ROBERT JON & THE WRECK : WRECKAGE VOL. 2

1. She's A Fighter
2. Waiting For Your Man
3. Rescue Train
4. The Weight
5. Old Hotel Room
6. Dark Roses
7. On The Run
8. Cannonball
9. Something To Remember Me By
10. Witchcraft

Label : Keeping The Blues Alive Records

Length : 56:56

Release Date : 2022

Review (Blues Rock Review) : If there’s a word to describe Robert Jon and the Wreck it’s probably steady. The band’s consistency of quality over the years is impressive and the band continues that trend with Wreckage Vol. 2. It’s Robert Jon and the Wreck’s first album since signing to Joe Bonamassa’s Keeping the Blues Alive record label. Wreckage Vol. 2 features 10 live tracks recorded in various locations. “She’s A Fighter” opens the album. The song was released earlier in 2022 and is one of the more entertaining music videos of the year. “Waiting For Your Man” was also released as a single earlier this year and is a hard-charging rocker. “Rescue Train” was recorded just before the pandemic and is actually one of the band’s oldest songs. Robert Jon and the Wreck generally don’t tackle many cover songs but do so with “The Weight” by The Band. Robert Jon and the Wreck’s version gives the song a funkier feel and has a great groove. “Old Hotel” room is a newer track and a definite standout. Burrison sings about the feeling of loneliness experienced on the road. The heartfelt “Dark Roses” follows which is about the loss of a close friend of the band’s. “Cannonball” is an instrumental track on the album and was featured on 2019’s Take Me Higher. Clocking in over 9 minutes, this is a great one for the live environment. The final two tracks on the album, “Something To Remember” and “Witchcraft” were both recorded live from DJE livestream studio. “Something To Remember” is definitely one of the band’s funkiest tunes and “Witchcraft” is a trippy instrumental. Robert Jon and the Wreck’s prolific output continues to impress. Live or in the studio, Robert Jon and the Wreck are must hear. Wreckage Vol. 2 should satisfy new fans and old as the band continues to grow its audience.

Review (Blues Enthused) : New album Wreckage Vol.2 from Robert Jon & The Wreck is a quasi-live album, mixing together some in concert recordings, live-in-session studio stuff, and a couple of new studio recordings. But really, that’s not important. What is important though, is that this collection underlines the fact that Robert Jon & The Wreck are a three-dimensional animal. Slapping a simple label on them is plain lazy, because this is a band who come at you from a variety of different angles, and make a damn good job of all of ‘em. For one thing, they can rock the foundations when they want, as on the opening couple of tracks, ‘She’s A Fighter’ and ‘Waiting For Your Man’. The opening ‘She's A Fighter’ is urgent, neck-snapping fare, led by huge, ringing chords, gambolling piano and floor-shaking organ. It’s a big sound, and I mean BIG, over which Robert Jon Burrison hollers with a voice built for mustering a cattle drive, while Henry James lets rip with a zippy guitar solo. And when they’re done with that, they find another gear and slam their foot to the floor on ‘Waiting For Your Man’, Andrew Espantman’s drums rattling along like a runaway train, Warren Murrel’s bass not so much bubbling as frothing, while Burrison and James lead the way with some nerve-jangling guitar. And later on, in case you’ve forgotten they can rock, they get their heads down in no-nonsense fashion on the helter-skelter bash of ‘ On The Run’. Get ready for clattering drums, surging slide guitar, rollicking barrelhouse piano and a wig-out guitar solo. Oh yeah, and a breathless call-and-response chorus. But the tail end of the album reveals them in more sophisticated rocking mode, with ‘Cannonball’ and ‘Witchcraft’ both stretching to around the ten-minute mark. The former is an instrumental that kicks off with crunking guitar chords and waves of organ, leading into a harmonised guitar theme. There’s a change of gear into a sharp, ascending riff, and then James is off and away on a sizzling guitar solo, later matched by a surging, gutsy organ solo from Steve Maggiora. Some of this carries echoes of big epics by the Allman Brothers Band from Fillmore East, like ‘You Don’t Love Me’ or ‘In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed’, but this comes with more focus and structure than a jam band exploration – and hey, that works for me, guys’n’gals! The same goes for the closing ‘Witchcraft’, another big thematic affair, juxtaposing harmonised guitar figures and chiming piano over swinging, churning drums’n’bass. A fizzing, squealing James solo spins back into the main theme, which then rolls into a jazzy piano solo from Maggiora. Then the bridge lets them switch direction into a more psychedelic segment full of Morse Code guitar and fluttering keys. The Wreck, I have to tell you, have this kinda thing nailed. But before getting to these epics, they take a turn down a different avenue with new songs ‘Old Hotel Room’ and ‘Dark Roses’. The first is a subdued, plaintive, weary-on-the-road song, with a touch of ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ in its guitar break and some typically good harmonies. The second is essentially a country ballad, with weeping slide licks and a tasteful balancing of piano and organ to go with its big chorus. Neither of these tracks is really my cup of tea, but that’s not to say they’re not done well. More to my liking is the short’n’sweet ‘Something To Remember Me By’, on which the Wreck take a different tack, and get good and funky. And then there’s their cover of ‘The Weight’. Now this is the kind of thing that might sometimes have me asking “What’s the point?”. However, while they may not do anything radical with it, they absolutely do it justice, staking a claim to The Band’s blending of American folk tradition and rock’n’roll with an impressive lightness of touch. More of this kind of thing, Wreckers! Wreckage Vol.2 may be lashed together from a variety of sources, but it’s still quality stuff, and Robert Jon & The Wreck are the real deal. And that’s the only label that really matters.

Review (Bluestown Music) : De Amerikaanse Southern rockband Robert Jon & The Wreck (RJTW) uit Orange County, Californië, is in 2011 opgericht door zanger-gitarist Robert Jon Burrison. In 2013 verschijnt hun goed onthaalde debuut EP ‘Rhythm Of The Road’. Op de OC Music Awards 2013 in Orange County wordt de band verkozen tot beste liveband van dat jaar. In 2015 verschijnt hun debuutalbum ‘Glory Bound’. De band krijgt daarna een steeds grotere schare fans, niet alleen in de VS maar ook in Europa. Eind september verscheen ‘Wreckage Vol. 2’ (live), het nieuwe album van Robert Jon & The Wreck. Een album met tien songs die tussen 2020 – 2022 live zijn opgenomen. Het album is uitgebracht op KTBA (Keeping The Blues Alive), het label van Joe Bonamassa. Het openingsnummer is She’s A Fighter, een opwindende rocker met gruizig gitaarwerk, een strakke ritmesectie en een pingelende piano. Het nummer is opgenomen in Ancienne Belgique in Brussel op 29 juni 2022. Deze nieuwe single werd voor het eerst tijdens hun Europese tournee van 2022 gespeeld. De uptempo rocker Waiting For Your Man (ook op single uitgebracht) is eveneens opgenomen in Brussel op 29 juni 2022. Na een onheilspellend intro barst de band los met gitaarsolo’s, piano en prominent drumwerk. Rescue Train en The Weight zijn opgenomen op 26 februari 2020, midden in de COVID-19 pandemie, in Shuffle Brothers Studios in Gallatin, Tennessee. Rescue Train is een van de oudste songs van RJTW, een rocker met indringende gitaarsolo’s, fraaie basloopjes en heerlijke keyboards. The Weight is een schitterende ruim 7½ minuut lange groovy en funky cover van de klassieker van The Band. De keyboardsolo’s van Steve Maggiora zijn weer om van te smullen. De volgende drie songs zijn opgenomen op 23 juni 2020 in Sunset Sound in Hollywood, Californië, o.l.v. producer Darrell Thorp (bekend van o.a. Foo Fighters, Radiohead, Beck en OutKast). Old Hotel Room is een mooie ballad en ook Dark Roses is een (stevige) ballad over een overleden vriend die dichtbij de band stond. In de zeer snelle dynamische rocker On The Run wordt het tempo weer flink opgeschroefd met vlammende gitaarsolo’s. De instrumental Cannonball, waarin de band er ruim 9 minuten lang lustig op los soleert, is weer opgenomen in Shuffle Brothers Studios op 26 februari 2020. De laatste twee nummers zijn opgenomen via livestream in de DJE Studio’s in Foothill Ranch, Californië op 14 mei 2020. Something To Remember Me By begint met een kort drumintro, maar deze funky song explodeert snel daarna met heavy gitaarriffs in een bad van keyboards. De afsluiter Witchcraft laat een band in topvorm horen. Een ruim 10 ½ minuut durende Southern rock instrumental, met vlammende gitaarsolo’s van Henry James, een flitsend solerende Steve Maggiora op keyboards en een gedreven ritmesectie. Conclusie: Met het album ‘Wreckage Vol. 2’ is het bewijs weer geleverd: Robert Jon & The Wreck is een geweldige liveband.