Songwriter and guitarist Jon Hébert doesn’t write songs with a specific genre in mind—he just writes them and lets ’em fall where they may. The 15 originals from his 2017 first full length effort, Bayou Wild, largely straddled the line between folk and Americana. Hébert’s Flash in the Pan is radically different, a bite-size six originals that are way rockier than Wild. Genres don’t confine him, but writing and recording in a rock setting suits him well. Though Hébert enlisted various drummers, background vocalists, and a Hammond B3 organist, the rest of it is all him: guitars, bass, synthesizers/keyboards, not to mention songwriting, arranging, and producing.
Hébert crafts cool arrangements laced with special effects and hipster sounds, such as the title track. It slowly unfolds with a mysterious delta blues intro before kicking in with an electro-buzzy backbeat, synthesizer riffs, chiming tones, and Hébert’s turned-down, spacey vocals.
“Selling My Law” is the proceedings’ most intense track. Hébert starts with a ripply-sounding guitar before launching a second guitar with a heavy, albeit relatively tame, metal tone. Things really fly on the chorus with all the background voices Hébert stacks in. With lines like “Shot down over enemy lines” and “gagged, bound, haven’t eaten for days,” lyrically, it’s hardly your typical romance song, instead inspired by Hébert’s love of fast-paced, action-packed spy novels. (As an aside, Hébert authored the 2022 thriller The Gemstone Peridot.)
Seasoned rock ’n’ rollers will likely experience flashbacks with Hébert’s classic rock influences. On “Jonesin’ For Alchemy,” he cranks up a chugging, three-chord progression on one guitar before searing in with a higher-pitched slide guitar. Ryan Brown’s keyboard tinkling adds a roadhouse flavor, while Carolyn Broussard’s wailing background vocals are somewhat reminiscent of Merry Clayton’s contribution to The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.”
Yet, it’s “Into Gold” that distinguishes itself from the rest. With its quaking and shimmering effects, the instrumental feels like a miniature science fiction movie soundtrack. An eerie-sounding, simulated toy piano emerges from the abyss to become the composition’s melodic focal point.
Technically, this could be thought of as a five-song EP plus a bonus track, “This Bus is Out of Control.” Though it’s reprised from Bayou Wild, Hébert felt it was time to once again deliver the message of how society seems so chaotic, which could be applied to any time during the past couple of decades. Besides Hébert’s guitar playing and situational-rooted songwriting, his ability to craft and develop tracks that build upon their momentum is what makes Flash in the Pan worthy of repeated listens.
