Dr R Michelson 2026
Idiot At The Wheel
Sarcastic blues from non-procrastinating combo who rock current political nerve with the roughness it deserves,
It seemed bound to happen: while this collective’s previous 24 albums delivered different sorts of eternal truths, several tracks of their twenty-fifth longplay discard timeless sentiments in order to dive into the here-and-now reality most of the band’s listeners must tolerate silently. Rich Michelson and his coterie already attempted to measure the depth of despair, yet 2024’s "Acceding To The Apocalypse" turned out to be a fairly entertaining offering nevertheless. And while "Awareness Or Illusion" warned that there was “too much bullshit to normalize” the following year, the pieces which form “Idiot At The Wheel” finally aim for the heart of current affairs, stopping short of calling out the titular character by name but leaving little doubt as to what’s going on behind the scenes.
Unfortunately, sociopolitical angle can render the overall results rather problematic. Yes, it’s easy to sympathize with, and even relate to, the raw anthemic anxiety of opener “Just Another Day In America” – where Michelson’s vocals crawl against a deliberately primitive groove, and his serrated six strings bolster the question of “”What the..?” and scorching critique of the country rulers – or the harmonica-honed sway of the title track. However, purely instrumental numbers, the expansive “Last Man Standing” which brings things to a close in a passionately nuanced, albeit still paradoxically primal, fashion, and the deliciously resonant “Deuces” which passes guitar twang to electric piano work much better here. Less intense, folksy likes of “The Fading Melody Of A Song” pale next to emotionally charged cuts such as the unhurried “Pushing Darkness To The West” and “What The Hell Is Going On” whose sonic details are arresting – as are the fretboard nuances of “Keep Your Good Man” that’s not too impressively voiced by Rich’s wife Dee.
An uneven proposition, “Idiot At The Wheel” is a riveting snapshot of our existence.
***3/4
