 | Heartless Bastards |
Yesterday, Austin’s Heartless Bastards dropped their new album “The Mountain” on everyone. As I have mentioned before they have a gigantic tour, opening for a number of good acts, where they are going to hit about everywhere in the U.S. twice. “The Mountain” is a great trip down retro lane really with a nice modern edge to it, and will serve those looking for some good old fashioned rock and roll quite well.
The title/opening track starts out as a countrified slow jam that is a really solid song. From there however they dive further and further into 70s classic rock progressions and rock outs. Think basically Black Mountain or the Racounteurs minus all of the solos. Now you may think that without the solos it would get boring, but here it really doesn’t. The choice vocals and solid rhythm work here really drive the whole thing well from beginning to end.
The second track “Be So Happy” is a slower acoustic jam, but keeps in line with the classic rock feel, then “Early In The Morning” starts the more literal rock outs. Clocking in at under 2 and a half minutes it is a great example of the hard driving classic rock sound with the unique vocals. “Hold Your Head High” reminds of a great slow Bob Dylan/Neil Young kind of jam. “Out At Sea” is more of a rocker and has a great hook/bridge to it that sounds really cool, and is a high energy kind of song. “Nothing Seems The Same” continues the rocking with a nice blues groove, and “Wide Awake” is a more slow acoustic number, and has a bit more of an offbeat sound than the straight ahead rock experienced thus far.
This quieter moment continues on “So Quiet” which is even more prominently acoustic plus vocals, and leads on with “Had To Go” as well. Despite the slower build of the second half, they keep a very bluesy/rocky feel to the proceedings bringing in some strings when necessary, especially on “Had To Go”, which has some excellent strings interposed throughout the song, especially at the end. It is just an excellent song. It is almost old school country/folk at points. “Witchy Poo” is a little more straightforward like the beginning of the record, but has some sweet fills on it that work nicely. “Sway” is a bluesy closer that does a nice job of juxtaposing quiet moments against rock out moments.
This album is really solid, and like I said, despite there not being a lot of crazy solos as much of the 70s rock revival bands have nowadays, it still works incredibly well and soometimes even works better for it, as the songs really are allowed to develop and you are allowed to kind of feel them out as you go along without being force-fed on how to listen to them. It results in some very cool stuff, very classic rock mixed with folk, and it sounds like they could throw on a pretty good live show as well.
Here are the tour dates:
Feb 4 2009 8:00P Maxwell’s Hoboken, New Jersey
Feb 5 2009 8:00P Electric Factory w/ The Black Keys Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 6 2009 8:00P Terminal 5 w/ The Black Keys New York, New York
Feb 7 2009 8:00P Terminal 5 w/ The Black Keys New York
Feb 10 2009 8:00P Late Show With David Letterman New York, New York
Feb 11 2009 8:00P Gravity Lounge Charlottesville, Virginia
Feb 12 2009 8:00P Bottletree Birmingham, Alabama
Feb 13 2009 8:00P Government Street Grocery Club Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Feb 14 2009 8:00P The Last Concert Cafe Houston, Texas
Feb 26 2009 8:00P Sam’s Burger Joint San Antonio, Texas
Feb 27 2009 8:00P Longhorn Saloon Ft. Worth, Texas
Feb 28 2009 8:00P Hailey’s Denton, Texas
Mar 15 2009 8:00P The Pageant w. Andrew Bird St Louis, Missouri
Mar 16 2009 8:00P Liberty Hall w. Andrew Bird Lawrence, Kansas
Mar 17 2009 8:00P Cain’s Ballroom w. Andrew Bird Tulsa, Oklahoma
Mar 18 2009 8:00P TBA – SXSW Austin, Texas
Mar 19 2009 8:00P TBA – SXSW Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2009 8:00P TBA – SXSW Austin, Texas
Mar 21 2009 8:00P House of Blues w. Andrew Bird Houston, Texas
Mar 23 2009 8:00P Lyric Oxford w. Andrew Bird Oxford, Mississippi
Mar 25 2009 8:00P Madison Theater CD Release party Covington, Kentucky
Mar 27 2009 8:00P Webster Hall – W/ Gaslight Anthem New York, New York
Mar 28 2009 8:00P Trocadero w. Gaslight Anthem Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 29 2009 8:00P Mr. Smalls w. Gaslight Anthem Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mar 30 2009 8:00P Newport Music Hall w. Gaslight Anthem Columbus, Ohio
Apr 1 2009 8:00P St. Andrews Hall/w Gaslight Anthem Detroit, Michigan
Apr 2 2009 8:00P Turner Hall w. Gaslight Anthem Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Apr 4 2009 8:00P Varsity Theater w. Gaslight Anthem Minneapolis, Minnesota
Apr 7 2009 8:00P The Warehouse w. Gaslight Anthem Calgary, Alberta
Apr 8 2009 8:00P The Starlight Room w. Gaslight Anthem Edmonton, Alberta
Apr 10 2009 8:00P The Plaza Nightclub w. Gaslight Anthem Vancouver, British Columbia
Apr 11 2009 8:00P Crocodile Cafe Seattle, Washington
Apr 13 2009 8:00P Berbati’s Pan w. Gaslight Anthem Portland, Oregon
Apr 15 2009 8:00P The Boardwalk w. Gaslight Anthem Sacramento, California
Apr 16 2009 8:00P Slims w. Gaslight Anthem San Francisco, California
Apr 21 2009 8:00P The Clubhouse w. Gaslight Anthem Tempe, Arizona
Apr 22 2009 8:00P Launchpad – W/Gaslight Anthem Albuquerque, New Mexico
Apr 23 2009 8:00P Black Sheep w. Gaslight Anthem Colorado Springs, Colorado
Apr 24 2009 8:00P Gothic Theater w. Gaslight Anthem Denver, Colorado
Apr 25 2009 8:00P Beaumont Club w/ The Gaslight Anthem Kansas City, Missouri
Apr 28 2009 8:00P Granada Theatre w. Gaslight Anthem Dallas, Texas
Apr 29 2009 8:00P Antones – w/ Gaslight Anthem Austin, Texas
May 2 2009 8:00P State Theatre – W/ Gaslight Anthem Saint Petersburg, Florida
May 3 2009 8:00P The Social – w/ Gaslight Anthem Orlando, Florida
