Kasey Anderson went and found his own Crazy Horse. Though the change isn’t quite as stark as Neil Young’s jump from self-titled debut to the iconic Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Anderson is definitely revving up his raggedy side for the follow up to last year’s excellent Nowhere Nights. Heart of A Dog takes no prisoners as Anderson and his Honkies (a band name previously advocated by Levon Helm for the Band) blitz straight through country-rock and land in pure rock n roll territory. Though he’s the same poignant songwriter that delivered the elegiac “I Was A Photograph,” he’s also embracing his inner Mick Jagger.
The opening “The Wrong Light†sounds unlike anything Anderson has attempted yet. Dark, angry, distorted guitars bleed through the speakers as Anderson spits out a Tom Waits like lyric and vocal. This is followed by the straight off Exile On Main Street cut “Mercyâ€. In fact several songs, including the closing “Save It for Laterâ€, feature those Keith Richards inspired, biting guitar leads. All this is a prelude to saying that the Honkies are one badass backing band. However, not all the songs here are complete departures for Anderson. He still fits in some piano based ballads and several numbers that would have been at home on Nowhere Nights.
The ultimate difference between Nowhere Nights and Heart of a Dog is that while Nowhere Nights recalled Steve Earle, Whiskeytown, the Backsliders, and more pro-typical alt. country, Heart of A Dog is simply a rock and roll record of the finest caliber.
And here is a video (a song not on any of the record mentioned above, but is my favorite Kasey Anderson video on youtube).
RIYL: The Stones (especially ’68-’72), the Faces, Springsteen
About the author: Specializes in Dead, Drunk, and Nakedness..... Former College Radio DJ and Current Craft Beer Nerd