Anchored by the powerful vocals and incisive songwriting of Erika Wennerstrom, the Heartless Bastards are a roots rock band whose tough, emotionally resonant music incorporates elements of blues, hard rock, garage punk, and country as filtered through tales of a hardscrabble life lived in the American Midwest. While Wennerstrom -- the group's sole constant member -- would move the band to Texas, their sensibility stayed much the same, though her music would become more eclectic and ambitious and the lyrics more philosophical. The tough, blues-based attack of their first era is best heard on 2006's All This Time, 2012's Arrow showcased a new lineup and a more polished approach, and 2021's A Beautiful Life was their most stylistically diverse release to date.