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Reckless Kelly
Wicked Twisted Road
(Sugar Hill)
First Appeared in The Music Box, March 2005, Volume 12, #3
Written by John Metzger
On its latest effort Wicked Twisted Road, Reckless Kelly continues its
collaboration with producer Ray Kennedy — the other half of the twangtrust — so
it’s certainly no surprise that the band once again appropriates Steve Earle’s
classic, country-rock sound. Although many critics have faulted Reckless Kelly
for following so closely in the footsteps of its heroes, the fact of the matter
is that the union worked extraordinarily well on its last outing Under the
Table and Above the Sun, and with songs like the jangly bounce of Broken
Heart and the quiet reflectiveness of the title track (as well as its
sparkling instrumental reprise), the ensemble proves that its successes weren’t a
fluke. Beneath the surface, however, Wicked Twisted Road finds the
collective broadening its horizons and revealing a bit more of itself. Although
it still employs Earle’s tried-and-true, alt-country framework as the foundation
for many of its compositions, there are hints that its vision is, in actuality,
a bit more expansive. For starters, the group whips Sixgun into a raging
ZZ Top-style, Texas-baked boogie, and it adds a dose of Celtic flavor to
Seven Nights in Eire. Elsewhere, it fuses Neil Young, Pink Floyd, and The
Byrds into a weird, psychedelic concoction on Motel Cowboy Show, and delves
into Wretched Again with all the blustery swagger of the Rolling Stones.
The problem, however, is that these new directions really don’t amount to much
that is memorable. Instead, they serve as passionately performed distractions
that simply fail to match the sublime precision with which Reckless Kelly
embraces Earle’s knack for blurring the lines between country, rock, and pop. As
a result, much of Wicked Twisted Road isn’t nearly as compelling as
Under the Table and Above the Sun, nor do its contents feel as cohesive and
connected.  ½
Wicked Twisted Road is available
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2005
The Music Box
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