Loners Society – King City Sessions

Charleston SC band Loners Society describe themselves as ‘comparable to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers…if The Heartbreakers had been comprised from members of: Pearl Jam, Rancid, and The Temptations’ and based on the evidence offered King City Sessions, their latest live release for Autumn + Colour Records, I agree.

Well, sort of.

The band have a distinct point of view, its just that it isn’t a particularly new one. They walk the line between moody Americana and political elements; and are pretty successful in most cases.

Acoustic guitars help tell a familiar story of a small town boy dreaming of fame in La Grange, as well as in the subtle politicized rants of Jersey Devil. Autumn stories sees the band more ‘plugged in’ but the funk styled guitar work takes away from what is actually a decent song underneath. The full band is used to much better effect in the baseball inspired Pinstripes but they’re really at their best on All You Need is Love which, despite the title, is a smartly written, thinly veiled commentary on America’s foreign wars and the impact on the people involved. 

Although overall the songs are well written and perfectly pleasant to listen to, there just isn’t anything particularly exciting about this. It’s very much in the Gaslight Anthem bracket, and if this had been pitched to me as the latest side project from (Gaslight Anthem’s) Brian Fallon, I wouldn’t have any reason to question it.