Wheels Of The City
LoHi, 2019
8/10
The Colorado Americana stars The Drunken Hearts return with another batch of their folk and country influenced formula, as Wheels Of The City unfolds with themes surrounding love, risk and realization.
“Fire In A House” starts the listen with plenty of atmosphere before the husky vocals and sparking setting of emotive roots rock enter, and “Shining Eyes” follows with a rugged spirit of cautious and dense Americana.
Halfway though, the piano rock of “Unrest” moves with style and rhythm that even touches on prog-rock, while the title tracks trims the volume back to a more bare delivery where pedal steel, horns and strings complement the affair.
Deeper into the listen, “In The Middle” flows with grooves amid the funk and country ideas, and “The Cave” exits the record with spoken word that breaks into a thicker version of their rock prowess that’s entirely instrumental and even recruits psyche-rock nods.
The band recorded one song a day until the album was finished, and together with the string and horn section have made an impressive listen that’s fit for mountain life as well as urban adventures, especially with frontman Andrew McConathy’s Eddie Vedder-ish pipes.
Travels well with: Elephant Revival- Sands Of Now; Devotchka- This Night Falls Forever