artist: Andy Hawk and the Train Wreck Endings
album: Another Roadside Attraction
genre: rock | blues | folk
listen now…
My, My
Wheel Like the Wind
I’ve listened to all of Andy Hawk’s albums including his latest release entitled Another Roadside Attraction, which, if you’re counting is his 6th studio effort overall and his 2nd with the Train Wreck Endings. All that music and I still can’t quite pin a genre on him. Above I mention (3) possibilities but even they don’t quite capture the essence that is Andy Hawk. Is “honest” a genre? Because if it is, that’s the word I choose as it best describes not only this latest release but the entire Hawk discography.
All songs tell stories and while some artists can rely solely on their music to tell their tale, others need to marry lyrics with melodies in order to effectively convey their message. Andy Hawk uses both…but he doesn’t have to…and that, my friends, is what separates good song-writing from great song-writing.
“My, My” blends contemporary rock with an upbeat alt-country feel and does so with a delivery that is fluid not forced while “Lipstick & Dynamite” has more of a Texas-blues/honky-tonk flava that makes for a very interesting contrast. The piano accompaniment that starts off and carries through “Wheel Like the Wind” would bring a tear to Jerry Lee Lewis’ eye. In fact I’m pretty sure that Steve Devries was channeling the Killer when he recorded that one! As I listen to the righteous 60′s guitar riff paired with the steady rhythmic timbre of the drums in “Ghosts of Summer Sun” I can’t help but get the feeling that I should be chilling out on a beach somewhere right around sunset. This is my point. When you pop in this disc, each track will elicit a unique feeling/response that can only come from honest music performed by a gifted story-teller.
Andy Hawk and Train Wreck Endings deliver another winner with Another Roadside Attraction.
- Drago
