Sunday, May 1, 2011

REVIEW: Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Heart of A Dog

Kasey Anderson sheds his alt.country/singer-songwriter shackles to let 'er rip on his latest CD Heart of a Dog (Red River Records). It's pure rock'n'roll, a joyride, though still rooted in Anderson's well told, well crafted songs.

Here's the video of the lead track "The Wrong Light":



The record closes with a blistering bar band cover of the English Beat classic "Save It For Later". Picture Bruce and The E Street Band ripping through it at the end of a third encore on a night they are really feeling it.

http://hypem.com/#!/search/Kasey+Anderson+and+The+Honkies

There are many great songs here, 2 of my favorites being the piano driven, mid-tempo rocker "Exit Ghost", and the rollicking guitar romp "Sirens and Thunder". The more straightforward rock'n'roll approach suits Anderson's strong, bourbon-soaked voice well. He can belt and also dial it back effectively. He's a natural singer who conveys a ton of emotion without ever having to overdo it. Listen here:



This blog has been a tireless supporter of The Drive-By Truckers and Centro-Matic. Fans of both those bands are going to like this record a whole lot and should seek it out.

The title of the record is taken from a Mikhail Bulgakov novella, which Anderson says contains a passage that sums up the soul of this record for him: "By kindness. The only method possible in dealing with other living creatrues. By terror you cannot get anywhere with an animal, no matter what its stage of development. I've always asserted this, I assert it today, and I shall go on asserting it. They are wrong thinking that terror will help them."

Here's a fairly recent live video of an older song not on this record, giving you a peek at Kasey Anderson's presence and confident delivery:



Artist web page: http://www.kaseyanderson.com/

No comments: