Red Moon Rising, Robert Jon and the Wreck performed at Knuckleheads in Kansas City on Sunday, August 11th.
The set included multiple songs from such as “Ballad of a Broken Hearted Man” and “Trouble” along with Wreck staples like “Oh Miss Carolina” and “When I Die.”
I don’t really know much about Robert Jon and the Wreck, other than the odd song on Plant Rock. However, what I have heard has piqued my interest, so I jumped at the chance to do this review. Hailing from Southern California, these guys have been together since 2011 and have been prolific in terms of the number of albums and Eps they have released in that time. Their stock sound is a southern blues rock style and I believe this is the first album through Joe Bonamassa’s Journeyman Records label.
The album opener is pacey melodic rocker ‘Stone Cold Killer’, which is certainly blues inspired, but not of the southern rock variety. It has real Black Crowes groove to it, but Robert’s voice distinguishes it from the Crowes as does the overall groove of the song. Opening with some slide guitar, it launches straight into a full onslaught and then breaks down into the verse with interplay between vocals and guitar riff and builds through the bridge into the chorus, which is really catchy. Next up is’ Trouble’ which is the next single from the album.
This is a real blues rock stomper, which moves from the stomp of the verse and then into a flowing rousing chorus where we find out she is T-R-O-U-B-L-E but with the E being pronounce A! They do say the UK and US are the only two countries in the world separated by a common language. ‘Ballad of a Broken-Hearted Man‘ is next the pace and mood are dropped somewhat. This is the first song with a hint of that southern rock bent the band have which is reflected in the overall groove of the walking rhythm the song is built around the southern infused slide geetar!
Robert Jon’s vocals also provide a southern drawl and another catchy chorus with enough backing vocals to reinforce the melody but with making it sound lush. Next up is the title track ‘Red Moon Rising‘. This shows another facet to the bands sound is a funky affair through the verses with some great funky keyboards and bass carrying it guitar providing texture. Indeed, the funk continues through the guitar solo section and is reminiscent of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band in funky mode.
‘Dragging Me Down‘ slips us back into more mainstream blues rock territory with funky twist through the verses before launching into a chorus anchored in a great twisting riff and another catchy chorus. In terms of the vinyl version, there ends side one.
Virtually flipping this bad boy, we have ‘Hold On‘ which is another melodic blues rocker wrapped around a great guitar chop. Of the numbers so far, this is by the most straight-forward guitar-driven track and shows another dimension to the songwriting. Like those songs before it, there is another great hook in the chorus. ‘Down No More‘ changes down a gear or two opening with some delicious harmony guitars. It then quickly drops into a laid-back acoustic groove where Robert Jon exclaims his need to find a way out!
The chorus is based on the same riff as the verse but lifted with some additional electric riffage and then out with those harmony guitars which are definitely reminiscent of the Allman Brothers for me! We get more variety with ‘Help Yourself‘ which opens with piano and is wrapped around the piano playing. Despite being another laid back number it bounces along on shuffle-style rhythm, with the piano taking centre stage. Another catchy chorus which rolls out to the end of the song with counterpart melodies. Great stuff.
‘Worried Mind‘ goes back to the acoustic groove of Hold On. The opening couple of minutes it really has an Early Eagles feel with great use of acoustic and electric guitar, piano and mouth harp providing texture. On the second verse around we get some mandolin or similar in the background. In terms of the vinyl, we are now into the last song, entitled ‘Give Love‘. This opens with nicely layered acoustic guitar and piano and the electric guitar slowly weaves it way into the song around the bouncing rhythm. While it builds into a crescendo of sorts in the middle-eight before letting loose with the solo.
Just when you think it is going gently lilt its way to the end f the song, the Allman Brothers definitely step into the room and some glorious southern-inspired harmony guitars intertwine with excellent building counterpart chorus vocals with each have its space and amazingly not sounding cluttered. The music slowly fades down to piano and vocal and finishes with a single chorus melody – what a wonderful ending to the album if buying the vinyl!
However, if you are buying the CD, you two bonus tracks. The first of these is ‘Rager‘ which sounds like a sixties-inspired Hendrix riff and is rockier than any pf the tracks on the ten-song vinyl album. Really rocks and most certainly by design as it ends in a sprint to the end sounding like Deep Purple! It certainly lives up to its name.
The last of songs and the second bonus CD track is ‘I Hate To See You Go‘. This is a southern rock style ballad of sorts and has more Allmans Brothers style harmony guitars and epitomizes side 2 of the vinyl. And again, another great chorus. Having listened to them, they certainly merit being on the album properly. On that basis, I am assuming they are not on the vinyl for mastering/technical reasons as sound quality does deteriorate in terms of volume.
As my first proper listening to these guys, I am most certainly impressed with the song-writing. In particular I am impressed with the ease with which they shift the feel and groove across the album without it sounding eclectic or bitty. Great playing, great choruses, great vocals – so what’s not to like?
However, I do feel there is something missing in terms of a little more bite or edge in the sound, but that’s just my personal perspective. If you like a band that can mix up a variety of blues and southern rock with some panache, then check them out as you might just like them.
