It begins in a most dark place, a blues rock that slithers up full of serpentine temptation, calling you to “open your eyes and let the wrong light in.” “The Wrong Light” by Kasey Anderson and the Honkies is dirty blues rock made for scaring the devil out of you while you wander around deserted, distant crossroads. It’s that invitation that opens the album, Heart of a Dog.
Thankfully, there’s enlightening ahead as “The Wrong Light” gives way to “Mercy,” a Gospel-tinged tune that admits everyone needs mercy. It’s a road song akin to Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band’s blues/Gospel moments; it’s a road song that puts some distance between you and that “wrong light” crossroads. All this means you need to listen to “The Wrong Light” and “Mercy” as a couplet for full spiritual effect.
Tunes like “Exit Ghost” and “Your Side of Town” that are more country-inspired and pull back the blues resonate with that Springsteen state of affairs. But then Anderson and company rev things back up for “Sirens and Thunder,” bluesy guitar taking over on the course of a Bottle Rockets/Drive-By Truckers-like AltCountry. “Kasey Anderson’s Dream” keeps up that same power, although it wields a more blues-inspired line.
Elsewhere, check out the power chords and harmonies of “My Baby’s a Wrecking Ball,” and then there’s the stomp and harmonica of “Revisionist History Blues.”
Kasey Anderson
Red River Records
