Sometimes the name of a band tells you you might be onto something before you actually hear a note they've played. Such is the case here. Sarah Shook & the Disarmers augers very well. And their debut album, from 2017, more than lives up to that promise. Playing a similar trick to the one Margo Price played so smartly in 2016, North Carolina's Shook and her companions reinvent Country and make it lean, real and raw, devoid of corn and sappiness.
Well crafted songs always help of course and there are twelve of them here. But the ace up the Disarmer's sleeve is not unnaturally Shook herself. With that distinctive Loretta Lynn twang to her voice, she's a dangerous and real presence, sounding, vulnerable, hurt and menacing and angry at one of the same time. The band play their part to the full. There's something of a swagger here and a willingness to follow the lead of Lone Justice and Jason & the Scorchers as well as the more orthodox Country suspects. It will be interesting to see where they go next!
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