RX webmaster Chad selected Ben Harper and Relentless7‘s White Lies for Dark Times as his Staff Pick of the Week. Here’s what he had to say about the album:
My wife and I stumbled upon Ben Harper and Relentless7 on Austin City Limits the other night and were floored by their incendiary performance. I dig Harper as much as the next dude, but I’ll admit I favor his early work and find myself indifferent to his last few albums. The Relentless7 brought me back around. After hearing the band on ACL, I was at the RX the next day buying the album on double vinyl.
Infused with social and political anger, White Lies for Dark Times ranges from fiery funk-rock to soulful ballads. There’s a little bit of ’90s grunge angst and a whole lotta Led — at its core, this is a blues album, but Harper and his killer band take it back to the juke joint via Zeppelin.
White Lies for Dark Times is very much of the Now, and I wouldn’t doubt it if 20 years from now, listening to a track like “Keep It Together” will remind many of social unrest and sleepless nights. And it will probably be just as cathartic.
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