music

Wayne Hancock

Viper of Melody

Wayne Hancock’s new album sounds as if it’s beaming in from a bygone age, one in which the paths of country and jazz hadn’t long since diverged. That means that Viper of Melody swings with a little more style and grooves with a little more ease than most old-school honky-tonk. And it doesn’t mean Wayne’s songs are born into the world decades too late—the wry blue-collar weariness in songs like the economically minded “Working at Working” is all too relevant to folks who find themselves with renewed reason to dance their woes away for a while.

• May 25, 2009
• by Chris Neal