One-Way Ticket
Rock - Alternative
Brian Hartzog is really making things happen with his second full-length CD release, One-Way Ticket. After playing all the instruments and singing all the parts on his debut disc (The Smashing of Pictures), Hartzog turned his attention to control room where, on this release, he decided to engineer the tracks from his bedroom studio. He enlisted the help of a few of Charlotte's top-notch musicians to give the record a more "live" feel--most notably, Doug Albritton on drums, Angelo Melendez (bass on "Daily Grind") and the Grease Spot horn section (John Thornton, John Alexander, and Matt Yarborough). Hartzog also called in Grammy-winning studio pro Mark Williams (R.E.M., Southern Culture on the Skids, Don Dixon, Mitch Easter, etc.) for a couple of sessions. The songs on One-Way Ticket are a unique blend of classic rock (the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan) mixed with funk (Prince, Parliament, and James Brown). Hartzog calls his sound "funk and roll". On first listen, you may think of the music as "alternative"--much like some strange mixture of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and early David Bowie. But, after a few tracks, you begin to realize that Hartzog has now truly developed his own sound--you'll notice how sophisticated the lyrics are, and how the grooving Lenny Kravitz-style guitars now underpin some highly memorable melodies. There are not really too many weak spots on this record (personally, I could do without "In From the Metro")...and the real standout songs are "Christmas in July", which sounds like the kind of music Prince should be making; "Motha Funky", a P-funk influenced funk jam with a fine touch of "deep-fried" southern flavor; and "Fast Girl in a Pretty Car", a rockabilly punk guitar song about a fast car driven by an even faster girl.
