Bridge City Sinners – In the Age Of Doubt

Three albums in the past and now its time for number four for Bridge City Sinners, who are without doubt a band with the most descriptive name of all, a Bridge between genre’s in the musical City where being different can make you Sinners if you stray from the path, but stray they do, and play they do.  Despite or maybe because of the cross overs, they give you something more, this is a musical commotion thats more than the sum of its parts, a journey into the darkness with a stream of light at the end.

So onto the latest instalment of the controlled madness, ‘Age Of Doubt’ is an album that by its name alone, sets the scene for the times we live in, and why this is an album thats meant for this era of planetary wide concern. 

‘Break The Chain’ is the first song that hits the ear canal, its a banjo led feast of punk/country with a hint of spaghetti western for good measure, the vocal has a feel of fear, fear for what might still be to come, and how change will only come if the chain is broken.  Next in the one of fourteen tracks is another that kicks of with their signature banjo sound, but this has much more dirge feel in its core, ‘Port Street Strut’ then falls right into ‘Midnight Vice’ which carries through the New Orleans on the jazz, this is a late night bar lament with plenty of drinking away the sadness involved.

Throughout this album as with previous, is the sense of story, yet this feels much more direct and seems to follow on with a much better cohesive link or thread, the fun is always felt seeping from the seams, but the serious side is always there to be heard or found. “Doubt” sits as a sinew that ties everything together, its most perfectly materialised in the song ‘Doubt’ of course, a horror/death folk blinder that drives home a like a stake to the heart, the message that the mind can be a scary place if you let it control you, fear itself is a construct of the brain that breeds paranoia.  

I know this is like skimming through a book, but we shouldn’t fill in the blanks for you, should we, so let’s see…. ‘Crazy’ is a craziness of sound and lyric, a staring into the eyes of madness song, filled with musical quirkiness. ‘Shame’ hits you like silver bullet, it’s full of guilt and regret, and the music fits perfectly, it builds to a moment for the fallen, the strings in this are key to its punch. ‘The Good Ones’ adds yodelling to the list of vocal gymnastics Libby performs so effortlessly, the banjo is fully prevalent in here too, in fact its one of the best string moments among many within this album, it somehow captures the emotion this powerful song strives to put across.

From the haunting bass lines that sit perfectly behind every song, to the move from blues to jazz, the angst of punk, the death folk and the country, this is an album you, I’m sure won’t get bored of, its like music has a taste sensation, sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami makes Bridge City Sinners.

Out on July 12th via SBÄM Records (Europe). Flail Records (US)

Find all the info you need at the bands webpage HERE