Album Review: Rocky Votolato - Hospital Handshakes

The eighth solo album from Texas-bred, Seattle-based troubadour and former Waxwing frontman Rocky Votolato arrives after a terse period of self-doubt and recrimination, and these existential musings form the cornerstone of Hospital Handshakes.

Votolato’s casual charisma remains intact and he’s assembled a talented cast — his brother Cody (The Blood Brothers) adds axe while production is handled by Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie) — but it’s his carefully-crafted indie-folk songs that carry the heft, numbers like The Hereafter and Royal buoyed by cruisy grooves and deft lyrics that emote without becoming tiresome.