Over the years we’ve seen Rock, Americana and even Folk music slowly erode into over-commercialized, corporate puppet shows providing music that is extremely sing-songy, predictable, popish and highly corporate. I hereby call this new breed of music “Poser Rock” & I want to personally thank all the corporate giants for successfully transforming “Sex Drugs & Rock n Roll” into “Yoga, Vitamins & Nikelback” Of course millions of musical lemmings don’t know the difference anyway, but trust me when I say not everyone is entertained. Talking to many music fans out there the response is overwhelming. Give me something new, something raw, something that’s pushes the envelope with a fresh sound that doesn’t leave it soul at the door.
So across my desk slides the new CD by Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real (son of Willie Nelson) entitled “Wasted”. What I heard put a smile on my face. It’s a nice easy flowing record that delivers solid songwriting with a nice Americana-Classic-Rock feel. Nelson reminds me of a modern day Bob Dylan with maybe a hint of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and even a touch of Jack Johnson. If you like the above bands you should definitely check out this CD. It goes without saying that Lukas Nelson has some similarities of his father with respect to his overall persona, hoverer I will add Lukas clearly has carved a unique musical niche for himself within his own sound and musical personality. You will also hear a side of Classic Rock and even Modern day Americana and a hint of R&B. My favorite track is probably “Time.”
Overall “Wasted” by Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real is clearly a rock-solid release with many feel good grooves. It has a pleasant guitar driven sound that is just a pleasure to listen to. I also like the passionate messages contained on this album. Several tracks are very uplifting and overflowing with what I would describe as priceless wisdom. It’s a record that gives us a fresh glimpse of an amazing new artist and takes us back a few years — before everything started sounding like — well like everything else.
Kevin Huber
Edited by Cyrus Rhodes
