Without a clue what the title represents, the Wallflowers fifth studio release,
Rebel, Sweetheart, rolls out following a near three-year hiatus since
2002’s more ambiguous Red Letter Days. Heading back to the oh-so-familiar
well, Jakob Dylan and mates favor bouncy mid-tempo sing-a-longs, loaded up with
harmonies galore and Rami Jaffee’s now-signature Hammond B-3, ala Tom Petty and
the Heartbreakers. Pulling primarily from the 70s and early 80s (Jackson Browne,
The Eagles, et al), young Dylan has all but shaken any musical resemblance to
his namesake, although the underlying themes within Rebel, Sweetheart
reek of social defiance and political angst.
“Adam took the apple, I was not involved/ I’m not responsible for how lost we
are/ Batten down the hatches, extinction calls,” Dylan preaches on an otherwise
jovial Springsteen-esque “The Passenger”. Likewise, organs and jingle-jangle
guitars engulf the feel-good romps “Here He Comes” and “Days of Wonder”, each
equally suited for the summer radio waves. When Dylan goes waxing poetic,
however, on a tedious piece like “God Says Nothing Back” the band and the record
as a whole both suffer. Such spoken word is better saved for his future solo
works.
The ’05 version of The Wallflowers manages to spread its wings, even if
slightly, and demonstrate a penchant for alt-country. A giddy “Nearly Beloved”
picks and grins like a lost Gram Parsons track, and “How Far You’ve Come” is an
authentic tear-in-my-beer piano ballad. All in all, these guys continue to fall
just shy of truly impressive yet they never disappoint. It’s like lunch at
Subway - you always know what you’re getting, and as a result, expectations are
usually met.
~Red Rocker
redrocker@bullz-eye.com
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