Country music has been getting a lot more versatile than it’s ever been before in the last decade, particularly among rising stars in the American underground, but for Flat River Band, remaining loyal to the black and white ethos that gave them their start is proving to yield some pretty excellent results, especially with regards to their new album Every Dog Has Its Day. Every Dog Has Its Day is as unfanciful as they come, seducing us with simple harmonies and catchy hooks more than it does spectacular rhymes of virtuosities, and while it might not be the most sparkling of country records, its absolutely one of the more accessible out this January.
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There isn’t a whole lot of instrumental muscle to backend of the mix in this record, but I honestly don’t think tracks like “Wings of a Rumor” or “Beauty Amongst the Trees” needed any heavier of tones to impress a certain emotionality on anyone who happens to be listening. Substance comes before everything else in Every Dog Has Its Day, and even if that means eliminating not some but all of the fat in places other composers might have left alone, Flat River Band make it crystal clear to us from the start that they’re willing to do it if it means making their music feel more real and unfiltered.
“Devil on the Side” and “No Hill for a Climber” juxtapose textures and tonality while allowing for just enough grit to make it through the EQ, and I actually think this is the reason why these two songs were my favorites from the LP. In Nashville’s hierarchy, artists tend to go either as squeaky clean or down and dirty as they can be when structuring a new album with little to nothing existing in-between, but for Flat River Band, it would seem to me that getting into the said in-between spot was their entire mission on Every Dog Has Its Day.
DEEZER: https://www.deezer.com/us/track/695552052?autoplay=true
The vocals in the title track, “In Another World” and “John R. Brinkley” might be the best that this group have recorded together, and because of the strong emotion in the lyrics of all three songs, there’s never any doubt as to whether or not the players are invested in the narrative behind the music. The tone of the melodies is telling us almost as much as the verses are, and in country music, that’s as powerful a tool as a brush is to a painter.
Though less aggressive than some of their previous outings, Flat River Band’s Every Dog Has Its Day is a good starter LP for new fans to make their acquaintance with the group’s sound. I don’t think that this album is going to change the game for this band moving ahead, but I don’t perceive it as a throwaway release in any way, shape or form. Flat River Band are secure in their identity and ready to revel in it for what feels like the first genuine time in their history, and that could be why this record feels as cathartic as it does time and time again.
Loretta Kim