The Wallflowers

Photo By Yasmin ThanRock n roll is often hard to define, or even to find, in these fractured musical times. But to paraphrase an old saying, you know it when you hear it. And you always hear it with the Wallflowers. For the past 30 years, the Jakob Dylan-led act has stood as one of rocks most dynamic and purposeful bands a unit dedicated to and continually honing a sound that meshes timeless songwriting and storytelling with a hard-hitting and decidedly modern musical attack.That signature style has been present through the decades, baked into the grooves of smash hits like 1996s Bringing Down the Horse as well as more recent and exploratory fare like 2012s Glad All Over. Even so, in recent years, Dylan the Wallflowers founding singer, songwriter and guitarist has repeatedly stepped outside of his band, first with a pair of more acoustic and rootsy records, 2008s Seeing Things and 2010s Women + Country, and then with the 2018 film Echo in the Canyon and the accompanying soundtrack, which saw him collaborate with a host of artists classic and contemporary, from Neil Young and Eric Clapton to Beck and Fiona Apple. But while its been nine long years since weve heard from the group with whom he first made his mark, the Wallflowers are silent no more. And Dylan always knew theyd return.The Wallflowers is much of my lifes work, he says simply. Plus, he adds with a laugh, Its pretty hard to get a good band name, so if you have one, keep it. Good band name aside, that lifes work continues with Exit Wounds, the brand-new Wallflowers studio offering. The collection marks the first new Wallflowers material since Glad All Over. And while the wait has been long, the much-anticipated record finds the bands signature sound lean, potent and eminently entrancing intact, even as Dylan surrounds himself with a fresh cast of musicians.Which, the front man is quick to point out, is not all that unusual. The Wallflowers has always been a vehicle for me to make great rock n roll records, he says. And sometimes the lineup that makes the record transfers over into touring, and sometimes it doesnt. But my intention is always to make the Wallflowers record I want to make, using the musicians I have beside me. Dylans vision has always been the core of the Wallflowers music. How he chooses to express that vision, however, is what makes a song a Wallflowers song. I usually just let the songs tell me what kind of arrangements they need, he says. And if theyre asking for full-band electric arrangements, then thats what the Wallflowers provide. And I knew I wanted to make a full-band electric record this time out.And made one he has, with one special guest on board Shelby Lynne, who lends her voice to three of the albums tracks. I hadnt met Shelby before, but like most people, Ive been a fan of hers for quite some time, Dylan says. She has one of those voices thats very uncommon, very unique, very rare.