★★★★★
Wayne "The Train" Hancock may be a throwback, but the honky tonk music he plays ain't the throwaway sort. On Viper of Melody, his seventh record since his 1995 debut, Thunderstorms and Neon Signs, Hancock continues to sound like a contemporary of Hank Williams and Ernest Tubb, his plaintive voice and simple classic country set-up evoking the legends of yore. As a result, Hancock's music is as appealing as ever...
- www.hour.ca
2010-11-09
★★★★★
"What kind of crazy notes are these?" jousts Wayne Hancock at Huckleberry Johnson's upright bass breakdown on "Throwin' Away My Money," a valid question circa 2009 for Hancock's incomparable neo-traditionalism. As the title of the Austinite's sixth studio album suggests, Hancock cuts his classic honky-tonk and A-Town blues with some smoky and slinky jazz arrangements, allowing his crack band to shine...
- www.austinchronicle.com
2009-07-21
★★★★★
This is the seventh time around for the slightly warped but always honest and driven Wayne Hancock. Viper of Melody, his fourth release for Bloodshot, finds Hancock in comfortable territory, cranking out one solid gem after another, each a hot blend of country, western swing and rockabilly. This time, though, his jaunty takes on the hard life take on new meaning...
- www.prefixmag.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
Wayne Hancock walks a very fine line exceptionally well. If he were to stumble even a bit, his style of no-frills classic country and his uncompromising, intense personality could quickly devolve into clich and caricature respectively. He maintains his balance by imbuing every song with passion and an exceptional level of musicianship. Underneath these elements is a strong sense of self-awareness and a keen effort by both Hancock and his band to avoid taking themselves too seriously. The resul....
- www.popmatters.com
2009-03-21
★★★★★
Wayne "the Train" Hancock is one hell of a consistent son-of-a-gun. Since his critically acclaimed debut Thunderstorms and Neon Signs way back in 1995, this Texas troubadour has continued to play and record traditional roots music with a fiery authenticity that embraces all that has gone before without lapsing into pastiche...
- www.popmatters.com
2008-11-11
★★★★★
As anyone who has heard him knows, Wayne Hancock is a honky tonk man, and what a honky tonk man does best is make with some tunes suitable for both dancing and beer drinking at an unpretentious nightspot along the highway...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
Wayne Hancock's third album, Wild, Free and Restless, is another richly eclectic melting pot of vintage American sounds with a distinctly rural orientation. Yet, in spite of the fact that Hancock is an unabashed revivalist, his music never comes off as academic or as mere preservationism; these songs breathe with a lively energy, and the juxtapositions of styles seem natural and unselfconscious...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
Wayne Hancock is an anachronism. Working on either side of the dawn of the 21st century, Hancock's music is a direct descendant of the classic honky tonk sound of the late 1940s and early '50s. Hank and Lefty provided the template, and no one in the last 35 years or so has put it to better use than Wayne Hancock. No real surprises here: juke joints, loneliness and life on the road form the basis of most songs, and Hancock gives his players plenty of room to play...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
Wayne Hancock approaches classic country themes with a modern flair for That's What Daddy Wants. Hank Williams couldn't have gotten away with singing about finding his lover with another on "those damp, slick, sticky satin sheets." And Hancock does branch out a bit, utilizing a drummer as well as the occasional horn or accordion. But his most radical departure, a cover of the Clash's cover of "Brand New Cadillac," is a surf music screamer that advances his sound to state of the art circa 1963...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28