‘Born to Be Wild’. Both bands were no longer big names by the time Ted Zaka was born, and yet he and the Wranglers melded the sounds of California in the 60s and 70s with Southern rock to create their own take.
The sounds of the 60s/70s can be heard throughout the songs on “Kerosene”: ‘First Time’ has an affinity to Jackson Browne. The guitar work on ‘Let Me Be Your Sin’ revives memories of the Dead. ‘Love Anyway’ is reminiscent of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. And though Simon and Garfunkel are neither from the American South nor the West Coast, their influence is clear in both the music and lyrics of Ted Z’s ‘Mercy’. The line “just a poet and pen” echoes Simon and Garfunkel’s “just a poet and one man band”.
This isn’t to say that Ted Z and the Wranglers are imitative. They are originals, in the same way, that every good musician takes what has been done before and tunes it to their own voice. Some of their songs may remind you of those you’ve heard before, but when the Wranglers sing and play, you get their distinctive view of the pain of loss, regret, and the potential of redemption. These are personal songs which reflect the experiences of the writer and put to music by the collective. Ted Z doesn’t seem to write stories to be sung as much; he creates sound paintings of emotional impressions. The Wranglers’ sound works well with this style of song, conjuring shifting images of loss and regret, along with hope and high spirits.
“Kerosene” is worth listening to as a whole, not because it is a concept album but for the emotion. To experience its honesty, one has to feel it rather than track the narrative. It’s rollicking good-time music with shadows of sadness. The Wranglers are the legitimate heirs of two fine traditions. So, sit back and imagine you’re in a honkytonk and your baby just left you, but Ted Z and the Wranglers take the stage; they help you through the pain and back out on the road.
