Flat River Band – Every Dog Has Its Day
The breezy beat of “Every Dog Has Its Day,” the title track of the new record from indie country crew Flat River Band, comes slicing through the silence like a hot knife through butter and immediately embraces anyone in its path with a potent gallop. As essential to the creation of the mood as any of the lyrics are, the grooves in this song are certainly some of the more memorable on Every Dog Has Its Day, but they’re by no means the only point of interest in this latest opus from Flat River Band.
Lyrically speaking, there’s nothing about songs like “John R. Brinkley,” “In Another World” or “Beauty Amongst the Trees” that couldn’t be deemed homespun, relatable and simple, but I don’t find any of these tracks to be lacking in depth at all. Contrarily, there’s a lot of ground being covered by the verses here, from getting through the hardest of life’s battles (“No Hill for a Climber”) to answering to half-truths with blunt commentary (“Wings of a Rumor”), Flat River Band aren’t afraid to cover it all in Every Dog Has Its Day, living up to the pedigree they created for themselves so long ago.
There are a lot of bluegrass elements to the string play in “Devil on the Side” and the title track, and I’ve noticed in general uptick in ‘grassy sounds throughout the country underground in the last year. This isn’t signs of Flat River Band starting to drift into the crowd, but rather that they’re responding to a desire among their growing audience with genuine passion and an astute willingness to experiment. Every Dog Has Its Day is no departure from their signature sound; actually, I think it’s a confirmation of their status as a band as interested in change as they are pleasing their fans.
I would have liked just a little more volume on the lead vocal in “No Hill for a Climber” and “John R. Brinkley,” but I suppose that if they were trying to achieve a subtler harmony in these two tracks, the adjustment would’ve defeated their objective. Personally I like hearing these guys at their max capacity, no matter what that means from a production point of view, because when all the chips are on the table, this is a group that does best when they’re pumping out the larger than life melody & groove that once made country the most popular genre in America.
Country music addicts who demand high quality songwriting cannot afford to pass up the new album from Flat River Band this January, and despite the high level competition that they’re going up against in the genre right now, I think there’s a good chance that they’re going to steal a big chunk of the spotlight away from their mainstream peers in 2020. They’ve got all the necessary pieces to accomplish a lot in this decade, and with Every Dog Has Its Day, they inarguably get started with a new generation of fans on the right foot.
If you enjoyed the preview of Flat River Band’s Every Dog Has Its Day, check out their official website by clicking here. Give them a like on Facebook by clicking here & a follow on Twitter by clicking here. Lastly check out their Youtube channel by clicking here.
