Last November Band To Watch alums Twin Peaks announced a few 10th anniversary shows for their 2016 album Down In Heaven at Thalia Hall in their hometown of Chicago, which has ballooned into an eight-night run featuring opening sets from a range of locals and friends of the band including Lifeguard, V.V. Lightbody, Post Animal, Finn Wolfhard, and more. Last night, after an opening set from rock ‘n’ roll peers Ne-Hi, they returned to the stage for their first show in six years.
Reckoners sophomore album, Where the Hell Am I?, is out on May 15th. They’ve been releasing a steady stream of singles over the last couple months, but for my money, some of the best tracks are still in store for blues rock listeners when the record hits. Simply put, this record is damn near perfect. There are a couple moments where a track or two don’t quite measure up to the overall extreme quality of the others, but I didn’t give a single song less than an eight out of 10.
Reckoners are a Boston-based five-piece soul and roots rock outfit with a lot of classic rock in their DNA. This is their first record with an organized label and they’ve been coming up the blues rock circuit touring with bands like the Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Wallflowers, and Bonnie Raitt. The band is made up of: Tim Gearan on vocals and guitar, Johnny Trama on guitar, Thomas Arey on drums, Darby Wolf on keys, and Marc Hickox on bass. Also credited for guest support on Where the Hell Am I? are Sonya Rae Taylor on vocals and guitar, Ryan Taylor on guitar, and Kevin Barry on guitar and lap steel.
Where the Hell Am I? is a musically and thematically interesting record. There are times where the songs delve into contemplative or even existential lyrical material, but for the most part both the musical structure and the lyrical themes are upbeat, hopeful, romantic, and inspiring. It’s a feel-good record that is genuinely touching and entertaining. Reckoners’ sound on Where the Hell Am I? is best characterized as lighthearted, optimistic guitar-driven hard rock riffs and solos with interesting drum choices and excellent, epic feeling organ work on keys. There’s a bit of soul and southern rock in there as well. The production and mixing are first rate and the band sounds excellent; I was continuously impressed with the musicianship on display in every song.
The record is divided up into 10 total tracks, all of which are fun and high quality. The real standout tracks are “We Saw It All,” “Don’t Look Down,” “Consuelo,” and ‘Not to Worry.” Please note that out of 10 tracks I gave four of them (almost half) a perfect 10/10 score. “We Saw It All” has a nice crunchy church organ sound with a fun bassline under it that builds out a bouncy and fun romantic tune that describes a day in the life with a lover and how love itself can make the world seem more interesting and delightful.
“Don’t Look Down” is a more country feeling tune (the spirit of ZZ Top is present) that is fast and rambling with upbeat lyrics about falling in love, and features a very nice drum break about halfway through, followed by a big keys and guitar part that feels bluesy and rocking, creating a very profound moment just over 2/3 through the record.
“Consuelo” is a significantly slower and bluesier number than the previous two I mentioned, with a light piano part that manages to balance a tale of heartbreak with a hopefulness for future love. The final(and best) track on the album is “Not to Worry.” It’s big and funky at times almost feels like Parliament-Funkadelic with a big soul chorus, rocking funky breaks in between, and the best guitar solo on the album.
There are only really two tracks on the record that didn’t feel nearly perfect to me: the first track, “Second Skin” which feels a little bit unoriginal, even if it does achieve its goals, and the fifth track, “Silver Stallion,” which at times can feel torn somewhere between a James Taylor song and a ’90s indie song. There’s nothing wrong with either of these tracks, but they don’t achieve the perfection or near perfection of the other three quarters of the record.
So there it is! Where the Hell Am I? is a nearly perfect record from a newer blues rock band that is making their first foray into publishing with an organized label. If there’s any justice in the world, and with a little bit of luck, the quality of this record, along with their touring work will help Reckoners become staples of our genre. If this is the quality of music we can expect from up-and-coming blues rock bands for the rest of the year and looking forward, then the genre is very well positioned indeed. I can’t wait to hear more from them.
The Review: 9/10
Can’t Miss Tracks
– We Saw It All – Don’t Look Down – Consuelo – Not to Worry
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