Album Reviews

Chuck Ragan released Love and Lore, his fifth solo record, on October 25 last year. Ten tracks make up the album, which comes in right under forty minutes. The record had quite a time getting made, according to Rise Records, first being delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic and then by Ragan devoting time to his family, then by a tree falling on collaborator Todd Beene's home. The album finally got laid down in 2023 and released this past fall. Unequivocally, it was worth the wait. This record rips, man. There's an undeniable heart and a very strong mind for memorable melodies at work here.

I wouldn’t be the first to compare Ragan’s songwriting and sound to Bruce Springsteen, but it remains a fair comparison. Same hat-in-hand blue collar earnestness, same raspy smoothness in the vocals, and same multi-genre inspired sound. The album takes turns running the listener through galloping western riffs, big wistful lap steel-driven ballads, some bluesy country rockers, a Dylan-esque gospel-y ballad, and a couple of acoustic-driven fist-pumping folk anthems. Admittedly, it’s not a very punk album, based on the sound. The punk here comes from the authenticity of the lyrics, the self-examination in the songwriting. It’s punk enough for me, let’s say.

Out of the entire tentn-track record, I only rated three under a nine out of ten. There’s maybe one or two skippable tracks in the middle, ‘Aching Hour’ and ‘Waiting Out The Storm’ didn’t really capture me, but we’ll forgive that easily, because ‘One More Shot,’ ‘Winter,’ and ‘Northern Wind’ are just simply stellar punky country rockers. “I believe the world can change,” writes Ragan in Northern World, and man, I wish I could too, but I’ll settle for killer music. Here’s looking forward to more from Ragan.

Love And Lore track listing:

1. All In
2. Wild In Our Ways
3. Northern World
4. Echo The Halls
5. Winter
6. Aching Hour
7. Waiting Out The Storm
8. One More Shot
9. Reel My Heart
10. Hanging On