Rock & Roll Is Dead by Zach Pietrini

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Milwaukee’s Zach Pietrini has been plying literate, agreeable music flitting between indie country, Americana and rootsy rock for a while now. But Rock & Roll Is Dead sounds like a departure from his previous aesthetic, if not entirely a rebirth.

Pietrini is writing from a darker perspective than on much of his prior work. To hear him sing so convincingly of desperation and desolation makes for an oddly easy sell for an artist who has often beamed over his fatherly domestic life and spiritual quest. One hopes Pietrini is in a good place personally, but the less blissful approach sounds good on him. The same goes for the musical palette complementing his plaintive lyricism. Amidst his mix of Jayhawks-meets-Whiskey Meyers-meets-Blackberry Smoke jangle and power chording, occasional post-punk dance beats propel Pietrini’s musings. Rock & Roll Is Dead makes the argument that Pietrini is ready for larger stages.