Jason And The Scorchers have no business making a record as good as Halcyon Times in 2010. Jason Ringenberg still sounds like an escaped nutjob from Deliverance with a heart as big as his ever-present cowboy hat. Warner Hodges is still one of the five best guitarists alive. And the record includes a made-in-alt-country-heaven Dan Baird collaboration on the classic country regret "When Did It Get So Easy (To Lie To Me)".
This record is steeped in unapologetic nostalgia for the good times, no regrets for the roads not taken and blasts off with the best opening song you'll hear all year, sporting the unwieldy title "Moonshine Guy/Releasing Celtic Prisoners" and featuring what may well be the Scorcher credo in this hard-to-top chorus:
"And he yells, and he roars
Loves the Stones, hates the Doors
Thinks the Beatles sing for girls
He's a moonshine guy in a six-pack world"
Why this band consistently fell through the cracks is an on-going mystery. Buy this record so they get to make another. And go see them before they go on permanent hiatus. Because there are only so many GREAT rock and roll bands, and this one will sweat on you and thrill you with amazing feats like Jason's rebel yell and Warner Hodges' oft-imitated, never better around-the-horn guitar flip.
Jason and The Scorchers - "Moonshine Guy/Releasing Celtic Prisoners"
Jason and The Scorchers - "Absolutely Sweet Marie" (from the Fervor EP, and without a doubt the greatest of all Dylan covers)
This record is steeped in unapologetic nostalgia for the good times, no regrets for the roads not taken and blasts off with the best opening song you'll hear all year, sporting the unwieldy title "Moonshine Guy/Releasing Celtic Prisoners" and featuring what may well be the Scorcher credo in this hard-to-top chorus:
"And he yells, and he roars
Loves the Stones, hates the Doors
Thinks the Beatles sing for girls
He's a moonshine guy in a six-pack world"
Why this band consistently fell through the cracks is an on-going mystery. Buy this record so they get to make another. And go see them before they go on permanent hiatus. Because there are only so many GREAT rock and roll bands, and this one will sweat on you and thrill you with amazing feats like Jason's rebel yell and Warner Hodges' oft-imitated, never better around-the-horn guitar flip.
Jason and The Scorchers - "Moonshine Guy/Releasing Celtic Prisoners"
Jason and The Scorchers - "Absolutely Sweet Marie" (from the Fervor EP, and without a doubt the greatest of all Dylan covers)