Bourbon Boys

Shotguns, Trucks & Cattle

Written by: BV on 31/01/2013 20:43:05

Bourbon Boys is definitely a quite fitting band name for a band that almost exclusively writes songs about alcohol. And much like the effects of alcohol, the music on “Shotguns, Trucks & Cattle” is quite intoxicating, if only for a short while, leaving me rethinking my musical tastes in the aftermath of the first eight listens.

Granted, there is a part of me that seizes almost every opportunity there is on this album, to make my own toes cringe. – But what’s the point? Admitted, I find the soundscape a bit ludicrous and at times, extremely hilarious. But that is basically the relationship I’ve always had with country-related music. But enough about me, let’s get on to the album.

In essence, “Shotguns, Trucks & Cattle” is a stereotypical cow-punk/hard-rock/country-rock record. It contains fast riffing, hoarse and rough vocals, boogie-woogie rhythm sections and if I’m not mistaken – a banjo. So all the basic ingredients are at hand, but what is the end result like? Average, I guess. Upon those initial eight listens a few tracks stand out though. One of the first tracks to stand out is “Hillbilly Heart”. It contains a strong melody with a more laid-back country approach where the hoarse and extremely rough vocals fit in perfectly. I say this with great pleasure, as the vocals on this album tend to be quite agitating in the long run – though this is not the case on the more sped up tracks, as the vocals tend to be kind of blurry there anyway, and the focus seems to be on the riffing.

Another track I kind of dig is “Bowhunting Song”. The reason for this is quite apparent. It is extremely humorous and at times it even seems like a hillbilly gathering gone wrong – in a good way, that is. The aforementioned banjo is definitely dominating the soundscape here which I absolutely like! Correct me if I’m wrong, but no one hates banjos – they’re just too awesome to hate.

Banjo-excitations aside, this album also has some major downsides. As I mentioned earlier, I honestly hope this is supposed to be a humorous approach to the genre, because I really can’t get all that serious while listening to this. I believe that the humor might be a bit of an overwhelming element in the music, as it tends to take away the focus from what I believe to be some quality musicianship – which I, of course, believe to be a pity. Furthermore, the album is so incredibly long for such a uniform sounding tracklist. There are really no surprises here: country riffs, songs about booze and the occasional banjo parts. That’s about it in my personal opinion. So in essence I think it is a mediocre album that could show some promise, were it not for the stretched out tracklist and the far too humorous approach.

6

Download: Hillbilly Heart, Bowhunting Song, Moonshine Boulevard
For The Fans Of: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Toby Keith, Raubtier
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 23.01.2013
Despotz Records

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