Reckless Kelly,
Reckless Kelly Was Here



Label: Sugar Hill Records

(4½ out of 5)

Last year, I closed a favorable review of Wicked Twisted Road by stating that "one can't help but believe that Reckless Kelly's best work still lies ahead." Not quite 18 months later, Reckless Kelly Was Here more than fulfills that prediction. In fact, it blows away just about anything I've heard this year.

The 2-disc recording captures every sweaty, boozy moment from a March 2006 show at La Zona Rosa. Willy, Cody, & Co. came out blazing, opening with "Sixgun" (listen) and Alejandro Escovedo's "Castanets" (listen) and continuing with a solid mix of material from the band's four studio albums.

Highlights include "I Still Do" (listen) from Millican, "Crazy Eddie's Last Hurrah" (listen) from The Day, "Nobody's Girl" (listen) and "Vancouver" (listen) from Under the Table & Above the Sun, and "Seven Nights in Eire" (listen) from Wicked Twisted Road.

There are some more choice covers, like Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" (listen) and an encore of the Beatles' "Revolution" (listen), plus live and studio tracks of new songs "Wiggles & Ritalin" (listen) and "Break My Heart Tonight" (listen). And a bonus DVD includes a concert film with every live track except the encore, plus some RKTV segments that never made it onto the band's website.

If there's any quibble, it's with the audio mix. Even with Grammy® winner Elliot Scheiner at the helm, vocals tend to get lost amid the multi-instrument shuffle. But live recording engineer Malcolm H. Harper deserves kudos for capturing the audience sing-alongs that accompanied pretty much every song but the two new additions.

This isn't Reckless Kelly's first live album. Live at Stubb's showcased a much younger band's raucous acoustic side. Six years later, the electrified and electrifying Reckless Kelly Was Here demonstrates that this is a band just now entering its prime.

Reviewed by Patrick Nichols (email)
August 24, 2006