Album Reviews

Hymn for Her

Drive Till U Die

Artist:     Hymn for Her

Album:     Drive Till U Die

Label:     Independent

Release Date:     08/12/2016

68

Trailer and truck pretty much running? Check. Homemade box guitar? Check. Harmonica and banjo? So far so good. Clothes and food? OK. Wait—did someone remember the kid? She’s along too? Good. Then it’s time to get moving again and see what new friends and experiences are waiting around the bend.

Such is life for Lucy Tight and Wayne Waxing. They consider Drive Till U Die less a title and more a mantra. The pair channel this nomadic existence straight into their songs (sometimes recording in the trailer itself) and the results show it. It makes for some raw country-rock fueled with heart, full of grit and held together with gum and duct tape.

“Got laundry on the dashboard waiting to dry,” the pair twang right away to set the scene. Fuzzy slide guitar and lively kick drum make it into a raunchy Southern singalong perfect for the road: “Takin’ this ride till the well runs dry / half a million miles, gonna drive till we die.” They offer more juicy foot-stompers with the likes of “Hi Ho Silver” and (what else?) “The Road Song” while staying unafraid to show some genuine sweetness in between. Tight’s smooth voice and the duo’s harmonies get plenty of space to shine, while two more generations of the family add extra layers to the wistful “Onebigachinheart.”

“Living life from day to day / why do it any other way?” Drive Till U Die asks in the early going. Why indeed? This album embodies that philsophy as much as the band does; a listen that remains honest, rough and real all the way through.

– Geno Thackara

Got something to say?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Be the first to comment!