In “Who Can You Love,” one of the prime cuts you’re going to hear on Robert Jon & the Wreck’s new album Ride Into the Light, we’re immediately transported into the countryside from which at least part of which the Californian band’s style of play has been sourced, and with the setting comes a soundtrack worthy of the southern rock branding. There aren’t any big props or fluff-laden elements to the imagery, nor does it feel as though we’re watching some sort of politicized, inauthentic characterization of fake Americana no real artist would ever want to claim as being their own.
As it is with all of the material found on Ride Into the Light, the performance we hear in this track sees Robert Jon & the Wreck utilizing almost every tool at their disposal in a bid to pay homage to the classic southern rock and roots music of the past, all while staying firmly planted in a modern approach to melodic faceting listeners of all ages and backgrounds should immediately come to respect. This isn’t a veteran band working with major-label money, but even without the big bankroll, they’re looking like consummate professionals in this incredible LP.
The production quality is top shelf throughout Ride Into the Light, and because of the attention to detail producers afford tracks like “Come at Me,” “One of a Kind,” “West Coast Eyes,” and “Don’t Look Down,” there’s never a moment in which we’re struggling to figure out where one harmony ends and another is just beginning to blossom. “Pain No More” and the aforementioned “Who Can You Love” made for great teaser singles ahead of the title track’s incomparable closing, and the passion they’re presented with makes them sound and feel as original as every other song on the LP.
Jon doesn’t have to apply any additional varnish to “Bring Me Back Home Again” or “Don’t Look Down” largely because of how elegant they sound in the first place, and through the consistent growl of the strings, there’s always a sense that we’re listening to something carefully constructed as opposed to being thrown together.
You don’t have to be the biggest roots music fan in the world to dig the southern rock-inspired jams included on Ride Into the Light, but for those of us contending for the title, its arrival couldn’t have come at a better time than the present. This August, there’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the Southern rock underground, and when I take a look at an album like this one – from a band out of the Cali underground no less – it’s easy for me to understand why the grit n’ roll establishment has started to feel a little uncomfortable and threatened by the new wave of rivals coming out of the shadows in 2023. There’s a lot for this band to build on in the future, but for now, Robert Jon & the Wreck’s new record is a must-have for those who like amazingly highbrow southern-style rock music.
Garth Thomas