Heartless Bastards – “Restless Ones” [Album Review]

Cincinnati-based alternative folk band Heartless Bastards have been around for about 13 years and in that time have released 5 albums. Their newest record, Restless Ones, is a slow-paced, almost soft rock release that doesn’t really venture far from it’s formula of swing-based drum beats and 4-chord riffs. An album like this is about as straight-forward as it gets.

Not much is present on this release… Maybe Heartless Bastards decided to kick it back a notch, but the music is very bland. There are points where there might be a catchy riff or two, but all the songs sound nearly identical. I hate to use the word boring, but there’s simply nothing here that is really gripping. This album could compare to the last Meat Puppets release Rat Farm, which while released by a great band, was sorely lacking, as is the case with Restless Ones.

As with all reviews, there will be people who completely disagree with me – many will dig this musical style and album. That being said, while these musicians are by no means bad, for me the songwriting on Restless Ones is just bland. The group certainly has the ability to play, they just need to figure out how to add in that wow factor. If they had that, I believe that this band would be set.

Track Listing:

01. Wind up Bird
02. Gates of Dawn
03. Black Cloud
04. Hi-Line
05. Journey
06. Pocket Full of Thirst
07. Into the Light
08. The Fool
09. Eastern Wind
10. Tristessa

Run Time: 40:40
Release Date: June 16, 2015

Check out the song “Hi-Line” here.