Do you enjoy the taste of cheap beer? Do you pronounce the words creek as "crick" and hollow as "holler"? Have you ever gone "cow-tipping"? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then I've got a record for you! The self-titled debut of Gainesville, Florida's Whiskey & Co. is 9 punk-tinged country songs about booze and pills, lost love and self-loathing. Vocalist Kim Helm, backed up by Brian Johnson (formerly of Asshole Parade) on acoustic guitar, and Ronnie, Scott, Darren, and Ian (on guitars, bass, and drums, respectively), deliver 22 minutes of barroom anthems that should appeal to fans of Lucero, Rumbleseat, Emmylou Harris, and the late, great Johnny Cash.
On the opening track "High Life," Kim promises herself that she'll escape her one horse town and move on to bigger and better things as she sings "I've been working for my beer, it's been another year. I'll save a little more, and off I'll go." Unfortunately, by the end of the album, it becomes apparent that she's too bogged down by the baggage in her life, and it's far too easy to drown one's sorrows in alcohol, that she'll never achieve what she hopes and dreams. While self-medication by means of self-destruction is the apparent theme of the album, we do catch glimpses of Kim's troubles on the songs "Pockets Full of Dust" in which she laments the loss of a lover and a friend, and on "Screen Door" where she sheds some light on the struggles of growing up in a single parent household.
The instrumentation provided by the rest of the band, fits the feel of the album perfectly. The sound of this record is so authentic; it's almost as if one would've been able to find it on a jukebox in a country bar in Kentucky in 1977. The bluegrass-y feel of songs such as "Catch My Fall" are achieved with a little help by friends on the cello, violin, and banjo.
All in all, Whiskey & Co.'s first album is a good effort. It might be a bit short, and the songs themes never stray too far from the empty bottle, so to speak. Currently, Lucero may do the alt-country thing a bit better, but the boys and girl of Whiskey and Co. deserve recognition for rediscovering and reintroducing today's kids to the sounds of our grandparents' time.
