Brian Lisik & Hard Legs - Nu Wreckard (2023)

This music is from Akron, Ohio distilled & bottled remarkably well by Brian Lisik’s ghosts of his musical past. Quite a good concept for a musician to undertake. Short & sweet too as the set only showcases 7 songs that are brief, snotty, irreverent & smart (Lisik’s PR words not mine). Nonetheless, the effort does have its energy & retro rock n’ roll cohesiveness. At times, it reminds me of the better songs by The Dictators.

There’s aggression but there’s melody, there’s a rawness but there’s a sensibility & it all comes together with that pop-aesthetic that the late Alex Chilton (The Box Tops & Big Star) embraced, that an independent band The Wild Stares tried their best to capture (“Piece of the Picture”). This Brian Lisik music can be appreciated on many levels since it also has the interpretational skills of Willie Nile & Lou Reed. This album is a collaboration with the band Hard Legs musicians. A band record as Brian has outlined.

The 25-minute showcase Nu Wreckard (Drops Oct 13–Cherokee Queen Records) was recorded at the Rialto Theater & has its kindling set. Many tunes smoke nicely. There’s nothing revolutionary here – it’s not “Jailhouse Rock” but it has its roots in that sensibility. Making some spirited noise is all it’s meant to accomplish. Songs like “Didn’t Mean,” despite its basics still come across as an inviting engaging & well-ripened rocker. It actually shows people how old-school rock n’ roll led to grunge.

A funky drum opening adorns the superb “Better Than Nothing,” with punctuating horns & which is quite a different take-off on the material packaged on this CD. Yet, it fits comfortably. Sly & the Family Stone at their peak could’ve covered this tune effectively. I can’t say these tunes are unvarnished because many of them are performed with skill, looseness & exquisite performances.

Falling away from that musical endeavor Brian unleashes an Elvis Costello-type “Anything,” that even has its moments of Graham Parker intonation. It appears to all be rough-shod music but while listening your ears pick up on how well done the music spills from each tune with skill & feeling.

Brian Lisik & Hard Legs (Lisik, vocals and guitar; Robb Myers, guitar; and Martyn Flunoy, drums) conjured the ghosts of its collective musical past while making its latest studio album, appropriately dubbed Nu Wreckard. Lisik described the short, smart, snotty and irreverent seven-song collection as “born from us getting in a room, making some noise and seeing what happens.”

Nu Wreckard deftly traverses an ocean of genres – from raw ‘50s rock and 90s grunge to campy ‘70s TV cop show sounds and features appearances from Lisik’s long-time bassist, vocalist and songwriting partner Steve Norgrove, saxophonist Ian Early (Cherry Poppin’ Daddies), and Akron rock legends The Bizarros, which Flunoy is also a member of.

Nu Wreckard follows Brian Lisik & Hard Legs’ 2022 release, the intentionally unvarnished live album Hotsy Totsy! American Songwriter placed “Monk,” a searingly profane non-single from that album, among its Top 24 songs of the year. Hotsy Totsy! was also named one of the Canton Repository’s “Best of 2022” releases.

No Depression called the band’s music “a winning formula of catchy phrasing, jangly guitar riffs and great pop hooks.” The Seattle Post Intelligencer said the songs make “A rough and tumble garage-y sound…soaked deep in an ocean of chunky guitars.” Music writer Lee Zimmerman said “Lisik writes songs that resonate almost immediately…sharp, smart and full of edgy intensity…bold, assertive and flush with full tilt rock ‘n’ roll.”