Handyman - AWOLNATION Review

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AWOLNATION has been changing their style, with the replacement of much of its' members, substituted by the members of IRONTOM, the raw (but not heavy) band AWOLNATION front man Aaron Bruno produced, and gaining a more natural and almost folksy sound. Their new album is called Here Come The Runts, and the first and third singles Passion and Miracle Man were good enough to convince me to buy tickets for their upcoming tour. Handyman is probably the promotional single, being the fourth and about a week away from the album drop.


Handyman starts off with some laid-back acoustic guitar, finger-style, with some crooning in the background. Yes, that might seem boring, but it's actually decent, and crazy considering that previously, the only real instruments AWOLNATION used were heavily produced electric ones. The chorus bangs in as a bit of a surprise, with some great coordination between the electric guitar and acoustic guitar, and vocals that sound unlike Aaron Bruno (who's voice isn't bad it just can be grating after awhile). The song is transitions from the laid back verse to the louder chorus, and sounds great throughout.

This song is a complete departure from their previous style, a departure that slowly started with Passion all the way to this track. So far the singles are three out of four, the only not so good one being Seven Sticks Of Dynamite. I think Here Come The Runts should be good, and the show in February even better. Who knows where AWOLNATION will go next? Both their old style and new style were good, but I can't really see them going very far with either. I guess we'll have to see...

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