Reckless Kelly

A A A Comments (1) By William Michael Smith Wednesday, Dec 31 2008

Reckless Kelly: Ten feet tall and Bulletproof.

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With the Gougers, 8 p.m. Friday, January 2, at House of Blues, 1204 Caroline, 888-402-5837.

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Since the Braun boys moved to Austin a decade ago, their band Reckless Kelly has always been considered a part of the Texas music phenomenon, but they've also always managed to stand slightly apart from that whole thing. To its credit, the band has never used the beer-taco-Mexico-tequila-Texas-Texas-Texas-more-beer lyrical template that most of the so-called Texas music bands wore like a frat pin. From the beginning, Reckless had real songs and, when they didn't have anything new, they'd rev up amazing covers of Led Zeppelin or Elvis Costello to fill the void. The band's latest album, Bulletproof, took these Idaho expatriates into entirely new territory with the politically charged "American Blood," which supported the troops but damned the Bush administration; a Texas music act openly pointing fingers at Dubya, Dick and Rummy is as rare as a solar eclipse. Bulletproof also demonstrated another facet that has set the band apart — that Reckless Kelly rocks hard and plays loud. From a production standpoint, Bulletproof is certainly the best-sounding record of the band's career. And it's just come off a monthlong tour opening for Reverend Horton Heat and Nashville Pussy — not exactly the Texas frat-rat circuit.