Pat Todd takes it down a notch with his current band The Rankoutsiders. But let me clarify here- just one notch. The power and punch of his former band The Lazy Cowgirls is still there, with slightly slower tempos and a bit less fuzz. Make no mistake though- this is no snoozefest. The impact is just as visceral as anything by The Cowgirls. Have you ever wondered what it would sound like if Jimmy Reed wrote Rocket To Russia, or if AC/DC performed Exile on Main Street? If that’s something you’d be interested in, seek out this record now.
Exile in particular is a benchmark that keeps coming to mind. Being stuck at 14th & Nowhere sounds a lot worse than being exiled on Main St., but that’s not the case. They’re in the same neighborhood, and The Rankoutsiders are no strangers to the area. The band delivers a handful of country honk ballads sandwiched between a full set of R&B scorchers, complete with group backing vocals, some nice flourishes of acoustic guitar and harmonica, and even a speck of banjo and pedal steel. This record was made to be cranked at juke joints, hoedowns and keg parties. It’s the sound of a bar band reaching peak velocity.
The chord changes feel kinda familiar but they are satisfying nonetheless, like the way Bob Dylan recycled old Carter Family songs in the sixties. And like Dylan’s early stuff, most of the hooks come from Todd’s melodies. His pipes sound stronger than ever as he belts out one big, fat, sing-along chorus after another. The sandpaper grit in his voice is still there in the straight up rockers, and there’s a world-weariness there too that adds emotional weight to some of the slower numbers. Todd’s lyrics are drenched with regret, cynicism and even anger, evidenced by song titles like ““Didn’t Have to Die”, “You and Your Damn Dream”, and “I Won’t Forgive You”. But that blanket of bleakness is broken by a thin thread of hope running through a few tunes, like “Your Sugar is All I Want” and the song that might as well be the mission statement of the record- “Small Town Rock Ain’t Dead”. He’s right. It’s alive and well, currently residing at the corner of 14th and Nowhere.
