the whiskey riders - here to burn

The Whiskey Riders

Here To Burn
self-released; 2013

3.7 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

The Whiskey Riders are an American rock band that makes music with some attitude. It’s the type of music you could imagine playing in a bar in Kentucky at 2 am that has way too many bikers in there for you to feel comfortable. Their sound contains a bit of Guns ‘n’ Roses as well as Lynyrd Skynyrd. Then add in a good amount of originality and you will have The Whiskey Riders. They recently released a 15-song album entitled Here To Burn, which mixes rock, country and even metal. The songwriting is solid; the style is often aggressive and doesn't give a hoot what you think.  It also has a lot of inspiration of 80’s metal up to early 90’s alternative. What else is interesting is that the album tells a story from beginning to end. The narrative follows a band of men called The Whiskey Riders, as they journey to save a town from an oppressive regime.

The first tune “Ridin Under a Fiery Sun” starts with an interesting back and forth between a bartender and the new blood in town (The Whiskey Riders). The mood is set in a saloon sometime in the old west as a banjo plays music in the background. It actually wasn't too corny and it set up their first rocker called “Here Come The Whiskey Riders.” It is a solid song full of distorted guitars, dirty drums and gnarly vocal tone that made me want to take a shot of Jack Daniels in a dive bar.

“Shotgun Sisters” begins with a short sample of Alex Jones saying, “America was born on guns and whiskey” before they demonstrate their ability to write a vicious guitar riff. There is good bass work on this as well. This song may be their most anthemic as the chorus is catchy and has multiple vocal harmonies going on. “Aint Comin Back” is a change of pace from the first two rockers. This one isn’t full of distortion and doesn’t rock as hard but makes up for it with organ, a great vocal line and more of a country feel. As the album progresses it continues to have an eclectic mix of country and rock along with some other notable winners. I thoroughly enjoyed “Old Man River” as is showed an emotional side to the band but I also thought the 80’s inspired “Big Bad Wolf” was impressive.

After listening to the album through its entirety it’s a bit long at 15 songs. With that being said there are a surplus of songs here that are great for camping, drinking, hunting or just having a good ole time.

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