Few artists have the world in the palm of their hand quite like Tom Petty.
Thirty four years is a long time to hold people’s attention, especially in an increasingly scatterbrained pop music climate where trends come and go with the breeze. And yet time and time again, Petty and the Heartbreakers whether the storm effortlessly, all by staying true to the pop infused guitar rock form that has made them musical heroes to, well, just about everybody. They’re timelessness defined, pure and simple.
Listening to Mojo, the band’s 16th full length release, it’s clear that Petty gets this. There are the soggy bottom blues rockers that dominated much of “Wildflowers.” It’s got tunes that echo the wistful pop rock of blockbuster discs like “Full Moon Fever” and “Into the Great Wide Open.” Then there are others still that straddle the line. All and all it’s what you’ve come to expect from Tom Petty: A classic heartland rock and roll disc, sometimes smooth and other times loose and raucous, complete with monster hooks that snag you hard by the eardrum.
But it’s not a half assed retread of Petty’s greatest moments either. If it’s deeply settled in the stuff of Tom Petty classicism, it’s just different and fresh enough to keep it from submerging beneath his hefty back catalog. The difference here lies less in the songs than the sound, which finds the band embracing a rawer, looser approach that captures the vibe of a bunch of buddies hanging out and grinding out some tunes. This better suits crunchier, blues driven tunes like album opener “Jefferson Jericho Blues” and “I Should have known it,” but the tamer, less jagged stuff (“Running Man’s Bible,” “No Reason To Cry”) feel at home here too.
For all that’s been made of Mojo being Petty’s first album with the Heartbreakers since 2002’s The Last DJ, it really doesn’t amount to shit. Eight years out of the studio isn’t nearly enough to hamper a band as air tight as the Heartbreakers, who have stayed largely in tact behind Petty in one form or another for over four decades. Time tested chemistry like that is built to last, and if Mojo proves anything it’s that Petty and friends are as fertile and relevant as ever.
RB
