I defy you not to be sucked in by Quagmire’s John Paul Peters produced album. Existential title aside, this is a record of unpretentious, whiskey-soaked southern rock - fun, frenetic and deftly executed by a band that definitely would know where to buy a badass leather jacket. Vocalist Shane Haywood, sounding every bit the crazed Baptist minister this genre requires, positively howls on standout track Losing Sleep, as he finds himself in financial straits, belting “I still earn more than I keep” with his rock solid backing band pound away relentlessly behind him. It’s that relentlessness however that may be the only mark against the album as its 16 tracks of thumping raw power may be tough to make it through unless you’ve brought the requisite amount of party to the table. Turns out I did as by album’s end I was ready to crack something brown and fizzy and start again from the beginning.

Published in Volume 67, Number 26 of The Uniter (May 29, 2013)