Medicine Hat had already released a four tracks mini CD a few years ago. There, it comes back with a record that will wake up all the "Southern rockers" asleep and anesthetized by the lack of current productions about this musical current that is dear to us. From the first notes, we see that the band has kept a good shape and always shows a high technical mastery, especially the two guitarists who express themselves each in a different register (hard/Southern rock for one, country-rock for the other). The musicians chose to take back the four tracks already published on the previous album but with different arrangements. The ballad « Heart’s gone crazy » (with a superb solo mid-country, mid-Southern), « Long way back again » (which has a small Bryan Adams side and does not hesitate to marry country phrases on the verses to a superb melodic hard solo), « Huntin’ for fun » (which features a clear-sounding country solo and a saturated hard solo) and the speed-muskoge country-rock « Fire in Muskoge » that combines an infernal rhythm close to Motorhead and two guitars with different styles (country and hard rock). The other titles are also worth seeing. The Southern atmosphere hovers over « Firebird », a mid-tempo song in the style of New Lynyrd Skynyrd with a good guitar solo. The rock « Licence to farm » hits well with a catchy theme at the third and an excellent country-rock clear sound solo, followed by a saturated sound break. « Mind of a man », with a very good six-string solo, do also well. But the album yet contains two good surprises. For starters, some muscular country-rock in the Hank Williams Junior style with « Country song » and its country solo played with a string bender (small device added to the back of a guitar, usually a Telecaster, which allows you to play on the tension of the strings and to get closer to the sounds of a pedal steel). Then, good strong rock that rocks with « Bad boy boogie » (with a « killer » solo). Awesome ! No need to write more! The guys from Medicine Hat have hit hard with this invigorating record that is a live wire! Rock’n’roll is great !

Olivier Aubry