Taking It In

In Taking It In, Cork-based Hank Wedel’s band have made an album that snaps and crackles in fine style, with a bunch of songs that reflect a New Yorker’s somewhat biased look at his homeland.

Most of the songs are either Wedel’s own or co-writes, and they maintain a consistently literate, if musically conservative, standard throughout. Wedel has an attractively pleasant voice, at times reminiscent of Dennis Locorriere late of Dr Hook. In fact on the humorous ‘Double Parking’, about a real trip to Nashville where the music industry forgets to roll out the red carpet, he twangs it up as convincingly as any good old boy and Niall O’Carroll’s fine harmonica puts the icing on the cake.

‘Hold Close The Hope’ takes us into Paul Simon folk-poet territory. But the jewel in the crown is the Dire Straitsian ‘Find The Balance’, a sublimely atmospheric track with excellent vocals and harmonies, and it builds so well you don’t notice its five minutes passing.

All told, Takin’ It In is a worthy album which won’t disappoint adult oriented rockers who don’t need the volume at 11.