Laura Benitez And The Heartache: “California Centuries” (2022) CD Review

Laura Benitez And The Heartache released their debut album, Heartless Woman, back in the fall of 2014, and followed that with 2018’s With All Its Thorns. Now they’ve put out their third album, California Centuries. As with the first two albums, the focus is on original material, showcasing the songwriting talent of Laura Benitez. In these songs, she touches upon several serious topics, but does so with hope and heart in her voice. And as on the first two releases, the band features Bob Spector on guitar and Ian Sutton on steel guitar and dobro. And as on With All Its Thorns, Steve Pearson is on drums. Joining them on this one are Russell Kiel on electric bass, Dave Zirbel on steel guitar, and Amy Scher on fiddle. Bryan Kilgore and Sarah Schweppe provide backing vocals.

California Centuries opens with “Bad Things,” a song that speaks to us in these strange times when we seem to be constantly reading of terrible things, feeling less and less secure that these things will only affect others. Check out these lyrics: “Bad things happen somewhere else/Bad things happen to other people/Bad things happen to other names/In another time and place/We didn’t think it would get this bad/But it’s not my sister, it’s not my dad/So we sit at home and hoard our supplies/And hope death’s angel will pass us by.” This track features some nice work on pedal steel, as well as a really good lead on electric guitar. Dave Zirbel is on steel guitar on this track. That is followed by “I’m The One,” a song about finding one’s own power and no longer needing approval. Sometimes it might seem like our strength can only be found in someone else, or in relation to someone else. But here she discovers that it is within, singing “I’m not waiting for your love anymore/‘Cause I’m the one I’ve been waiting for.” It is told from a musician’s perspective, and the song’s final verse displays a bit more attitude: “So you can watch me now from down below/‘Cause I’ve taken some Alice in Wonderland pills, now watch me grow/I’m not sorry you're stuck down there on the floor.” This track also features a good lead on electric guitar.

Things get a bit lighter then with “Are You Using Your Heart,” a good country bar tune in which she anticipates an odd but ultimately honest pickup line: “I know he’s going to sidle up to me and say/’Excuse me, are you using your heart/Thought I might take it with me, treat it bad and tear it all apart/I promise we can have some fun before the hurting starts.’” I wasn’t expecting that serious turn after the guy’s initially cheesy opening line. I love when a song can surprise me like that. Do all relationships eventually lead to pain? Here she sees the truth in what he says, and that seems to keep her from taking him up on his proposition. Then “Let The Chips Fall” has something of a rock vibe in its rhythm. Its first line mentions trouble: “Bad news hits you like a big rig going 99.” I suppose that is the mood in these strange days. Who hasn’t heard bad news in recent times? But you can’t let that keep you from being involved, from taking risks, from living. And that seems to be the thrust of this song. This is a seriously cool track, with some delicious work on guitar. Check out these powerful lines: “And I gotta move now while there’s a part of me that’s left to save/And I know that failing ain’t worse than doing nothing at all/So let the dice roll and let the chips fall.” This is one of my favorite tracks.

“A Love Like Yours” has a great country feel and a particularly strong vocal performance. Its opening line is incredibly appealing: “Shoved that computer off the desk” (of course, I realize I’m typing this on my computer, but you understand the idea). The song is about freedom and taking risks. This song gives the album its title in the lines, “Started racing demons on your bike/Hundred miles at a time, you learned to fly/As those California centuries roll by/You know that no one owes you anything.” I also love the guitar work on this track. “Plaid Shirt” also features some really nice work on guitar, and another strong vocal performance. That’s followed by another of my favorites, “Gaslight (We Shouldn’t Talk About It).” In its first verse, this song addresses the gun violence problem that has gotten ridiculously out of hand in this country. There is a solution to it, of course, but people are too enamored of their weapons and the damn Second Amendment to actually enact it. Check out these lines: “And we shouldn’t talk about it/We should just pray instead/Though I’m not sure God is listening with so many people dead/So, load another magazine before we hit the firing range/‘Cause if we talk about it, I might have to change.” The second verse then addresses the systemic racism and resulting violence among the police force, certainly not your usual country music topic (and that is part of the point). And the song’s third verse deals with crimes against women by those with clout and money, and how women are not often believed (take, for example, the fact that both Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh have seats on the Supreme Court). The song is really about how people don’t want to face these issues because doing so might force them to take a closer look at their own actions.

“All Songs” has a pleasant, easygoing rhythm and vibe, and touches on the subject of how all things pass. Children grow up, relationships change. Check out these lines: “So I’ll hold you close and kiss your root beer lips/And we’ll sing our way through this apocalypse/We know it well, though we like to pretend/But all songs must come to an end.” Bryan Kilgore provides backing vocals on this track. That’s followed by “The Shot” the music of this one having a hopeful sound. Later, what will we tell people about this crazy time of the pandemic? What lessons will we be able to relate to the next generations? “I don’t know what I’ll tell them/My grandchildren/Maybe nothing/I’m not sure sad old stories/Count as wisdom.” I love the intelligence of Laura Benitez’s writing. And then “God Willing And The Creek Don’t Rise” opens with the line, “These days, if it’s not one thing, it’s another.” That’s a timely line, but I suppose it would always be a timely line. I once believed we were making progress as a species, but now I take hope wherever I can find it, and this song has exactly that feeling. It’s basically saying things are bad, and our efforts may come to naught, but, hell, we’re still making the attempt, we’re not giving up. “Well we’ve sure seen a lot since we were younger/The world’s still full of violence, fear and hunger/We keep climbing up the same old hill, and rolling right back down/The fact that we keep climbing up, it proves we’re still around.” Again, Laura Benitez can write a good lyric. Plus, this track features some wonderful work on fiddle.

“Invisible” is a song about standing up, not taking any crap, about being who one is. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “Whether you like what you see, you’re gonna see it/Whether you like what I am, I’m gonna be it/It’s my life, and I will not live small/I’d rather die than be invisible.” Sarah Schweppe provides the harmony vocals on this one. This track also features some nice work on both fiddle and pedal steel. The album then concludes with “I’m With The Band,” a song about being a working musician. Sure, she mentions showing up at a club and having to explain who she is, and there is the hint of annoyance at having to do that, but there is also joy in being there, and in what is coming, in performing. That’s what this is all about, the joy of playing music. And I especially dig the guitar work on this song.

CD Track List

1. Bad Things
2. I’m The One
3. Are You Using Your Heart
4. Let The Chips Fall
5. A Love Like Yours
6. Plaid Shirt
7. Gaslight (We Shouldn’t Talk About It)
8. All Songs
9. The Shot
10. God Willing And The Creek Don’t Rise
11. Invisible
12. I’m With The Band

California Centuries was released on September 9, 2022 on Copperhead Records.