White Owl Red - Working Class Heroes
White Owl Red, called the alt-country Bob Dylan by reviewers, recently released a new single, “Working Class Heroes, a track from White Owl Red’s forthcoming fourth album, Afterglow, slated for release in early 2020.
White Owl Red
“Working Class Heroes” narrates the hope working people, who, through collective bargaining, can “make things a little better.” The song includes references to the labor movement, the British Socialist Labour Party, and the IWW, as well as castigating Senator Joe McCarthy’s ‘Red Scare’ of the ‘50s.
The brainchild of San Francisco singer-songwriter Josef McManus, White Owl Red is made up of Kyle Caprista (drums), Gawain Mathews (guitars), and Leah Tysee (backing vocals).
McManus began his musical career writing folk songs at the Old Town School of Folk Music, in Chicago, and polished his skills at venues up and down the West Coast. His roots-flavored sound echoes influences from Willie Nelson, Leonard Cohen, Townes Van Zandt, Waylon Jennings, Nirvana, and the Velvet Underground.
A dark guitar gives the harmonics a vibrating threnody, accenting the aching tension of the tune.
White Owl Red’s previous albums include Americana Ash, followed by Naked and Falling, which Alternate Root Magazine selected as one of 2017’s Top 100 Albums. The band’s third and latest album, Existential Frontiers, received vast praise from the media, along with extensive airplay and international playlisting.
“Working Class Heroes” opens on rolling resonant guitars thrumming with roots energy reminiscent of the powerful songs of Dylan and Woody Guthrie. The steady driving rhythm rumbles with low-slung sloping percussion, as McManus’ tasty drawling tones infuse the lyrics with urgent textures. A dark guitar gives the harmonics a vibrating threnody, accenting the aching tension of the tune.
As the music gathers depth and pressure, a crying guitar invests the tune with burning wailing colors, surging with emotional commitment.
“Working Class Heroes” makes no pretense of stoic resignation. Rather it hums with potent sonic relish and the expressive voice of Josef McManus.
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