Rob "Splatt" Appelblatt - Weathervane  (click on image to watch video)

 6 September 2019

If you love early Steve Earle and Chris Knight, chances are good you’ll also appreciate Rob “Splatt” Appelblatt’s Weathervane. Appelblatt sings these ten songs with one of those unvarnished, country voices, and writes songs relatable for most average Americans.

Traditional country rhythms are usually Appelblatt’s first choice for couching his lyrics, although “Plain Old Fool” is a bluesy, melodic dead ringer for the Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down.” The album’s title track is a breezy song about a girl who, when asked, says she calls herself Weathervane. Appelblatt also colors this one with harmonica. “Homeward Bound” rocks a bit, with an especially noteworthy bassline. It’s more folkish than country, and its lyric suggests that humans can sometimes stray a little too far from their roots. It’s then they should seriously consider heading back home. The album closes with “Good Woman,” which is – as its title spells out – about a real keeper of a girl. 

One of the album’s more reflective songs is also one of this collection’s best. “I thought I’d be a better man by now,” sings during the chorus to “Better Man.” It’s not the same song as the Pearl Jam song with the same title, not even close, but it expresses the kind of feeling we all have now and again. Sometimes we think we’ve advanced, but then we look at where we are. Self-improvement can be elusive, to put it mildly. As a traditional country artist, Rob “Splatt” Appelblatt is clearly a better man than most, though.

Dan MacIntosh - Dan MacIntosh has been a professional music journalist for 30 years and his work has regularly appeared in many local and national publications, including Inland Empire Weekly, CCM, CMJ, Paste, Mean Street, Chord, HM, Christian Retailing, Amplifier, Inspirational Giftware, Stereo Subversion, Indie-Music, Soul–Audio, Roughstock.com, Country Standard Time and Spin.com. 

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