"Hunter Benson delivers a heavy-handed hard rock anthem that trades industry polish for a raw and spiritual reckoning on the open road."
The sky turns that bruised purple shade of a fresh punch and you realize the wind isn’t going to let up before you hit the county line. Hunter Benson provides the perfect grit for this kind of wreckage on Last To Know because it feels like a heavy hand on a steering wheel when the tires start to lose their grip. It carries the weight of those old Highwaymen records and adds a high-voltage charge that pulls from the heaviest corners of Stoner Rock to create something massive.
That droning guitar riff skips the pleasantries and demands a physical response like a low-frequency hum in your chest that won’t go away. It possesses the Queens of the Stone Age mechanical precision and Benson adds a layer of Americana dirt that makes the whole thing feel human and desperate. The rhythm section drives a stake into the ground and every strike of the snare feels like a warning and a command.
By the time the final notes ring out and the dust starts to settle you feel a little more awake and a lot more honest with yourself. This works as a wake-up call that screams for a high-volume playback on a long stretch of empty highway. Hunter Benson has found the sweet spot where the blues meets the heavy metal heart of Hard Rock and he wears that crown with a terrifying ease.
