Heartless Bastards - Stairs And Elevators

  by Daniel Cressey

published: 25 / 6 / 2005

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Rock trio Heartless Bastards’ debut album showcases the raw vocals of singer Erika Wennerstrom well, framing them with suitably powerful music. Wennerstrom’s vocals can be ragged and growling where necessary but have sufficient range to also take on slower, bitter and gentle numbers as well. From the first track ‘Gray’ to closer ‘Lazy’ the band have produced an admirable slab of rock and roll. It doesn’t reach the level of, say, labelmates Thee Shams but this is another worthy contribution to the CD racks from Fat Possum. All bar one of the tracks here were written by Wennerstrom and her style is stamped across the face and soul of 'Stairs and Elevators'. An original and individual talent, she nevertheless bears comparison well. It would be fair to cite her along with P.J. Harvey’s rockier moments or Holly Golightly’s flirtations with sounding raw. ‘Onions’, ‘Runnin’ and the majority of the other tracks here are decent and listenable, if occasionally petulant. This album may not stand a head above the competition but it is shoulder to shoulder with the majority of it. In a scene currently dominated by scowling pretty-boys, Heartless Bastards’ swagger should see them taken to heart quickly, if there is any justice.

Track Listing:-

1 Gray
2 Onions
3 New Resolution
4 My Maker
5 Runnin
6 Autonomy
7 Pass and Fail
8 The Will Song
9 Swamp Song
10 Done Got Old
11 Piano Song
12 Lazy

Band Links:-

https://twitter.com/heartlessbstrds
http://www.theheartlessbastards.com/
https://www.facebook.com/heartlessbastards

Label Links:-

https://www.youtube.com/user/elpossum
https://plus.google.com/+elpossum
http://fatpossum.com/
https://www.facebook.com/FatPossumRecords
https://twitter.com/FatPossum
https://www.instagram.com/fatpossum/

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