ALBUM REVIEW: Sarah Shook and the Disarmers Rock ‘Revelations’ With Eyes Wide Open

With Revelations, River Shook (formerly Sarah Shook, though the band name remains the same) again elegizes the underbelly of American life, all the while basking in country-pop hooks. Shook exudes that mix of badassery and fatigue so well navigated in earlier work — particularly 2015’s Sidelong (ND review) — skillfully walking the line between cynicism and satire. The newly membered Disarmers are a bit less explosive than the Eric Peterson-led ensemble, but still provide punchy rhythms and soundscapes that range from rambunctious to austere.

Shook has always addressed and continues to address challenging emotional states. Revelations’ title track, for example, paints a picture of someone wrestling with depression (“Black cloud following me around,” “Hey baby I’m barely getting through each day”). The song as a whole, however, glides airily, carried by Shook’s infectious drawl. Intricate instrumental interplays, too, create a fluid and summery feel. The contrast between grim content and balmy melodies is notably effective.

Shook seems similarly burdened on “You Don’t Get to Tell Me.” Mind your own damn business and keep your opinions to yourself, they declare, sounding confident enough, though we all know that fighting to maintain boundaries can be cumulatively exhausting. With “Motherfucker,” Shook cranks the anger up a few notches, asserting, “You’re gonna get what’s coming to you.” Anger, though, easily calcifies into resentment, which typically harms the person harboring it more than the person to whom it’s directed. In other words, again, exhausting.

On the irresistible “Backsliders,” Shook depicts a sleazy relationship (“I’m a real piece of shit and you’re a vixen in a dress”), conjuring characters who keep reconnecting despite being bad for each other. Blake Tallent offers an energetic guitar solo while Nick Larimore’s pedal steel streaks across the sonic field. “Criminal” is signature outlaw Shook, the songwriter illustrating how well they’ve absorbed Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash, among others. Blending the atmospherics of a spaghetti-western showdown (“It was the time of day you strain to hear a single sound”) with the theme of an extended hook-up on the rocks (“If loving you will always be a crime / I’ll always be a criminal”), Shook crafts a vivid snapshot of toxic enmeshment.

With “Stone Door,” Shook dives into the classic country songbook, hyper-twanging their usual twang. By the end of the song, they’ve “carefully erased” the person with whom they experienced “a storm on a mountaintop,” demonstrating (perhaps with a tinge of humor) how selective memory works. “Give You All My Love,” meanwhile, is Shook’s most ebullient vocal, recalling the electro-pop vibes of their underrated solo LP, 2022’s Cruel Liars (released under the moniker Mightmare) (ND review). Jack Foster’s drums are bright. Shook’s vocal is clipped rather than sprawly, heady rather than guttural.

With Revelations, Shook, who got sober in 2019, seems wiser and more seasoned, even if they’re still preoccupied with such motifs as outsider-ism and the pitfalls of romance. With the support of the cautious yet well-poised Disarmers 2.0, Shook continues to hone various balances: restraint and effusiveness, stoicism and volatility, self-effacement and self-possession. The new album represents a decisive and potent return.

Sarah Shook and the Disarmers’ Revelations is out March 29 on Abeyance Records/Thirty Tigers. Find an essay by River Shook titled “The End Is the Beginning: Tales from an Artist in Recovery” in our Spring 2024 journal, available here in print or digitally.