Album Review: Nine Pound Hammer – Too Outlaw For Outlaw Country
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
As soon as I saw the word Cowpunk typed in the Genre box attached to the promos, I was genuinely intrigued by what this and wanted to review it. I was completely unfamiliar with the genre and had no idea what to expect from the long running Kentucky hard rockers Nine Pound Hammer.
Digging deeper into their biography, the quintet released their demo back in 1987, and I’ve seen one of them live before many years ago, Blaine Cartwright of Nashville Pussy fame, so I was even more curious about what lay before me. They have 4 new tracks, written by Cartwright and vocalist Scott Luallen, alongside two covers as the singer commented that “we were sick and tired of the so-called outlaw music and wanted to call out the Jellyrollization of our beloved genre”.
It begins with the album title track, as a swinging country guitar gets fired out and you can’t help but nod along to it. The drum beat from Josh Love is simple and straightforward but gives the song some umph and the guitars from Cartwright and Earl Crim swing back and forth. Across the album there’s further input from John Haywood (fiddle, banjo, vocals), Ian Thomas (pedal steel) and vocalist Sheri McGee, as “Burn The Whole World Down” see the country kickers continue their accomplished style and my feet are tapping along in no time.
Next up is their version of Billy Joe Shaver’s “Black Rose” and it has a splintered, rockier riff that just comes at you, before the rhythm gets your head moving. Whatever you might think of country music, this is nothing but fun to listen to and I’m enjoying the simplicity of it all. I really like the vocals on “Tonight I Let The Bottle Down” as it’s got nice harmonies before the guitar solo intercepts and drives the whole thing forward.
With these songs, you still get that hard rock attitude seeping into their alt-country soundscapes and “Out of My League” is the perfect hoedown music with a great solo and humorous lyrics that will make you smile. The rhythm section keeps ticking along, with bassist Mark Hendricks doing a great job and they end with “Little Ole Wine Drinker Me”, a cover of the Hank Mills and Dick Jennings song, and is a little ripper of a track, that zips along with ease. Maybe this “cowpunk” genre is worth a further investigation after all!!
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