Thank the iPod Shuffle gods for re-introducing me to The Wallflowers. I was a big fan of their universally ignored 1992 debut album (s/t The Wallflowers) and 4 years later was surprised that they got another shot, Bringing Down the Horse, and that it was a huge hit record. The two singles, “One Headlight” and “6th Avenue Heartache,” were good Adult Rock tunes (aka Dad Rock) in an era where there were plenty of them to choose from (Counting Crows, Hootie, Better Than Ezra, The Rembrandts, BoDeans, Cracker, and CU beneficiaries The Gin Blossoms), and since the record is so front loaded with hits, I tended to move on after my first 5-song fix. That was my mistake.

My iPod must be a big Wallflowers fan, because I hear them all the time, and not the singles usually.

Jacob Dylan sounds more or less like the other “sons of Dylan” (eg, Springsteen, Petty, Mellencamp, Knopfler), in fact his clean Tele strum sounds very Petty-ish and the organ, from Walflowers’ MVP Rami Jaffee, is “Like a Rolling Stone” meets the bands that wish they wrote that one (see list above). Jacob writes a good sad song, not quite to the level of Dire Strait’s “Romeo and Juliet,” but in that vein. He has some Elvis Costello in him as well; there is some anger behind his sadness.

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