You look on in awe at the likes of Dylan. His first eight albums came out in the space of five years. People opine that this doesn’t happen anymore. Those people don’t know Robert Jon and the Wreck.
The hardest working band in rock ’n’ roll bar none, this is their third album in three years, plus however many EPs – around half of these songs have been released before. “Sittin’ Pretty” is one of them, an energetic fizz bomb of a start and proof that there’s no finer rock ’n’ roll band around.
But they can switch gear at a moment’s notice. They are the best, full stop. In the spring, when I saw them, they made “Ashes in the Snow” a real centrepiece, and the ballad deserves it – somehow it sounds even better here than on the EP.
That’s true, too, of the utterly incredible “Highway”. There’s true mastery at work here. The way it swerves from Lizzy-style twin guitars to Henry James smashing out the solo is astonishing.
And “astonishing” is the word for much of this.
“Old Man,” one of the previously unreleased songs, has a chorus that belies its pain. “From my broken home I learned to stand,” sings Robert Jon – and maybe there’s real feeling here.
There’s a classic feel about the boogie of “Dark Angel,” a walk on the wild side if you will.
And there’s always a sense with RJATW that they know where the trouble is. One they’ve been playing live for a while, “Long Gone,” hides its nefarious intent behind sweet harmonies, but it’s there.
“Better of Me” is so timeless it could have been on an early Skynyrd album, or something more modern like TC3, and it fits right in. It’s a gift – and The Wreck deliver it.
“I Wanna Give It” opens with the line “I’ve got a Smith and Wesson in the back of my truck,” and it’s as Southern as that sounds, as well as searching for peace.
The title track is as good as it gets. Sort of country, sort of blues, wholly brilliant. “Pour me some liquor and forget the ice,” he sings – and you know this was written at 3am, in a moment of raw reflection.
“Keep Myself Clean” closes the album with the same class as the rest. Indeed, it might be the best track here – a lifetime on the road, a lifetime of hard knocks, it’s all wrapped up in this glorious five minutes.
Produced by Dave Cobb (and there’s barely a great band he hasn’t worked with over the years) and recorded in Georgia, the magic has rubbed off. “Heartbreaks and Last Goodbyes” is – even by the high standards of this most brilliant band – an absolute cracker.
Rating: 9/10
