A double album consisting of one conceptual tour de force and its deliberately slimmer companion,
American Jackpot/American Girls captures the veteran Red Dirt band
Reckless Kelly at their most ambitious, but that doesn't necessarily mean it finds the group branching out musically. The band continue to pledge allegiance to rough-hewn but slyly polished Texan roots music, staying in the steady-rolling troubadour lane, yet
Willy Braun took it upon himself to capture undercurrents and characters that define American life. On
American Jackpot, which is the heart of this 2020 double LP,
Braun is as fixated on the present as he is in the past, and he shows a fondness for how the two can overlap or how legends, such as that of Jackie Robinson, linger in the popular consciousness.
Braun and
Reckless Kelly get lighter on
American Girls, consisting of songs that were written and recorded during the
American Jackpot sessions but didn't quite fit its concentrated theme. Despite
Jackpot's Southern-fried raver "Mona,"
American Girls is indeed a bit more fun than
American Jackpot --
Reckless Kelly go so far as to conjure the ghost of
Sir Doug Sahm on the rollicking "Lost Inside the Groove" -- but they're best seen as a pair, as the combination showcases the band's dogged determination,
Braun's ambition as a songwriter, and, in a guest list that includes
Charlie Sexton,
Gary Clark, Jr.,
Shawn Sahm,
Wade Bowen, and
Suzy Bogguss, how highly
Reckless Kelly are thought of in their adopted hometown. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
