A relatively unknown group, originally from Tennessee, but who have to their credit an album released in 1979!, "A sip from the jugg", and who are considered by fans of southern rock as a nugget, even a masterpiece work, this combo has therefore just released its second album in 2021 after having spent most of its career opening for most of the major southern groups, but also Blue Oyster Cult, Cinderella, Webb Wilder… which incidentally denotes a certain eclecticism.

So they come back to us with this album on which we find four of the original members, namely Rex Seay, Randy Moore, Lonnie Picklesimer and Doug Green (drummer Charles Nelms being replaced by Bill Cowden), for an opus that alternates different tempos and offers three, four very nice pieces, the rest being in my eyes dispensable.

The sound and texture of the album has little to do with Seventies Southern rock, some tracks even sounding a bit Ted Nugent for my taste...

The first title "Bad reputation" and its "Australian" riff tumbles down carried by big guitars, "Hit or Miss" where Randy Moore's voice is furiously reminiscent of Molly Hatchet in their debut, is supported by a cavalcade of axes, "Dead man's Line" is a mid-tempo pierced with riffs and a furious solo, "Wide Open" starts with the roar of engines, a title which, carried by nice riffs, is dedicated to the stage, then two still pleasant songs: "The Music takes me away" enhanced with choirs and "Why" much calmer and which highlights the singer's voice for a great success, different from the album but very pleasant.

The rest of the album reminds me more of a jam with friends, where they have a good time; of course I'm a little hard but we can't find any structured pieces, the big sound is there, the guitars too but nothing more.

The album ends with an acoustic but very slow "Reach".

In the end, total respect for their longevity, total respect for their first album, nice titles on this one but which do not make it an essential opus.

Chris MARQUIS