All This Time (Dig)

Heartless Bastards | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 8, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fat Possum Records
• ASIN: B000GIW9F0
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,684 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #16 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Garage Punk
  • #36 in Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro > Garage Bands

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A gentle line-drawing marks the cover of the Hearless Bastards' sophomore album, All This Time, just a woman holding a dragonfly by its tail. Singer Erika Wennerstrom's yearning vocals and the rolling piano figures that open the album echo the cover. It's sensitive, full of feeling. Beware: It bursts open, with a wall of lean and loud guitar, bass, and drums – and Wennerstrom's room-filling mid-range vocals, blasting full-throatedly as she sings "Things are coming into focus!" The Cincinnati trio's 2005 debut, Stairs and Elevators, highlighted their blues roots, and All This Time takes those blues and folds them into a brawny rock pastry. Wennerstrom's voice is huge, an instant ear magnet that no one misses, a PJ Harvey from the heartland playing bold, large-stroke guitar. At once, the Bastards are bottom-heavy and beautifully melodic, taking flight--or at least harnessing the power of that album-cover dragonfly. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More cohesive than Stairs, August 8, 2006

By 

Dave - See all my reviews

This review is from: All This Time (Dig) (Audio CD)

Just got this album yesterday... I have to tell you it took me three listens to really understand why I liked it. On first listen, I thought it was a good album, but not anything spectacular. I listened a few more times, caught some of the subtle nuances, and man this is a killer album. It's not as straight-forward gut busting rock as the first album, but it is a far more cohesive album than Stairs and Elevators. "Dragonfly", "Finding Solutions", and "Blue Day" are standout tracks. Especially listen carefully to the lyrics on "Into the Open" as they reference several later songs on the album, adding a neat little twist.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Album, August 8, 2006

By 

Andy R. Terrel (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All This Time (Dig) (Audio CD)

So I accidently picked this album up off emusic, and I am really glad I did. This is the first I have heard this band and it is easy to see they have more than your average formulaic garage band. Looking up some info on the album I found that it has been the result of long road test. This is no surprise because it seems that there are the best pieces of differnt styles in this music.

It starts off with a power chord guitar blasting off and you think okay so its got some meat to it. But the guitar will transition into punk, and blues before the end of the album showing the growth of the bands sound and style. "Out of the Blue" features a spacey piano in the style of Coldplay but it seems to work very well. I'm not a person that listens to drums very much but the band incorporates them into the beat really well to keep the songs up to pace, which could probably be best described as not too slow.

The real killer of the album is the vocals and the lyrics. Erika's voice is probably the best female rock voice I have heard since Pat Benatar or Blondie. The album seems to have a searching and finding theme to it, from "Into the Open" where the herion find "silence to loud" and "Searching for a Ghost" where she finds what she was searching for behind the door. And "Dragonfly" where she swallows a dragonfly to see if it helps her fly. Definitely keeping that good indie tradition of making an album instead of a couple of good songs to sell.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid rock trio with a fantastic, tough, bassy female vocalist, August 25, 2006

By 

N. McKinnon (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: All This Time (Dig) (Audio CD)

Erika Wennerstrom belongs firmly in the Tough and Sexy Pantheon of Female Vocalists - goddesses like Grace Slick, Chrissy Hinde and Liz Phair. Dust of that high-school bong, chill a couple of beers and enjoy the hell out this album (as well as their first album, Stairs and Elevators). If you're a someone who prefers male singers and dislikes whiney voices like I do, I think you'll discover a part of your music craving that's long been unsatisfied.

The tempos on All This Time are a little slower and more hypnotic than Stairs and Elevators i.e. don't expect any Communication Breakdown type drivers that wanna make you snap your pimply neck, but these tunes will build up in your gut make you proud to be a rock patriot.