Introduction
Soulful bluesy rockers Robert Jon And The Wreck are back with a new 4 track EP called One Of A Kind which showcases their talent and influences or styles. The band who are without a doubt one of the hardest working bands around, touring constantly, taking their good times Southern-tinged music to folks wherever they can in the world.
Surprisingly with that in mind the band still manage to write constantly, releasing new music regularly, and music which is of a constant high quality in this reviewer’s opinion.
They have now joined forces with Journeyman Records (the newest endeavor between Joe Bonamassa and his long-time manager Roy Weisman) and that is allowing them to work with some very famous named producers which will show off their songwriting and music-playing skills to best effect. For those who don’t know they come from Southern California, and take the Southern rock sound from the east coast and make it their own. The four native Californians; Robert Jon Burrison (lead vocals, guitar), Andrew Espantman (drums, background vocals), Henry James Schneekluth (lead guitar, background vocals), and Warren Murrel (bass) are without doubt electrifying live with soaring guitar lines, rich vocal harmonies, and memorable tunes.
The EP
“Pain No More” is a rockier number that kicks straight in with a bloody lovely groovy riff which makes the head and feet move right away. Even when it drops down and the acoustic breaks through it still grooves. The solo is mostly slide, but whether Henry uses fingers or a slide it sounds great. It has for me a great opening lyric “you dropped my heart like it didn’t mean nuthin’, and didn’t watch it hit the ground“. Despite that, it is an upbeat track about moving on as he sings “Everything I need is in front of me“. 1970s classic rock lives and breathes in this music. It sounds fresh and exciting.
“Who Can You Love” drops it down, heading into Eagles territory. With wonderful vocal harmonies and lovely use of piano, this is delightful and shows another side to the band.
Title track
The EP title track and their latest song “One Of A Kind” is a rock n roll Southern bluesy workout. Party music with heart. The band themselves describe how the song came about as thus… “This song started off with a riff from Henry and a riff from Robert, and Dave (Cobb the producer) just kind of took it and flew with it,” the band recalls. “We got to nerd out on a bunch of old guitars, amps and fuzz boxes for this one and really get some fun sounds dialed in as well. Everything happened so quickly working with Dave that we didn’t really even have time to process what was going on! And we were all blown away listening to the end result!” This song shows of the keys, particularly the organ work and I love the slide playing.
The final track “Come At Me” is another rocker where the band explain that they have had enough bullshit and are ready to take on greedy or selfish people. The video for this is hilarious as the band play basketball with some children and get beaten! You can tell these guys have a sense of humour from it that is for sure.
The EP is available now for the USA HERE // and for the UK/EU HERE
UK September Tour
EXETER, PHOENIX: WEDNESDAY 13 SEPTEMBER, 2023
NOTTINGHAM, RESCUE ROOMS: THURSDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2023
MANCHESTER, ACADEMY: FRIDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2023
LIVERPOOL, O2 ACADEMY: SATURDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2023
NEWCASTLE, THE BOILER SHOP: SUNDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2023
GLASGOW, ST LUKE’S: TUESDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2023
LEEDS, WARDROBE: WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2023
BRISTOL, THEKLA: THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2023
CAMBRIDGE, JUNCTION: FRIDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2023
SOUTHAMPTON, THE BROOK: SATURDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2023
Tickets Can Be Purchased HERE
Official Website // Official Facebook
Check out my other articles and reviews here. Tom.
