Heartland by J.J. Vicars

On his third disc guitar-slinger J.J. Vicars wanders up north for a dark ride through the heartland of America. Inspired by an intoxicated mix of The Stones, Humble Pie, and early Skynyrd with touches of Oscar Wilde and Charles Bukowski this is his heaviest and hardest rocking album ever.

Fitting for an album named 'heartland' it kicks off with the Mellencamp-tinged ONE OF THESE DAYS. Snarling electric guitar doubled with acoustic lays into a mid-tempo pocket with a lyric telling the tale of a young man wandering far from home on a free-wheeeling adventure, down to his last. BUSTIN' MY ASS is a trademark J.J. Vicars rocker while HUNGRY FOR YOUR TOUCH dips back into the Blues.

LOVE OR LUST is another over-the-top blazing rocker with a thick driving guitar riff it's 2 1/2 minutes of pure unadulterated Rock'n'Roll swagger. Ghostly slide punctuates BEEN AROUND LONG ENOUGH, sparse guitars and menacing groove underscore the discontent.

Inspired by a daily dose of several Big Gulp-size gin & tonics and the British comedy "Absolutely Fabulous", JET SET is a tongue-in-cheek ode to 'the Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle'. EMPTY SILENCE quiets things down for a moment. A soft minor key ballad of loss and loneliness it pays tribute to an altogether different Indiana music icon. During the ending solo J.J. tips his hat to Jazz legend Wes Montgomery with some beautifully executed thumbed octaves.

All of the anger and frustration that had been hinted at earlier is finally summed up and given a single focused release in the cathartic FAREWELL AND GOODBYE. Over the heaviest guitar riff J.J. has ever cranked out he rails against the phony inhumanity of suburbs, strip malls, theme restaurants and all the other trappings of an overly safe, isolated, bland and spiritually empty existence, unapologetically targeted as a primary source of discontent and alienation. "An artist's job is to realize the world as he see it not reform it as he knows it," wrote Oscar Wilde .

After the rage and fury have receded things calm down a bit. A heartfelt and lamenting solo carries out PICK UP THE PIECES. Halfway through mournful slide guitar picks it up and takes it home until both guitars dovetail out seamlessly at the end. Better to go out with a bang and not a whimper and that's exactly what the outlaw rockerd oes on SPINNIN' MY WHEELS with swagger and bravado.

"Heartland" was written while JJV was bassist with the Ron Brewer Band playing on his album "Insane Prose". One song of Ron's that was never recorded with that band was recorded by J.J. during the "Heartland" sessions and is included as one of 5 bonus tracks when purchasing the complete album.

J.J. Vicars tore outta the Sci-Fin Diner in a '58 Cadillac with mounted steerhorns and backward flames.

jjvicars.com
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