Blitzen Trapper: American Goldwing

Blitzen Trapper: American Goldwing

2011

Sub Pop Records

Format I own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Might Find It Cheap  2. Fletcher  3. Love the Way You Walk Away  4. Your Crying Eyes  5. My Home Town  6. Girl In a Coat  7. American Goldwing  8. Astronaut  9. Taking It Easy Too Long  10. Street Fighting Sun  11. Stranger In a Strange Land


What an apt title for the album...When you're listening to this ramblin' classic rock, you can easily picture yourself riding a big, fat 1978 Gl-1000 ...

...as the image of the Grand Canyon fades from your rearview mirror...



...Desert dust in your lungs, wind a-blowin' through your hair (Hey! Shouldn't you be wearing a helmet? And aren't Goldwings Japanese bikes? Shouldn't you be riding a Harley or something?)

Somehow this seems even more AOR than "Destroyer of the Void." They've cut back the kitchen -sink eclecticism of their previous albums, and  pump up the hard, southern-fried rock aspect...The lingering indie rock influence is starting to fade, and when I listen to the album opener "Might Find It Cheap" I get the same distinct feeling that I get when when I unearth some long forgotten 70's album from the dollar bin...



Like maybe one of the post-Joe Walsh James Gang records for example...And I love that feeling...

But you may ask yourself? If Blitzen Trapper re-enact 70's album rock so effectively, why don't I just pick up an actual James Gang record? Why buy a Goldwing,when you can buy a Harley?

It's a fair question,...I think these guys always have a good pop hook handy...When you listen to this back to back with an actual 70's rock record, you'll find that they don't often have the big, immaculate choruses and succinct songwriting than Blitzen Trapper has...There's no extended solos or dragging tempos here...It's more similar to a greatest-hits album of a classic rock band...Or maybe more accurately, a power-pop re-imagination of classic rock...

Although in the end I still  prefer "Destroyer of the Void" to this, just because that album had stickier songs, but it's still a fine effort by today's greatest 70's re-enactors...