Black Powder Soul by Taylor McCall sounds like if Dustin Kensrue from Thrice and The Black Keys got together to write an outlaw country record.
In other words, it sounds pretty fucking awesome.
This has all the elements that check the box for what I love about outlaw country music. Acoustic guitars in minor keys, electric guitars dripping in distortion, atmospheric sounds that set the stage with a desperate haze, tales of broken men in search of redemption, and a lead singer who can deliver it all. McCall sounds like a man who has seen some shit in his life and came out the other side knowing he should seek redemption, but just can’t shake the gravitational pull of the perverse camaraderie he finds the devil constantly perched on his shoulder. Like Billy Joel once said “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, the sinners are much more fun.” McCall has taken that sentiment to heart.
McCall’s vocal performance is the standout on this album, and the production from Sean McConnell is top notch. McConnell has put the perfect amount of grit and reverb on McCall’s gravelly drawl, and the end result sounds like the first minute of waking up with a hangover when your field of reality is distorted. Paired with the cascade of drunken fuzzy guitars, and a percussion section that has a snare drum which sounds like the crack of thunder, there’s an atmosphere to this album that feels undeniable.
For all of the heavy highs, Black Powder Soul also excels in its most intimate moments. “White Wine” and “Man out of Time” are intimate and somber affairs, serving as stark counterpoints to the hellraising. The pacing here deserves mentioning– McCall lays it all out on the line in the first half of the album in what feels like a slow descent into madness, before offering a ray of light in the back third beginning with “Wide Open”. There’s a sense of final redemption in the final few tracks that ties everything off nicely.
A final note– the prelude and outro to this album (“Old Ship of Zion) aren’t just sonically interesting choices, they have deep personal meaning to McCall. Those songs are old recordings of his grandfather singing, the same man who gave him his first guitar at seven years old. It’s a fitting footnote for a milestone album. Considering McCall is only 25 years old, here’s to hoping there’s a whole lot more of this to come.
Standout Songs: “Black Powder Soul”, “White Wine”, “Crooked Lanes”
