Album Review: Pistol George Warren's Back to Northern Country

Pistol George Warren’s debut album, Back to Northern Country is a lively entry into the alt-country canon from a band with a lot of charm.

The band is musically chimerical, straddling a line between furious psychedelic guitar symphonies and outlaw country. Pistol George Warren’s two vocalists help to ease the transition between the rock and roll tunes and the country tunes. Maty Ralph’s simultaneously seductive and menacing Jagger-esque growl is perfectly matched to songs like the relentless “No Rodeo King”, which begins with soft piano and vocals, and rides a heavy groove into what culminates in a veritable guitar orchestra. Second lead vocalist Jon Danyliw’s voice recalls Townes Van Zandt, with one of the finer examples of his vocal work is on “Time Barrels By”. This song is backed throughout by a group chant before reaching it’s climax where he sings, “hold steady,” before the whole thing falls apart into a denouement reminiscent of Wilco’s “At Least that’s What You Said” that gives the rhythm section a minute to fuzz out the track before it ends.

There’s a terrific balance on the record between upbeat rockers and down tempo ballads that gives it a nice arc. A hazy joy buoys the entirety of the album; you can tell the band is having a lot of fun here.

The band doesn’t try to hide it’s influences, making overt nods to their heroes by including a moving, reverb-y cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Dead Flowers”, a breathless rendition of Buffalo Springfield’s “Mr. Soul”, and ending the album with a powerful rendition of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ “Colorado”, which featured some of the best pedal steel work of the whole album.

If you’re in any way a fan of classic outlaw country, AM gold rock and roll, or more modern alt-country in the vein of early Cuff the Duke, Pistol George Warren demand a place in your record collection.