Album Review: The Wallflowers - The Wallflowers (1992)

The Wallflowers - The Wallflowers (1992)

Whenever The Wallflowers are brought up in a conversation, one person will likely respond with “Oh Man, I love ‘One Headlight’” and probably nothing more. In all honesty, you could review any live show or even album by the band and start it off with “One Headlight.” And it’s true, that song kicks ass, but it’s not everything, it’s not even the starting point. Most people are unaware that that band’s incipient statement was not with “One Headlight” and Bringing Down the Horse in 1996, but with their self-titled debut way back in 1992, which even arrived two years after the band’s genesis. Of course, there’s little reason why most would know this, The Wallflowers was a minor release that failed to produce a sizable hit of any kind, and was seen at the time as being relatively disappointing commercially. However, it would be a fallacy to suggest that the album’s tepid performance should render it a poor product, because The Wallflowers is far from mundane. In fact, it might just be the band’s most distinctive album, even if it isn’t their best.

What’s important about The Wallflowers is that it’s a 1992 debut album, meaning it’s a band’s initial offering into the prevailing musical taste of that time. Therefore, it’s no surprise that The Wallflowers is incredibly roots-rock oriented, more so than anything they’ve done since. While the band has always embodied the roots/folk-rock essence, they do it so here in the purest form imaginable, lacking virtually any alt-rock sensibility that would drive the band on all their subsequent efforts. In this form, the band sounds less like Tom Petty, and more like The Jayhawks; indeed, this is the closest The Wallflowers have come to alt-country, and it actually suites them well, but it might take a while to adjust. The majority of the songs ramble over the five minute mark, and nothing is smooth. However, there’s a lot to admire in the lack of production, mainly because it paints an ingenuous picture of the band, which is actually supportive for them because it clearly displays their innate talent.

The opening “Shy of the Moon” shuffles along to an alcohol-drenched piano line, which is really all the disclaimer you’ll need. Throughout The Wallflowers, country, blues, folk, and some rock tangle with one another, as if in a barroom fight, telling stories of death, life, love, money, independence, and more death. There’s no doubt that this is the darkest Wallflower’s effort, but it makes for some excellent music, as witnessed in “Ashes to Ashes,” the album’s nail-in-the-coffin opus (and one of their best songs ever). Other highlights that continue in this vein are “For the Life of Me” and “Asleep at The Wheel,” an austere acoustic number that may be the most somber track in their catalogue. It’s not all gloom though, both “Be Your Own Girl” and “After the Blackbird Sings” lighten the mood a bit, but just a bit. All in all, it’s not an easy album to listen to, but it’s certainly a necessity for fans and recommended for the curious.

All things considered, you might call this the band’s weakest effort, but as a starting point, it shows an amazing potential and quite a level of sophistication for a new band. All that was needed was a little focus, which was achieved with ease on their next album, but not without the overhaul of band personnel; indeed, only lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Jakob Dylan and keyboardist Rami Jaffee made it to the sophomore release, but they’ve always been the soul of the band anyway (a fact that is evident even on this album). At this point, Dylan is still finding his voice, but he doesn’t have too far to go. While it may be difficult to endure in places, The Wallflowers is a fascinating listen relative to the band’s slicker and tighter latter-day efforts; there’s nothing like a cluttered origins album to the get the ball rolling!

3.5/5

"Asleep at the wheel/No windshield/But you know that the streets/Here don't change"

McS