In articles about Erika Wennerstrom, singer and leader of the Heartless Bastards, the term shy crops up time after time. Whether meeting people at a party or fronting her band before a cast of thousands, Wennerstrom’s first reaction is to keep herself to herself.
It must be the microphone, then, that gives her the super power to fight her internal Kryptonite, bolstered by a voice as brash as the cast of Jersey Shore combined.
On Arrow, the fourth effort from the Cincinnati (by way of Austin) quartet, Wennerstrom boldly leads her band mates through a lesson of excelling while staying the course. Steeped in the comforts of ’70s rock ’n’ roll, Arrow manages to remain current and relevant by understanding a good song shines through no matter what decade it emulates. It doesn’t hurt when Erika Wennerstrom is the one making the case on the mic.
This is apparent from the outset. You don’t find too many bands ballsy enough to open an album with a six-minute slow burn, but the moment Wennerstrom starts to sing on “Marathon,” she has you. A clean-guitar drifts against a constant crashing of cymbals, as Wennerstrom powers through a song about losing one’s way: And oh I, I ran so far/That I’ve forgotten/What I was running from.
“Parted Ways” moves in quickly, boasting the verve and catchy hooks any good lead single should have. A little bit of country, the song can claim some Tom Petty-ness to it as well. Guitarist Mark Nathan is the star here, varying his six-string from playful strums to a song-ending solo that shreds with the best of them. After retooling the band to fit her tastes in recent years, it appears Wennerstrom has found some musicians who can keep up with her in the talent department.
“Only For You” is a soulful turn as Wennerstrom takes her falsetto out for a ride, toying with her vocal register to great results; “Skin And Bone” is a fine bit of Americana, a thundering herd of acoustic guitars; “Late In The Night” is a straight-up rocker, unapologetic in its love for The Rolling Stones.
Sure “The Arrow Killed The Beast” is indulgent — six minutes is too long for dour echo guitar — but then the band comes right back with the seven-and-a-half-minute “Down In The Canyon,” which opens like Black Sabbath and dives into the best of Jefferson Airplane with Wennerstrom doing Grace Slick proud.
Arrow is stalwart and clean, and a tour de force of Wennerstrom’s skill as both singer and lyricist. This is one aspect of her life she doesn’t shy away from.
