Rock Heav'y
PRODUCED BY BOB ROCK .
Track Listing1. Whiskey Walk2. Wild and Young3. Rewind4. Angels5. She Don't Cry No More6. Hurts Like Hell7. All We Know8. Wouldn't Want to Be You9. A Man Can Change10. Other Side of You11. Roll On
Album NotesPersonnel: Jaren Johnston (vocals, guitar); Kelby Ray (vocals); Ben Brown (guitar); Neil Mason (drums).Audio Mixer: Chris Lord-Alge.Recording information: Blackbird Studios, Nashville, TN; Plantation Mixing & Recording, Haiku, HI.Photographers: James Minchin III; John Peets.Hailing from Nashville, American Bang are steeped in tradition but they're hardly part of the Music City Mafia. No country stars they: they're styled as blue-collar, middle-American hard rockers, at least when the tempos are revved up and they're doing the "Whiskey Walk." When things slow down -- and not even all the way down to a ballad, just enough for a mid-tempo anthem -- it becomes clear that they're the first of what is likely to be many bands indebted to Kings of Leon, substituting earthbound barroom rock for KOL's Americana pretensions and U2 aspirations. Thanks to veteran producer Bob Rock, the group is slickly effective -- he provides a brick wall of sound that almost camouflages Jaren Johnston's drawl and gives those echoey arena-fillers definition. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
stan B. DOBRY