AMG Review of Walls We Bounce Off Of

Brian Beatty
All Music Guide

This batch of casual solo performances highlights Hartford's humorous sensibilities on tunes that sound made-up on the spot, including "The All Collision All Explosion Song" and "Hooter Thunkit," though they would sometimes appear in his concert set lists. Over the course of 13 numbers, he sings and plays banjo, fiddle, guitar, and his shoes. He also reads a piece of skeptical fan mail and answers a ringing telephone that interrupts some banjo tuning before the start of a song. Whatever this relaxed album lacks in comparison to the studio polish of his early RCA recordings or the reverence for older traditions that characterized his Rounder releases, there's no refuting that Hartford's love of music and joy for life permeate these seriously silly songs.