Party of Shine - Party of Shine The album was birthed over the Internet with Johnson working out of Brazil where he had a job as a motorcycle mechanic. He's since returned to the USA and the live line-up, based in Nashville, is Johnson, Harvard, Mark Pilkinton (drums) and Steven Geiger (bass) who were schooled in the LA or Nashville underground scenes. Thy have a nice sense of loose but limber about them.
Back in the '80s, Jason and the Scorchers blended alt.country and punk. You might term them seminal. I didn't take much notice. They're still a going concern with a vastly different line-up. If you expect Party of Shine to plot a similar path and play what's now termed Americana, think again. This music leaves scorch marks of its own. It's punk without the fashion accessories.
“Believed In You” pushes along like a wall of molten lava before shuddering to a halt. That's how Party of Shine rolls on a few of these tunes. “What You Wanted” pares back the heaviness a little with a touch of acoustic, but the razor sharp electric guitar pokes through. A song in the spirit of "Raw Power".
The gritty "Dust in the Rearview" ploughs along intently with the guitars meshing so tightly you can feel the strings bending. The doom-laden "Deadman" sounds like a cross between Dead Moon and The Wipers. Then there's the Crazy Horse flow of "With a Girl". Both of the latter clock it at under two minutes. Fans of the Lazy Cowgirls will find a lot to love here.
