Hurry Up and Wait

by Soul Asylum

Overview

Soul Asylum are not the band they used to be, and that's not a judgement, that's just a fact. In the year 2020, lead vocalist and songwriter Dave Pirner is the only member left from their original lineup, and 36 years on from their debut album (and 28 after they broke through with Grave Dancer's Union), it's foolish to expect them to sound like they did in the era when flannel shirts and beat-up jeans were briefly fashionable rather than slobby. 2020's Hurry Up and Wait isn't the work of a bunch of scrappy, beer-fueled upstarts the way we once loved them, and Pirner seems perfectly comfortable with not trying to be the guy who sang "Someone to Shove." That's not to say he's taken all of his rock moves off the table, as "Got It Pretty Good" and "Hopped Up Feelin'" demonstrate, but Hurry Up and Wait spends most of its time exploring Pirner's more pensive and introspective side, a side that's been a growing part of Soul Asylum's formula from Let Your Dim Light Shine onward. So don't think of Hurry Up and Wait as a Soul Asylum album and instead approach it as a Dave Pirner solo effort and it stacks up nicely next to his underappreciated 2002 album Faces & Names. He's not as much of a howler at the age of 56, but his vocals are still committed and the melodic sense and wordplay in his songs remains strong, and his band -- Ryan Smith on guitar, Winston Roye on bass, and Michael Bland on drums -- can kick it up when the song asks for it and deliver more measured support on the quieter moments. And if including two songs complaining about telephones feels like Pirner is showing his age, the honesty of "Social Butterfly" and the careful storytelling of "Dead Letter" find him handling maturity better than the average rock dude in deep middle age. Hurry Up and Wait is the work of a musician who isn't foolish enough to ignore the passage of time, and Soul Asylum are adapting to their new circumstances better here than on 2016's Change of Fortune. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	04/17/2020
Label:	Blue Elan Records
UPC:	0194491726416

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Soul Asylum   Primary Artist
John Fields   Guitar,Accordion,Keyboards,Percussion,String Ensemble,Vocals (Background)
Jeremy Tappero   Bass,Vocals,Percussion,Vocals (Background)
Michael Bland   Drums,Vocals,Percussion,Vocals (Background)
Winston Roye   Bass
Dave Pirner   Bass,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Trumpet,Percussion
Michelle Kinney   Cello
Ryan Smith   Guitar,Vocals
Jeneen Anderson   Vocals (Background)
Pete Suttman   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Paul David Hager   Mixing
John Fields   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Jeremy Tappero   Engineer
Michael Bland   Engineer,Group Member
Emily Lazar   Mastering
Winston Roye   Group Member
Dave Pirner   Design,Composer,Engineer,Group Member,Art Direction,Illustrations,Insert Photography
Soul Asylum   Producer
Joel Mark   A&R
Paul Moore   Design
Ryan Smith   Engineer,Photography,Group Member
Chris Allgood   Mastering Assistant
Jeneen Anderson   Design,Photography
Vito Ingerto   Photography