After the release of their album, Shoot The Horse, Les Blanks fell into a shame spiral. Unable to handle the pressures of being mildly successful in small LA music circles, the trio of Josh Caldwell, Parker Todd Brooks, and Brian Soika imploded. Coke, tantrums, and nudity. Oh, the nudity.
Enter Keith Waggoner and Jonathan Hylander. Guitarists. Vocalists. Messengers from beyond? Armed with the redeeming powers of Kirk Cameron, they rode in on rock n roll chariots to save the troubled Blanks.
Reformed, Les Blanks shaped up and got to work. The fruit of their labor is an album of dirty Americana called In Country. Co-produced by Tim Anderson (Ima Robot, Dead Man’s Bones), In Country mingles guitar bombast with boogie-down roots rhythms. Surprises and shenanigans ensue.
Fans of Richard Hell, The Band and early Randy Newman will be rewarded, as will anyone who enjoys gettin down.
Les Blanks will drop In Country in May 2011. Tours and new, more spectacular melt downs are scheduled to follow.
