The Wreckage

The Wreckage was recorded on either end of Will Hoge's near-fatal accident in August 2008, when a vehicle plowed into his scooter as he left the studio. Apart from its title, the album makes little reference to Hoge's injuries or long, painful recovery, choosing instead to revisit the themes that populated his previous albums: love and life in the South, the sad beauty of roadside Americana, and the glory of rock & roll. Those are conventional subjects, perhaps, but few 21st century songwriters tackle them better than Hoge, who sets his lyrics to a soundtrack of heartland rock and soulful, hard-hitting alt-country. He remembers the golden days of radio during "Even If It Breaks Your Heart," trades a broken-down town for the road with "Highway Wings," and pines for his baby everywhere else, tying the whole package together with his Southern croon and multi-piece band. "When I Can Afford to Lose," the leadoff track from 2007's Draw the Curtains, may still be Will Hoge's best performance to date, but he's rarely sounded as convincing as he does here, having suffered enough misery during the previous 12 months to make his blues-influenced songwriting all the more persuasive. ~ Andrew Leahey|