Andrew Weiss and Friends - The Last of the Outdoor Kids (2025) Hi-Res

Catchy tunes, jangly guitars and harmonies make this blend of Laurel Canyon folk rock and late 1970s power pop an enjoyable release. Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Weiss began drum lessons when he was only four years old and also plays guitar, bass and piano (being self-taught on these). He began writing songs at seven years old and went on to play in various bands throughout his youth. The band Andrew Weiss and Friends was formed in 2016 and the band’s debut LP, “The Honeymoon Suite” was released in 2018, followed by 2020’s “The Golden Age of Love & Chemistry“, 2021’s “Highly Fascinated“, “Sunglass & Ash” (2022), in 2023, “Beverly Hills, Thanksgiving Day” and in 2024, “the world’s smallest violin.“.

So the latest release, “The Last of the Outdoor Kids“, continues the band’s trend of having interesting album titles (the latest one relating to a phrase in a magazine article that struck a (minor?) chord with Weiss). The sound on the long player is an interesting blend of Laurel Canyon folk rock and late 1970s power pop.

The songs on the record were created over a period of time, starting with a collaboration between Weiss and guitarist Sam Popkin, a writing partnership that produced three songs on the album. In terms of the recording process, this began during the summer of 2023, with two songs, followed by a further three songs, recorded by Weiss, Popkin, and Weiss’s wife, Sara Barsky-Weiss, in early 2024, with the entire band recording the remaining seven songs during March 2024.

Listening to “The Last of the Outdoor Kids“, the album doesn’t so much start as burst into life, with ‘I Don’t Wanna Live In This World‘. With jangly guitars very much to the fore, you can easily see how this would draw comparisons with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.

‘Betsy Ross Blues‘ is a song for Betsy Ross, an upholsterer in Philadelphia, who reputedly created an early version of the American flag in 1776; this flag became known as the Betsy Ross Flag. Over time, the flag has been involved in controversy, surrounding its origins and its association with political movements. Weiss appears to allude to controversy as he sings “Betsy Ross, don’t make your flag for me, I don’t want this curse to follow me around, Betsy Ross, don’t lay your flag on me, I wish I could turn this ship around, Betsy, I love you, for real, thanks for trying, But it’s red, white, and used, and what does it all mean?”

‘Put That In Your Pipe (And Smoke It)‘, one of the Weiss and Popkin co-writes, is another Petty-alike, but a rocker, punctuated by a fine guitar solo, while ‘Cash For Gold‘ sees Weiss reflecting on the day Robbie Robertson of The Band passed away.

‘Virginia Slim‘, another Weiss and Popkin collaboration, is a highlight on the LP; the press release describes the track as sounding “…like Bruce Springsteen & The E Street band if they stepped off their bus and accidentally recorded a song in Nashville instead of New Jersey“, which hits the nail on the head as a description. Tremendous saxophone features throughout the song, played by Wayne Schuster, formerly of Blood, Sweat, and Tears (1990-91), who also happened to be one of Weiss’s school teachers.

You can’t help but like a song that starts with the lyric (from the point of view of Brian Jones) “I gave my body to the Rolling Stones, so Keith could give his to science“, which is the opening line of ‘How Far Would You Go‘, a song driven by the twin guitars of Weiss and Popkin. Co-written by Weiss and Patrick Cupples, ‘Hope All Is Well‘ brings the record to its conclusion, featuring some nice slide guitar.

With standout songs ‘Virginia Slim‘, ‘I Don’t Wanna Live In This World‘ and ‘Betsy Ross Blues‘, this is an enjoyable record; the sound is very retrospective, sounding at times like Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Cheap Trick and others, with good, catchy tunes, jangly guitars and harmonies. Adding it to your ‘Must Audition’ list would be worthwhile.