Search - Road Hammers :: Road Hammers

Hammering a Pleasant Debut

T. Yap | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 12/24/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Prime Cuts: East Bound and Down, Heart With a Four Wheel Drive, Girl on the Billboard



Needing a testosterone boost? Look no further than this debut CD from the Road Hammers. Women, four- wheel drives, trucking are the calling cards of these five Canadians served over soaring electric guitars and overdriving percussion. Fronted by Canadian's CMA Male Vocalist of the Year Jason McCoy, the Road Hammers' hardcore and beef-eating constituency has had already been causing ripples in the 49th Parallel. As already noted, "The Road Hammers" is a concept CD revolving around theme of traveling, sometimes literally and at other times figuratively to describe life and love. Sonically, the Road Hammers join with other acts such as Montgomery Gentry, Confederate Railroad, the Tractors among others in the fraternity of turgid country-rock with an occasional coating of blue-collared ethics and Southern down home living.



But as much as the Road Hammers may front a self-made man image, they have enlisted some of Nashville's finest writers to add credibility to this set. Worthy of mention is the import of Robert Ellis Orrall who penned "Overdrive" with Jason McCoy. This philosophically uplifting tune about persistence in life is underscored by some muscular sounding guitar lines over McCoy's bluesy baritone. Also quite ear grabbing is the creative "Heart with a Four Wheel Drive." Written by Billy Maddox and Paul Thorn and formerly covered by 4Runners, this pop-slanted swampy rocker tells the tale of a love stricken man unable to escape love's entanglements.



On the other hand the cheeky "Girl on the Billboard" is about the protagonist drooling over a billboard girl wearing nothing but a smile. This is no schmaltzy Nashville's sensitive love number. Rather, this is an honest confession coming from a red blooded male that today's country music has emasculated. On the more rustic side, "East Bound and Down" about speed-driving is lyrically on the fluffy side. But it is redeemed by some driving-banjo bringing to mind Ryan Shupe. On the smothering bluesy side is Lowel Gorge's "Willing."



But the main malfeasance of this CD is that there's nothing here that is exactly mind blowing. If these guys are to cut into the terrain of their Southern neighbors, they need a couple of hit songs, which are not to be found here. Also somehow constrained by the album's theme, the songs here are sometimes lyrically contrived and there are a few frivolous trinkets (such as the reprisal of "I'm a Road Hammer," an outtake and the extremely short "Absolutely Nothing"). Maybe a Nashville producer, a more focused major label and a more lavished budget, could be the antidote to these problems. Nevertheless, "The Road Hammers" has enough mileage for testosterone-loving fans to put the forward gear."