Nick Waterhouse Live At Pappy & Harriet's: In Person From The High Desert 2LP

A decade ago, journalists, fans, critics and audiophiles alike were wont to compare Nick Waterhouse to his predecessors. And it was a convenient way to categorize an artist that has since proved uncategorizable - he had a voice that balanced somewhere between Van Morrison and Ray Charles, an aesthetic that caught the attention of style reporters at GQ, and an ambitious production vision that stood out among the lo-fi rock and alternative bands of the zeitgeist. And he was disarmingly earnest in his own influences, citing artists like Mose Allison and Them as early inspiration.

But now, coming off of his searching, intimate, self-titled album of 2019 and releasing his first live album in 2020, it's clear that comparisons, of any kind, no longer suffice. 'Live At Pappy & Harriet's' reflects the work of an artist who has seen some things. He's studied, he's composed, he's receptive, he's loose, and he's gotten to know his own artistic practice in a way that shows up, fiery and raw, on this live, hometown record.

Nick Waterhouse has built his own sonic world, one whose orbit is totally unique. That sonic world is rich and complex; its language is intelligent, clever, and vulnerable; it's at once ambitious and intimate, groovy and deeply serious. It's only fitting that Nick Waterhouse's first ever live album was recorded at the legendary Pappy & Harriet's. Growing up in Southern California, this roadhouse in the middle of the desert is as iconic as it gets. Waterhouse turned it into a sweat filled rhythm & blues stomper of an evening featuring an exclusive cover of the garage rock classsic "Pushin' Too Hard" by The Seeds.

In fact, the Waterhouse sonic world might look a lot like a glimmering desert sky at dusk, or the damp, overheated air that awaits through the doors of Pappy & Harriet's. And now we're invited in.