VALHERE
This Lonely Highway... (Subtonic Records)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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Valhere doesn't pull any punches in delivering honest, brassy barroom styled rock and roll. With a crunching, guitar heavy style much like early Social Distortion, there are no teary eyes in the songs of lost and unrequited love on their album This Lonely Highway... Rather, the members of Valhere have chosen to turn up the amps and knuckle down, making themselves one of Portland Oregon's hottest underground acts.

The music on This Lonely Highway is the kind that sticks to your bones hours after the CD has ended. Thick and satisfying, the eleven tracks of brawling sound are all of the raucous and driven variety. Valhere doesn't employ sound gimmicks or flashy production, choosing a consistent straightforward sound from beginning to end. Most endearing from the collection is "Come On," an anthemic song which appears twice on the record, once electric and again acoustic. With songs about the solemn tracts of highway and tempestuous love, the record is best enjoyed in its entirety, making a perfect companion for a road trip or backyard barbecue. Tinged with country and blues elements throughout its forty-six minutes, Valhere have jumped into something big on This Lonely Highway... and exploded with it tenaciously.

[Pick this up at northwest.localsonline.com.]

© 2002 - Erick Mertz