It’s always a pleasure nowadays for me to review Americana-themed releases. There’s scores of subgenres falling within the style’s purview while the musicianship and songwriting prowess powering modern Americana music is the healthiest it has been in at least a quarter century. Musicians and writers like those forming the band Wreckless Strangers are a big reason for the style’s uniform excellence in recent years.
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They marry well-chosen fidelity to the past, a willingness to repurpose different tropes, and the proverbial “something personal to say” into something unique. There’s no regurgitating the past blindly for this California based sextet and the new single “You Just Hurt” from their latest release When the Sun and a Blue Star Collide shows this, underlined for emphasis.
Some might call this straight blues but it isn’t. Wreckless Strangers toss a liberal amount of rock into the fray and the souped-up blues riffing are the song’s best guitar parts alongside its electrifying slide. The latter scorches listeners with one run after another and, just when you think it has exhausted itself, it slices through you once more. It’s nothing, however, without the outstanding rhythm guitar driving the main portion of the song down the track.
Drummer Mick Hellman is responsible for a lot of that as well. His propulsive work on the kit never overreaches and gives even the harder edged sections of this track plenty of “roll” instead of just the “rock”. The band members’ musical chops share the common bond of prioritizing the fundamentals above everything else and it’s obvious with a single listen how this approach pays off for “You Just Hurt”.
David Noble and Rob Anderson make for an exciting team on guitar. There’s no sense of push and pull damaging their musical partnership and they play as a single unit, always cohesive. Noble takes on double duties as he serves as the song’s lead singer as well. There’s no indication, though, that the burdens of the role hamper his ability to give a winning performance. His phrasing, in particular, is the biggest positive contribution his singing makes to the song.
It gives fine lyrics added weight they might otherwise lack. The Wreckless Strangers aren’t attempting to serve up performed poetry to their listeners but “You Just Hurt” has a message that goes beyond simpler songwriting and says something about how we sometimes live our lives. What more can you ask from a song lyric in the end?
It’s an unqualified success by any measure. Wreckless Strangers’ new single “You Just Hurt” brings us all the goods that make this cadre of musicians one of the best Americana outfits performing, writing, and recording. They aren’t interested in or attempting to live in the past, but Wreckless Strangers are happy to make use of the past making music for today. Their history testifies to their talents and the enduring appeal of this music. It won’t go away and, as long as practitioners such as these come along to carry the torch, it will never die.
Heather Savage
