Review: THe BAcksliders, You’re Welcome

Some people may know THe BAcksliders as last year’s Dallas Observer Music Awards winner in the Blues category. In spite of some blues influence in their songs, one would be hard pressed to call THe BAcksliders a true blues band. With the release of You’re Welcome, it would be near impossible to regard them as blues artists.

Now that it has been established what THe BAcksliders are not, let us know state what the band is. The answer to that is quite simple: THe BAcksliders are quite possibly the best, most straight forward rock band in this town. If you’re looking for alt-rock, post-modern-rock, post-psychedelic-screamo-soul-rock, or any other overly hyphenated forms of rock, then this CD isn’t for you. There are no clever gimmicks on You’re Welcome, unless if you count great songwriting and exceptional musicianship “gimmicks”.

The album is filled with plenty of rockin’ ear candy. Songs like “Typically I Don’t Mind”, “Fat Girls”, and “Wedding Day” feature straight forward melodies that will most likely stay stuck in your head for days, if not weeks or months, on end. The songs are only half the story on You’re Welcome. It helps to have a lead singer with a soulful, passionate voice like Kim Pendleton. Whether the song is raucous and energetic (“Fat Girls”) or slow and introspective (“Pass on All Your Fears”), she manages to capture the essence of the song through her voice. Chris Bonner’s skills on guitar manage to inject plenty of life into every song. Last, but certainly not least, Taylor Young’s handy work behind the drum kit show why he is one of Dallas’ greatest treasures on percussion.

So while the blues influence may be much harder to find on their latest effort, you’ll be thanking the band for making an even stronger follow up to their debut album. So follow my advice, buy You’re Welcome, and you’re welcome for the advice. Trust me, you’ll be thanking me later.