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ROBERT JON & THE WRECK : RED MOON RISING
- Stone Cold Killer
- Trouble
- Ballad Of A Broken Hearted Man
- Red Moon Rising
- Dragging Me Down
- Hold On
- Down No More
- Help Yourself
- Worried Mind
- Give Love
Bonus Tracks : - Rager
- Hate To See You Go
Label : Journeyman Records
Release Date : June 28, 2024
Length : 51:58
Review (Written In Music) : De titeltrack roept herinneringen op aan een bijna gelijknamige hitsong van Creedence Clearwater Revival uit de late jaren zestig. Het blijft bij de titel, de song die Robert Jon Burrison samen met zijn trouwe drummer Andrew Espantman en gitarist Henry James Shneekuth van The Wreck, componeerde heeft weinig uitstaans met John Fogerty’s Bad Moon Rising. Niettemin is er toch een onmiskenbare gelijkenis hoewel CCR In Berkeley, in de Bay Area van San Francisco ontkiemde, leek het oeuvre zo uit de swamps van Louisiana weggelopen. Het verhaal van Jon en zijn kompanen speelt zich eveneens af in Californië. Robert Jon & The Wreck lonkt naar de erfenis van de southern rock en ze sturen dan ook sinds 2011 vanuit Orange energieke rootsrock de wereld in. In de slipstream van langspelers als Last Light On The Highway en Shine A Light on Me Brother volgden passages op festivalpodia in de Lage Landen. In het met strakke ritmiek opgebouwde Stone Cold Killer brengt gitarist Heny James al de eerste slide-erupties op van gitarist Shneekluth die samen met frontman Jon en drummer Espantman het repertoire aanlevert. Na het snerpende, met orgelwerk van Jake Abernathie gelardeerde, snarenwerk Trouble volgt Ballad Of A Broken Hearted Man, evenals de pianoballade Help Yourself en Worried Mind meeslepende midtempo rock met de soulvolle zang van Jon ondersteund door rijk geschakeerde harmoniezang op het voorplan en eerder sobere gitaarinterventies. Die komen in het uitgelaten Down No More, Give Love en vooral Hate To See You aan bod in een melodieuze benadering met oplopende gitaarlijnen die nauw aanleunt bij de vertrouwde southern rocktraditie. Het verrassingseffect is uiteraard uitgewerkt maar dat belet niet dat Red Moon Rising weerom een meer dan behoorlijke indruk nalaat en het beste voorspelt voor de geplande concerten tijdens de zomer en herfst tournee.
Review (Blues Rock Review) : One of the hardest working bands around is back with Red Moon Rising. Robert Jon and the Wreck has frequently been releasing singles leading up the album. Red Moon Rising is produced by Kevin Shirley and released through Joe Bonamassa’s Journeyman Records. It comes just a little over a year since 2023’s Ride Into The Light. The band consists of frontman Robert Jon Burrison (leads vocals/guitar), Henry James Schneekluth (lead guitar), Warren Murrel (bass), Andrew Espantman (drums), and new keyboard player Jake Abernathie. Red Moon Rising opens with the punchy rocker “Stone Cold Killer,” which was released as a single back in 2023. “Trouble” has a great groove as Robert Jon belts, “She’s T-R-O-U-B-L-E she’s trouble.” “Red Moon Rising opens with the punchy rocker “Stone Cold Killer,” which was released as a single back in 2023. “Trouble” has a great groove as Robert Jon belts, “She’s T-R-O-U-B-L-E.” “Ballad of a Broken Hearted Man” is the crown jewel of the album. Henry James has an acoustic guitar intro that gives vibes of Joe Bonamassa’s “Mountain Time” which goes into slide guitar before Robert’s vocals kick in. The music video has over 1 million views on YouTube and for good reason, this is one of the best songs the band has released. The title track “Red Moon Rising” gives the feel of a contemporary Western, very cool. “Hold On” is classic Robert Jon and the Wreck showing the band’s knack for writing catchy songs. “Down No More” is radio friendly southern rock with sing-along vocals. “Worried Mind” moves things back in the acoustic direction and is tastefully complimented by Henry’s slide. Robert Jon and the Wreck show no signs of slowing down on Red Moon Rising. After ten plus years of grinding it out with consistently great albums, Red Moon Rising gives the feeling the band is on the verge of a real breakthrough, so enjoy the ride and get wrecked.
Review (Rockposer Dot Com) : I don’t really know much about Robert Jon and the Wreck, other than the odd song on Plant Rock. However, what I have heard has piqued my interest, so I jumped at the chance to do this review. Hailing from Southern California, these guys have been together since 2011 and have been prolific in terms of the number of albums and Eps they have released in that time. Their stock sound is a southern blues rock style and I believe this is the first album through Joe Bonamassa’s Journeyman Records label. The album opener is pacey melodic rocker ‘Stone Cold Killer’, which is certainly blues inspired, but not of the southern rock variety. It has real Black Crowes groove to it, but Robert’s voice distinguishes it from the Crowes as does the overall groove of the song. Opening with some slide guitar, it launches straight into a full onslaught and then breaks down into the verse with interplay between vocals and guitar riff and builds through the bridge into the chorus, which is really catchy. Next up is’ Trouble’ which is the next single from the album. This is a real blues rock stomper, which moves from the stomp of the verse and then into a flowing rousing chorus where we find out she is T-R-O-U-B-L-E but with the E being pronounce A! They do say the UK and US are the only two countries in the world separated by a common language. ‘Ballad of a Broken-Hearted Man‘ is next the pace and mood are dropped somewhat. This is the first song with a hint of that southern rock bent the band have which is reflected in the overall groove of the walking rhythm the song is built around the southern infused slide geetar! Robert Jon’s vocals also provide a southern drawl and another catchy chorus with enough backing vocals to reinforce the melody but with making it sound lush. Next up is the title track ‘Red Moon Rising‘. This shows another facet to the bands sound is a funky affair through the verses with some great funky keyboards and bass carrying it guitar providing texture. Indeed, the funk continues through the guitar solo section and is reminiscent of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band in funky mode. ‘Dragging Me Down‘ slips us back into more mainstream blues rock territory with funky twist through the verses before launching into a chorus anchored in a great twisting riff and another catchy chorus. In terms of the vinyl version, there ends side one. Virtually flipping this bad boy, we have ‘Hold On‘ which is another melodic blues rocker wrapped around a great guitar chop. Of the numbers so far, this is by the most straight-forward guitar-driven track and shows another dimension to the songwriting. Like those songs before it, there is another great hook in the chorus. ‘Down No More‘ changes down a gear or two opening with some delicious harmony guitars. It then quickly drops into a laid-back acoustic groove where Robert Jon exclaims his need to find a way out! The chorus is based on the same riff as the verse but lifted with some additional electric riffage and then out with those harmony guitars which are definitely reminiscent of the Allman Brothers for me! We get more variety with ‘Help Yourself‘ which opens with piano and is wrapped around the piano playing. Despite being another laid back number it bounces along on shuffle-style rhythm, with the piano taking centre stage. Another catchy chorus which rolls out to the end of the song with counterpart melodies. Great stuff. ‘Worried Mind‘ goes back to the acoustic groove of Hold On. The opening couple of minutes it really has an Early Eagles feel with great use of acoustic and electric guitar, piano and mouth harp providing texture. On the second verse around we get some mandolin or similar in the background. In terms of the vinyl, we are now into the last song, entitled ‘Give Love‘. This opens with nicely layered acoustic guitar and piano and the electric guitar slowly weaves it way into the song around the bouncing rhythm. While it builds into a crescendo of sorts in the middle-eight before letting loose with the solo. Just when you think it is going gently lilt its way to the end f the song, the Allman Brothers definitely step into the room and some glorious southern-inspired harmony guitars intertwine with excellent building counterpart chorus vocals with each have its space and amazingly not sounding cluttered. The music slowly fades down to piano and vocal and finishes with a single chorus melody – what a wonderful ending to the album if buying the vinyl! However, if you are buying the CD, you two bonus tracks. The first of these is ‘Rager‘ which sounds like a sixties-inspired Hendrix riff and is rockier than any pf the tracks on the ten-song vinyl album. Really rocks and most certainly by design as it ends in a sprint to the end sounding like Deep Purple! It certainly lives up to its name. The last of songs and the second bonus CD track is ‘I Hate To See You Go‘. This is a southern rock style ballad of sorts and has more Allmans Brothers style harmony guitars and epitomizes side 2 of the vinyl. And again, another great chorus. Having listened to them, they certainly merit being on the album properly. On that basis, I am assuming they are not on the vinyl for mastering/technical reasons as sound quality does deteriorate in terms of volume. As my first proper listening to these guys, I am most certainly impressed with the song-writing. In particular I am impressed with the ease with which they shift the feel and groove across the album without it sounding eclectic or bitty. Great playing, great choruses, great vocals – so what’s not to like? However, I do feel there is something missing in terms of a little more bite or edge in the sound, but that’s just my personal perspective. If you like a band that can mix up a variety of blues and southern rock with some panache, then check them out as you might just like them.