Natives of Palestine, Texas, Whiskey Myers return with their seventh studio album ‘Whomp Whack Thunder’ on 26th September. It’s been three long years since ‘Tornillo’ dropped in July 2022, not that the band has been resting on its laurels, the guys have been busying touring and writing since then. ‘Whomp Whack Thunder’ proves the wait has been worthwhile.
The eleven-track long player features the recent singles ‘Time Bomb’, ‘Tail Spin’ and ‘Midnight Woman’ each of which has received critical acclaim from within the industry and from fans new and old.
Released on the band’s very own Whiggy Thump Records, produced by Grammy-Award winning Jay Joyce at Nashville’s Neon Cross Studio. The album was written solely by lead vocalist Cody Cannon, who has described the process as “boring”.
‘Whomp Whack Thunder’ takes the listener on a sonic journey that starts off with their trademark gritty southern-rock sound on ‘Time Bomb’ and ‘Tail Spin’ which are loud, proud and demand the listeners attention. What’s also clear from the outset is that this band is tighter than ever before, Tate and Jeffers absolutely shredding their Guitars straight off the bat.
The bluesy ‘I Got to Move’ and ‘Rowdy Days’ both appear to capture Cannon during a period of self-reflection, in particular ‘Rowdy Days’ has Cannon musing about his advancing years, whilst noting that his days of hedonism are not that long gone, but noting that he’s a more mature and rounded person these days. It’s a thought-provoking ballad very much in the manner of “Stone”.
‘Icarus’ is one of the albums stand out tracks for me. It’s a bit of a different groove for, Whiskey Myers, more poppy than anything else on the record, it must work as that’s not normally my kind of thing.
‘Midnight Woman’ and ‘Break These Chains’ sees normal service resumed. These are full on rockers with searing guitar riffs and driving bass and a couple of neat guitar solos. ‘Midnight Woman’ sounds like it could be a collaboration with Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top.
“Midnight Woman is that raw, late-night energy you can’t shake off,” lead singer Cody Cannon states. “Part voodoo, part rock ‘n’ roll fever dream, it’s about the kind of woman who doesn’t just walk into your life. She storms in like thunder and leaves you dizzy in her wake.”
One of the things that southern rock bands do more than any other genre is use gospel type backing harmonies, like The Honkettes did for Skynyrd, those harmonies feature heavily to my ear in those two tracks.
Born to Do’ takes it down a notch as if to give the listener a timely break to catch their breath before another full-on assault. But its much more than just a filler track. It’s a further demonstration of Cannon’s growing maturity as a songwriter.
‘Rock N Roll’ snarls and growls at you like an angry Rottweiler. It’s one of those tracks that instantly has you turning the volume and the bass up. I can certainly hear the influence of Zeppelin and even a little Tool in this track.
‘Ramblin’ Jones’ is blues laden stomper, as the title suggests, it’s a road song. The narrative centres on the appeal of the open road and the feeling of not being genuinely happy unless out on the highway.
“But it won’t be long before the highway calls and I’ll be right back at it again. Heading from town to town burning all cities down with my rough and rowdy friends”.
The album is rounded off with the slower, broodier and atmospheric ‘Monsters’. One thing that instantly struck me about ‘Monsters’ was less production in comparison to the rest of the record, which in turn gives it more of a classic Whiskey Myers stripped back and organic feel circa ‘Firewater’ or ‘Road of Life’, as opposed to ‘Tornillo’ or ‘Whiskey Myers’. This is just an observation rather than a criticism.
‘Whomp Whack Thunder’ is an outstanding project, which merges all that’s gone before on the earlier records, fuses together all the finest moments that have preceeded, the beauty of ‘Broken Window Serenade’ to the dancefloor-filling ‘John Wayne’, from the Bluegrass laden fiddle of ‘On the River’ to the anthemic ‘Ballad of a Southern Man’. These elements are all present in this genre-busting collection of Songs. I can’t wait to hear these songs live.
Whiskey Myers is very much an outfit that’s raising, an already exceedingly high bar, to new levels. ‘Whomp Whack Thunder’ is a fantastic addition to their catalogue and one that will be spinning in my house until the neighbours know all the lyrics.
