Description
His vibrant new set harks back to those nascent days of cowpunk — the Los Angeles music scene from the mid-Eighties that Yoakam helped usher in alongside acts such as Lone Justice, Rank and File, and the Knitters — while also paying homage to such musical heroes as the Byrds, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The album’s retro-billy title track rings with infectious jangly guitars, a swaggering beat and Yoakam’s instantly recognizable twang. Yoakam, who produced Second Hand Heart alongside Chris Lord-Alge, wrote eight of the album’s 10 tracks. One of the only two outside songs is a rollicking new arrangement for “Man of Constant Sorrow,” the traditional folk tune introduced to a new generation by the 2000 movie O Brother, Where Art Thou.
