Dance Songs For The Hard Times
Thirty Tigers, 2021
9/10
Listen to Dance Songs For The Hard Times
The Reverend is back with a Covid themed album, where the very aptly titled listen unfolds with his trademark fingerstyle guitar playing as riffs and rhythm are present in spades across the trio’s always flourishing front porch anthems.
“Ways And Means” leads the listen with Peyton’s patented backwoods formula that’s swampy, howling and highly creative as Sad Max Senteney’s skilled drumming impresses, and “Rattle Can” follows with a frisky pace of feral rhythms where Peyton pulls off incredible vocal acrobatics.
Closer to the middle, “Too Cool To Dance” shakes with a retro rock’n’roll appeal where Washboard Breezy Peyton’s washboard adds much to the lively climate, while “No Tellin’ When” moves at a calmer pace with plenty of soul amid the careful guitar playing and strategic moments of bareness. “Crime To Be Poor”, one of the album’s most interesting tunes, then recruits harmonica, thumping drums and Breezy’s glowing backing vocals to the busy, blue collar rocker.
Further still, “Nothing’s Easy But You And Me” delivers a rugged and buzzing display of country fueled rock’n’roll, and “Come Down Angels” exits on a furious pace of glorious rural rock that benefits from pretty female vocals as the trio finish with as much skill as they started the album.
Penned in March and April 2020 when everyone was on a forced break from touring, Rev took the stress of the situation and the experience of watching everything around him collapse, and channeled it into the songs that came out quickly as his wife, Breezy, recovered from being sick.
If you’re already a fan, be prepared for a highlight in an exceptional catalog, and for the first time listener you may as well dive in right here. An outfit who have always been on their own path, every album from Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band is an adventure you never knew you needed to live a fulfilling life, and this one is their best yet.
Travels well with: Possessed By Paul James- As We Go Wandering; Dumpstaphuk- Where Do We Go From Here