On November 3, the Portland, OR-based Blitzen Trapper will release Wild & Reckless, a new album born of their staged musical of the same title and also a companion to their 2008 breakthrough album Furr. Today, NPR Music premiered the album in its entirety as a First Listen and called it “a sprawling, sumptuous testament to Weird America.”
The New York Times said, “Missing Tom Petty? He lives on in Blitzen Trapper’s Wild and Reckless, an accomplished slice of classic rock that unabashedly sounds like Mr. Petty singing a Springsteen song with the Heartbreakers’ California guitars and a harmonica intro from Neil Young.”
Consequence of Sound said, “Music-wise, the song is the equivalent of an adrenaline shot of invincibility — the kind of anthem people turn up loud in the car as they’re speeding off to some unknown destination, the wind’s blow their only guidance.”
The album Wild & Reckless was born from the stage production that the band spent the better part of a year producing. The half musical, half rock-opera dealt with heroin abuse, desperation, true love and western power structures. The story evoked a bygone era of Portland with this sci-fi love story, featuring a rock-and-roll score that paired unreleased songs with favorites from the band’s catalog.
Following the success of the production, the band took 7 original songs from the production and developed the theme further into the 12 songs that comprise the new album Wild & Reckless.
Frontman Eric Earley also sees the record as a companion and extension of their 2008 album Furr. “Wild and Reckless is something like a cross-eyed stepchild to Furr, in that it chronicles the darker dystopian stories of rural and suburban west coast death-drive via a riffing psychedelic landscape. Ten years after Furr with all its talk of murder and the end of the western world, it seems there’s more to tell.”
Blitzen Trapper is Eric Earley (songwriter/singer), Erik Menteer (guitar, keyboard), Brian Adrian Koch (drums, vocals), Michael Van Pelt (bass) and Marty Marquis (keyboard, vocals). Wild & Reckless was produced by Eric Earley and Michael Van Pelt and was recorded by Gregg Williams at the Trench, in Portland, OR. It was mixed by James Brown (Foo Fighters, Kings Of Leon, Blitzen Trapper’s All Across This Land) at The Union.
The band will embark on a national tour with select support from Lilly Hiatt this winter to celebrate the release of the album. Find a full list of tour dates below.
Wild & Reckless tracklist:
1) Rebel
2) Wild & Reckless
3) Forever Pt. 1
4) Joanna
5) No Man’s Land
6) Stolen Hearts
7) Dance With Me
8) Love Live On
9) When I’m Dying
10) Baby Won’t You Turn Me On
11) Forever Pt. 2
12) Wind Don’t Always Blow
Tour Dates:
10/28: Seaside, OR – Boo’s Blues & Brews – TICKETS
11/2: Atlanta, GA – The Earl – TICKETS
11/3: Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall – TICKETS #
11/4: Richmond, VA- The Broadberry – TICKETS #
11/5: Washington, DC – Black Cat – TICKETS #
11/6: Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s – TICKETS #
11/7: Cambridge, MA – The Sinclairs – TICKETS #
11/9: Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg – TICKETS #
11/10: Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern – TICKETS #
11/11: Detroit, MI – El Club – TICKETS #
11/12: Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall – TICKETS
11/14: Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon – TICKETS
11/15: Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall – TICKETS #
11/16: St. Paul, MN – Turf Club – TICKETS
11/17: Iowa City, IA – The Mill – TICKETS
11/18: St. Louis, MO – Blueberry Hill Duck Room – TICKETS
11/19: Nashville, TN – Exit/In – TICKETS #
11/30: Santa Cruz, CA – Moe’s Alley – TICKETS #
12/1: Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Theatre – TICKETS #
12/2: San Diego, CA – Casbah – TICKETS #
12/4: Mill Valley, CA – Sweetwater Music Hall – TICKETS #
12/5: San Francisco, CA – The Independent – TICKETS #
12/7: Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern – TICKETS #
12/8: Portland, OR – Revolution Hall – TICKETS #
# – support from Lilly Hiatt
Musically Amusing 