Best known as founder of influential L.A. punk band X, John Doe formed an alliance with Canadian psychedelic roots rockers The Sadies for an ambitious project – an album of classic country covers. The appropriately titled Country Club features tributes to the greats, such as Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, alongside a slim assortment of originals. The 15 songs stay true to the ‘60s sounds of their original epoch, all the while melding the unique surf-rock riffs of The Sadies. Doe’s hoarse vocals shine on the ballads and on the self-composed, heel-clicking It Just Dawned On Me, a song about realizing your significant other is no longer around. With plenty of weeping pedal steel arrangements and songs exposing lost love, rejection and infidelity, Country Club is the perfect companion for a lonely evening spent drinking whiskey and stroking the hurtin’ bone.

Published in Volume 64, Number 1 of The Uniter (September 3, 2009)