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Who is Chris Allen?
Chris Allen is the former lead singer, songwriter, heart and soul of the Cleveland-based band Rosavelt, who Paste Magazine calls a "first-rate chronicler of life's minor ups and downs," while the Cleveland Plain Dealer noted, "[Allen's] songs read like Raymond Carver short stories." He is at it again with his second solo effort, Things Unbroken, an 11 song rocker that takes his work into new sonic and emotional territory.
The new album is the follow up to his critically acclaimed solo debut Goodbye Girl and the Big Apple Circus (2006) that reached the Top 20 in the European Americana charts having been released overseas by Rosa Records. Scene Magazine in their 2006 Best of Cleveland issue called it "the perfect soundtrack for the broken hearted", saying "Allen has a way with tales of longing and loss delivered in a gritty, baritone drawl."
Things Unbroken was once again produced by the legendary Don Dixon who's long list of credits include REM, Smithereens, Marshall Crenshaw, Counting Crowes and more. Allen also enlisted veteran drummer Will Rigby who was a founding member of the Db's and most recently has toured and recorded with Steve Earle on some his best work including Transcendental Blues and Jerusalem.
The album was recorded at the famed Suma Studios in Cleveland, OH by Paul Hamann who produced most of Pere Ubu's best work. It also features an eclectic mix of guests from bluesman Walkin' Cane, bluegrass specialist Tom Prebish, irish fiddler Francis Quinn and accomplished singer songwriter Marti Jones.
While Rosavelt received well-deserved comparisons to The Replacements, early Wilco and Exile on Main Street-era Stones, the new album Things Unbroken combines the raw rock sounds of his past with a heavier lyrical maturity and use of in depth studio production like never before in his career.
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Critics give Chris Allen's Rosavelt Premium-Grade praise for the Story of Gasoline.
"Writer/Singer Chris Allen comes into his own here (2004's The Story of Gasoline) as a first rate chronicler of life's minor ups and downs...He injects an equal dose of poignancy into the ragged roots rockers that give the record it's soul...If you miss the straight talking side of Jeff Tweedy as much as I do you'll want to get to know Chris Allen."
"Rowdy roots-rock impressive indie artists Rosavelt channels the Replacments with some-down home variations."
"[Producer Don] Dixon's production hones the record's sharp edges, builds up the grandeur of the guitars, dirties up the rhythms and plays up lead singer Chris Allen's rough vocals to devastating effect. The record reflects all that is right with American alt-rock at the moment."
"The Story of Gasoline is combustible and crude in all the right ways, without forsaking fidelity you feel as if you¹uc0 ¹e stumbled in on a blazing sound check...Songs such as "The Last Heartache", "Perfect Girl" and "Saturday 3 A.M. Blue" read like Raymond Carver short stories..."
"Rosavelt's gritty melodies have earned the band well deserved comparisons to Minneapolis legends, The Replacements. The band¹uc0 ¹ latest release, The Story of Gasoline has a similarly rough booze-sopped edge and a sincere blue collar vibe."
"Gasoline is Rosavelt's most fiery and fully representative album yet, thanks in part to producer Don Dixon's (R.E.M.) live recording techniques. With the rawer production, Allen's songwriting -- which has gotten better with each release -- takes on a tough immediacy, moving the band far away from the AltCountry label they were often tagged with early on. With their soulful, gritty-but-smart sound splashed with just the write measure of Pop instinctiveness, Rosavelt has all of the makings of a timeless, enduring Rock & Roll band."
"The Story of Gasoline has the same feel of the Rolling Stones in its Sticky Fingers or Exile on Main Street phases. The guitars are way up in the mix -- and loud...there's sense that it could all fall apart at any time, which makes for some pretty good rock 'n' roll."
"The band has moved from the comfy realm of Americana to a more raggedy Replacements sound on its just-released third disc, The Story of Gasoline."
"Gasoline drips with sweat and three-part harmonies that leaven the boozy charge from those harder moments to the 100-proof pop...and straight through the biting ballads...the lone common denominator is Allen's cutting lyrics, which read as if they were penned in bile."
