Love & Bombs

Jake Brennan's first full-length album is the sort of record that makes you wonder where the hell this guy has been and what he's been doing, since his work's just too strong for him to have simply come out of nowhere. On Love & Bombs, Brennan is a natural born rocker with a honky tonk heart, a classic nicotine-burnished voice, and a killer band behind him as they rip through a set of tunes that's part roadhouse rave-up, part late-night heartbreak, and all sorts of Saturday night energy. While there are a handful of slow songs on board, such as the confessional "My Stepdad's Truck" and the mandolin-driven "Believe Me," they're shot through with flinty passion, and the rockers (such as the hot-wired opener "Shake 'Em on Down" and the rapid-fire shuffle "Isabella") have plenty of meat on their bones. Brennan's as strong a songwriter as he is a singer, but he also knows a good cover when he hears one, as evidenced by his solid readings of tunes by Frank Black, Ian Hunter, and Bobby Bare, and producer Paul Q. Kolderie has gotten it all on tape with a heaping helping of sonic attitude. Love & Bombs is a fiery and soul-satisfying debut from a guy who proves there are still some no-nonsense heartland rockers waiting to be heard out there.