Hadacol

The band takes their name from the patent medicine that sponsored Hank Williams' radio show, so you'd be right to expect at least a little twang. And they do combine roots rock with twang, but manage to come down more solidly on the rock, sonically, and on the twang with the songwriting. Led by the Wickham brothers, Greg and Fred (guitars, keyboards, songs, and vocals), anchored by the rhythm section of Brian Baker (drums) and Richard Burgess (bass), and again produced by Skeleton Lou Whitney, the boys would be right at home cohabitating on a bill with Slobberbone, the Bottle Rockets or Drive By Truckers, although they're a tad twangier than that lot. They manage to pull off the rare trick of not backsliding in the least with the follow-up to their tasty debut. The title track is a dense, mid-tempo rocker. The workaday grind is dealt with in "Already Broken," with message heightened by the mournful air of the bowed, upright bass, which contrasts nicely with the bittersweet mandolin. "Gerald Ford" sounds like a cross between Dylan and Tom T. Hall, and amazingly enough doesn't make the ex-Pres the butt of the joke. A Hammond B3 and harmonica also lend a Dylan-y feel to "Libby's Theme," at least until the power poppy chorus kicks in. The only weak track is a rocked up version of "Little Sadie," and it disappoints mainly because (seemingly) several thousand people have recorded it over the last couple of years.