First thing you should know about this record is that were talking country music here. Leave your insurgent at home, check your alternative at the door, tug on them boots, and hit the hardwood, son.
The Bum Steers are fronted by singer/songwriter/guitarists Mark Fosson and Edward Tree, and are backed by the rhythm section of Taras Prodaniuk and Billy Block. All of these guys have been around for damn near ever playing country music both as session hands and in too many touring bands to count. If you spent any time in L.A. over the past several years, you may have known Billy Block as the host of the Western Beat Music Showcase and an affiliated radio show. When Block up and moved to Music City, he took the franchise along for the ride. Now Nashville is home to the Western Beat Barndance, the Western Beat Monthly newsletter, and Western Beat Records. Not to mention the Bum Steers.
The albums first song, Dancin on the Levee, will get you up on your feet in a big hurry. Its a raucous dance number which establishes that these guys know their way around the rockin side of country. Next comes another winner, Smokin and Drinkin , with a pretty classic lyric hook: I keep smokin, I keep drinkin, I keep comin back to you / Old habits dont die easy / Look at me, Im livin proof. This honest-to-god honky-tonk song is an original, but it sent me searching through the liner notes to see if it was an old Hank Thompson or Ray Price song I used to hear on jukeboxes in Houston.
With Let the Horses Run, however, the Bum Steers take a wrong turn. This one is so shallow and overblown a lot like the Hot New Country that dominates the radio landscape that it will probably be a breakout hit. The record hits another false note a few songs later with Hitchhiking Heart, which tries to reclaim the rockin feeling of the first cut but lacks character and falls flat.
With these missteps behind them, the Bum Steers get back to the business of making good country music. Half and Half starts with the line My name is Mark and I lost my mind / On an acid trip in 69, and tells its loopy first-person tale over a bounding danceable beat. This gives way to the silly but winning Why, Nona?, with its obvious wordplay. But Fosson and Tree save their most amusing lyric for last. Its a Nat King Cole Porter Wagoner Sort of Thing is another rollicking dance tune that has a great time playing the name game where else will you hear about Olivia Newton John Wayne, Pink Floyd Cramer, or Willie Nelson Eddy? On that note, the record finishes strong, with its most identifiable song.
In the end, the best material is strong enough to carry the day, and the record emerges as a barn-dancin, honky-tonkin success.