Album Review: Ryan Bingham – American Love Song (Thirty Tigers)

The Weary Kind singer enlists Dylan guitarist Charlie Sexton to produce this sprawling follow-up to 2015’s Fear And Saturday Night.

Weighing in at a hefty 15 tracks, American Love Song is almost too much of a good thing.

The album is front-loaded with a trio of straight-up rockers.

Opener Jingle & Go finds Ryan Bingham recalling his wild days on the road, playing Texas roadhouses and downing whisky and gin. Taura Stinson adds some gospel-inflected BVs to this bluesy rocker.

The guitars get louder on Nothin’ Holds Me Down as Ryan sings in his gravelly voice, “get ready for the passin’ lane!”.  Then, don’t be fooled by the fiddle that serves as the intro to the third track, Pontiac. Bingham name checks Jumpin’ Jack Flash and the guitars sound like a mash-up of classic early 70s Stones and Faces.

After this initial burst of energy, Ryan mixes things up a bit…first with the slower, quieter Lover Girl, a tender tune with plenty of pick-up lines. But at over 6 minutes, I felt it overstayed its welcome just a tad.

Beautiful And Kind is the first of several excellent acoustic blues numbers. Accompanied by just guitar, Ryan’s haggard voice digs into the lyrics, whether he is simply bemoaning how lonely he is, or commenting on wider social ills such as street violence or a government separating children from their parents.

The political commentary continues on Situation Station, a breezy number that nonetheless observes “the president shits on the nation”. As scathing as the lyrics are, I found this track to be less interesting musically, as is Time For My Mind, another lightweight track that could have easily been dropped making for a tighter album.

Still, there’s plenty more good stuff.

Got Damn Blues is another fine blues with tasty slide guitar that casts a voodoo spell. And Wolves is a lovely, intimate ballad that finds Bingham really baring his soul. The blues spell kicks in again on Hot House, a feisty rocker with a screaming guitar solo from, I assume, Sexton.

Ryan expresses his disillusion at his country one more time on America, where he asks, “Where have you gone, can’t you see what we’ve become?”, then later, taking a stand for control (not the most popular move in Texas), he sings, “Unload that gun, save a daughter, save a son”.

Finally, the album ends with a soulful tribute to a fellow Texan, Janis Joplin, on Blues Lady. There’s more tasty guitar playing and some sweet female backing vocals.

So, all-in-all, a strong effort from Mr Bingham, although I think it would be better if it was a bit leaner. Leave ‘em wanting more is always best.

Marty Duda