I love it when you get an album that just sounds cool, great songs, well-produced and not genre-chasing or casting its net absurdly wide either. ‘Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown’ is an album that may well be rooted in Blues Rock but has a sufficiently modern outlook to appeal to a far wider audience.
Two albums in hypnotic opener ‘Heartland’ and the groovier ‘Don’t Mind the Blood’ open with a couple of home runs before the trippier laid back ‘Jealous me’ adds another texture and subtlety like Creedence with a modern back-line. It’s a great start to an interesting ride through this Nashville band’s current state of mind.
‘Backfire’ adds more laid back modern groove-laden rock, before the down home country blues of ‘Ramblin’ Bones’ rips it all back to the roots to reveal where all this springs from, it’s a great song and doesn’t sound out of place amongst the more refined fare and its delicate guitar give it a spiritual aspect that really connects.
The meat of the album tastes good too with ‘Weak and Weepin” sporting an anchoring bass line whilst the rest of the song feels like running away, it’s a counterpoint that works beautifully. In contrast ‘Manipulate Me’ sounds like thoroughly modern moody rock and ‘Easy Target’ brings back the blues with a big ballsy riff and it gives into the huge groove it spawns.
It’s next track ‘Magnetic Field’ though that really says something – hypnotic, insistent and ethereal, there’s a real feel of the blues finding hard rock via jazz while high on life. It’s a great mystical trip. And just to rub in how good this album is it’s followed by another gem: ‘Aftershock’ a moodier rocker hewn from sheer rock and big and bold as anything Rival Sons have thrown at us so far.
Tyler has a great band around him and it shows on every track – guitarist Graham Whitford (yes son of Aerosmith’s Brad) plays wonderfully well, while Noah Denney (bass) and Caleb Crosby (drums) compliment each other beautifully.
That just leaves us with the rather introspective ‘Into the Black’ the album closer which seems like a well deserved chance to reflect after all the excitement and passion has been spent. It’s a dream-like fade-out that does the job whilst allowing you to take a breath and check out just when you can catch these guys live…
