I know this opening will turn off the “streaming is a broken record” brigade — and I get that — but I listened to this album on Spotify and when it finished, “Carry Me” from an earlier record came on straight after. The contrast is immediate.
That doesn’t mean “White Flag Down” gets it wrong — far from it — but it does signal a shift.
There’s a clear change in thrust on “Dead Man Walking,” pushing hard into modern arena rock territory. Think Shinedown, think Alter Bridge. This is music built for big rooms and bigger choruses, designed to reach the back of the hall rather than the front row of the bar.
Maybe that’s because this one feels more personal.
“White Flag Down” is about walking through the hardest seasons of your life and choosing not to surrender. On this record, the band talk about rediscovering their rock roots — the place that first inspired them to start a band — while still carrying the Southern soul that shaped them. That push and pull runs right through the album.
You can hear the emotion on “Voices,” and they’ve clearly doubled down on choruses and hooks throughout. The lead solo on “Shadows” is pure top-division stuff — the kind that reminds you why guitar players still matter — even if my one gripe is that I’d rather what I did in the shadows never came to light.
“Fast As I Can” leans back into that Southern sound, and honestly, modern country merchants would be queuing up for it. The dynamics alone would do the job.
Then there’s the big tearjerker. “Part Of My Story” finds its mark exactly where it should, and its universality really comes through. We all know someone like this, right?
Whatever I expected “Cobain” to be, it wasn’t this — a genuinely beautiful song with echoes of Goo Goo Dolls, and all the better for it.
We mentioned Shinedown earlier, and the comparison feels earned again on “Safe Place To Land,” while “The Passenger” reaches even deeper. “Buckle up, this bad dream is real” is the key line here, and suffice to say this one doesn’t think it’s her loss.
There’s a hint of redemption on “She Takes The Pain Away,” a light at the end of the tunnel if you like — but the opening line of “War,” “How the hell did we end up here,” drags us straight back again.
Still, this record has stoic qualities. There’s no surrender here. No white flag. It feels like a band reminding themselves — as much as anyone listening — that giving up isn’t an option.
They’ve toured with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Darius Rucker, Jason Aldean, and Gregg Allman — but this feels different.
These horses are running a new race.
RATING: 8/10
