John Hiatt
Same Old Man (New West)
Mixing
the occasional saccharine-sweet generalization ("my heart burns cherry red
for you") with picture-painting detail ("now you're feeding me
fabulous Chinese takeout on the dampened bed sheets"), Hiatt rides the
thematic line between the give/take, push/pull, fuck/fight nature of adult
relationships.
"On
With You" borrows its murky drive from "All Along the
Watchtower," and "Hurt My Baby" slowly burns like a late-era
Johnny Cash dirge; but there are also plenty of clever Randy Newman-leaning
swooners ("Our Time") and some Nick Lowe-ish sophisticated
sing-a-longs ("What Love Can Do").
The
real standout is the “remember when” opener, "Old Days." Like
listening to your favorite grandfather spin a yarn after a few cold ones—if
your grandfather had opened for the likes of John Lee Hooker—it's a reminder
that buddy tales often make for more interesting fodder than sweetheart
stories.
The heavy nostalgic bent of “Old Days” trembles like the passing between summer and autumn, a time for reflection with Hiatt's ever-earnest acoustic strummers and unmistakable molasses-in-the-throat growl. The album is a charming work of reconciliation and acceptance of growing up, not old.
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