Artist:     The Yawpers

Album:     Human Question

Label:     Bloodshot

Release Date:     4.19.2019

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This is the fourth release for Denver trio The Yawpers, with their raw sound, punky edge, and ever-changing grooves. The Yawpers made their mark with a combination of punk, rockabilly, blues, and flat out rock ‘n’ roll on their previous releases. Here on Human Question they are perhaps a bit more accessible, and clearly more self-reflective. It was written, rehearsed and recorded over a two-month period with Reliable Recordings’ Alex Hall (Cactus Blossoms, JD McPherson), who also added occasional keyboards and vibraphone to the power trio. The band tracked live in one room with few overdubs. As you’d expect, the album throughout has the hard edge one associates with a Bloodshot release. The first two tracks would fit comfortably in any typical night during the heyday of CBGBs, but there are calmer moments too.

Lead singer and guitarist Nate Cook takes a different approach to trauma than in the past, using it more cathartically than immersing himself in it. Cook says, “I wanted to take a crack at using these songs as therapy, really. I think I’ve always been include to write more toward the dregs of my psyche, and explore my depressions and trauma, rather than describe a way out.” This approach keeps the listener on edge—one minute the band is blaring, and in the next there’s more folk-like, Americana songcraft (e.g.. “Man As Ghost”). The sequencing is not an alternation of the loud and soft, though. You have to sit back and know you’ll have a bumpy, but ultimately exhilarating ride.

The opener, “Child of Mercy” has guitarist Jesse Parmet cranking it up with a disintegrating blues guitar framework as new drummer Alex Koshak frenetically pounds the skins. Here, as he does in some places , Cook turns to a howling falsetto –“Won’t you wake me up when the night is over.” “Dancing on My Knees” channels some of The Black Keys sound, very raw with some pop sprinkled in. Some have described the Yawpers as a “more musically talented MC5” and tunes like “Earn Your Heaven” and “Reason to Believe” evoke that whole Ann Arbor/Detroit sound of that band and the Stooges.

There are also echoes to ’70s psychedelic rock in the title track and the British blues-rock boogie of band like Led Zeppelin in “Forgiveness Through Pain.” These are counterbalanced by the more melodic fare in “Man As Ghost,” ‘Can’t Wait” and “Where the Winters End.” The clear standout track, though is “Carry Me” which is a gospel-soul tune that builds to an impassioned crescendo with Cook absolutely shouting at full throttle “I want you to love me.”

This album requires a bit of patience, especially if you’re not in the mood or put off by the initial thrust of the front-heavy sound. Repeated listens reveal a versatile unit with musical chops. This band can do more than rock, but they do that far better than most.

—Jim Hynes