Album Review: Texas Hippie Coalition - "Ride On"

At this point, attentive readers are well familiar with the career of Texas Hippie Coalition thus far.  For those not yet initiated, here’s the vitals in brief – a band of badass, sauntering Texans made a band that lives to the fill the gap between Pantera and David Allen Coe (a gap briefly filled by the Rebel Meets Rebel album as well, let’s not forget.)  They’ve just dropped their fourth album, “Roll On” to the world, featuring the recording debut of guitarist Cord Pool.  With all that said, here we go.

While the album still features the usual spate of songs concerned principally with drinking and women and the humble yearnings of home, there is more depth to the intellectual property here.  “Roll On” is, if such things can be said, a more mature, thoughtful experience than the band’s previous efforts.  The softer sentiments of “Bottom of the Bottle” and the title cut are both honest and believable, showing a previously unfathomable gentler side of the band.

Now, let’s not even begin to suggest that the swaggering band of outlaws has lost their edge.  Their specific brand of barbecued bravado is still on full display, but it’s more measured and concentrated now.  The bombast of a crowd pleaser like “El Diablo Rojo” is a pure shock to the system, cranking wave after wave of throaty red dirt metal out of the amps and into your home.  It’s hardly an isolated incident, as the same kind of power is generated again and again, notably for the crush of “Fire in the Hole.”  The thumping strength and general mean streak of these songs can’t be understated.

Where these characteristics are familiar to longtime fans of T_C, there’s an added dimension on “Ride On” that we haven’t seen before.  More than once on this record but particularly for the swinging charm of “Rubbin’s Racin’,” we see the band become a sort of good-natured southern rock band.  These cuts feature a somewhat pervasive sense of the grand days of southern rock, still bringing the metal edge while simultaneously conjuring memories of Golden Earring, Molly Hatchet and the Georgia Satellites.  It’s a welcome new dimension for a band still finding their boundaries.

When we talked to Texas Hippie Coalition out on the road at Mayhem Fest, bassist John Exall stated plainly that guitarist Cord Pool had written some of the best guitar lines the band has ever conceived, which judged against memorable favorites like “Texas Tags” and “Clenched Fist” is a tough argument to make.  That said, it’s not wholly untrue, and where Exall nails his commentary is that Pool’s writing has added greater diversity to the catalog.  The songs of “Ride On,” unlike some of the band’s early work, are not just vehicles for one killer riff anymore, but rather full bodied constructions which proper progression between verse and chorus.

There are no real faults with “Ride On,” and that’s a testament to the development of the band as a whole.  The only nit worth picking here is that “Ride On” doesn’t seem to have a truly monumental single.  Every previous Texas Hippie Coalition album has that one instantly recognizable song that a listener immediately knows justifies the entire album.  “Pride of Texas” had “Clenched Fist,” “Rollin’” had “Pissed Off and Mad About It,” “Peacemaker” had “Turn it Up.”  It’s entirely possible that something like “El Diablo Rojo” will fill that role, but it’s not a foregone conclusion yet.

Nevertheless, this is the best Texas Hippie Coalition record since “Pride of Texas,” and an immediate contender for the band’s best record to date.  While we’re on the subject, these outlaws have put together four albums in total, all of which have great moments and are worthy in their own right.  If you’re not on the bandwagon for this particular brand of red dirt metal, it’s not too late.  “Roll On” is an excellent starting point, just be sure to work your way backwards after that.