Heartless Bastards have released the official music video for the song "Only For You" from the garage rock band's latest fourth full-length, "Arrow," which is firmly rooted in southern blues rock - gritty yet sentimental, out on Valentines Day this year on Brooklyn-based indie label Partisan Records.Formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2003, and since then, the Bastards have experimented with classic foundations. The lead singer Erika Wennerstrom's vocal was talented and especially unique. As the only consistent member in the Austin-based indie rock band's ever-changing lineup, his masterful singing never fails to enrapture. And don't let the name of the band fool you - these bastards are in fact full of heart. Sharp, smart, indie rock that rocked as much as it moved you emotionally.
Garage, folk, country, blues - throughout the Heartless Bastards's career, all these genres have been incorporated with mixed results. Rather than evolving a sound, the Bastards seem to be searching for one. "Arrow" has the potential to become something better if the Bastards decide to tread the path they're on. Chock full of repetitive guitar riffs and rock 'n' roll attitude, the album gravitates towards something you might hear from the garages of budding rockers worldwide in a good way. But sometime between their debut and 2006's "All This Time," the quartet decided to trade in their raw garage sensibilities for a more sophisticated musicianship.
Heavily inspired by bluegrass, the banjos, fiddles, and peddle steels give the album a distinct country flavor. It left some Bastard fans, myself included, nonplussed and wistful for the old aesthetic. "Only For You," is exhilarating in terms of Wennerstrom's vocal range. Accompanied by only two guitars and some easygoing drumming, he fluidly travels up and down different registers. It is a song tangentially influenced by southern rock, artistically expanding on the blues element but (thankfully) ditching the Lynard Skynard guitar licks.
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