The Mother Truckers, Let’s All Go To Bed

This Austin, Texas-based band has brought a tinge of country, rock, and blues on their latest recording, Let’s All Go To Bed, creating a pleasantly surprising sound even to a country novice. The album starts out with the rockin’ “Dynamite,” which finds dual vocalists Teal Collins and Josh Zeal trading off verses. Zeal exhibits impressive lead guitar work, with unexpected technicality for a country-esque band. Collins’ voice is strong and compliments the music very well; to be honest, her voice is preferable in the lead position than Zeal. Not that he isn’t an adequate singer, but her voice fits the music much better.

There are other standout tracks in the first half of the album, like “Never Miss My Baby,” but the second half of the album slows things down a bit, focusing a bit more on country and folk and less on the rock side of things. It’s not bad by any means, but it just isn’t as striking as the first half. One can definitely tell that these musicians have been honing their craft for quite some time and have developed a niche that works for them and their fans. The biggest complaint has to be the “metal horn” logo with the cowboy hat — nowadays it appears as if everyone is using it. Check these guys out now before your friend who doesn’t even really like music finds out about ’em.