Whiskey Myers "Firewater"

Wiggy Thump, 2011

The South's gone and done it again.

• As rock’n’roll settles nicely into the 21st Century, it’s hoped that some of its nastier stereotypes and conservative attitudes have been left behind. Southern Rock has always been guiltier than most with its redneck posturing and furrowed brow defensiveness. Even the great Lynyrd Skynyrd’s risible ‘God & Guns’ mission statement – “That’s what this country was founded on” – marked them out as a grotesque anachronism.

• It’s easy to imagine East Texas quintet Whiskey Myers as champions for the cause, as five suspiciously frowning longhairs glower from the CD booklet and songs open with couplets like “My first rifle was a 243 that papa gave daddy and daddy gave to me,” (‘Ballad Of A Southern Man’). Indeed, it would seem they’re Skynyrd fans to a man, with lines like “Hey Curtis Loew come on save my soul,” and “I know all the words to ‘Simple Man’.” But it’s safer to think that these are just ordinary dudes acting out a part. No more than flare-swinging retro-rockers in the manner of Black Crowes, etc, hell-bent on breaking loose with their three-guitar frontline.

  So, although some of the sentiments are pure cornball, riffs a little cliché, they sure crank up the ampage on tracks like ‘Different Mold’, ‘Turn It Up’ and the refreshingly garagey ‘Strange Dreams.’ In short, if you walked into a bar where they were playing, you wouldn’t be so quick to leave. So, the state of Southern Rock: this or ‘Your Sex Is On Fire’? The choice is yours.