Quite how Black Stone Cherry — essentially just some ordinary people from Kentucky, one of whom happens to be the son of a Kentucky Headhunter — got to be 20, and in the process became one of the very best hard rock bands of their era, is one for the chapter marked TIME FLIES. Twenty years of songs that have soundtracked nights out, long drives, low points and the climb back out of them. Twenty years of turning workmanlike Southern grit into something communal, cathartic and stadium-ready. Plenty of bands make it to 20. Very few do it without ever losing who they are — or why people cared in the first place.
But whatever. You can basically call this seven-tracker a birthday gift to us from them.
“Celebrate” sees that wisdom and experience turn into total mastery of the craft. “Say goodbye to self-hate,” sings Chris Robertson, and while BSC’s part in my own recovery from depression has already been written about on these pages and doesn’t need repeating, that doesn’t stop this track detonating like a shotgun blast in the space shuttle. It’s huge. Affirming.
“Neon Eyes” is surely built for the live arena. The groove they find here feels almost effortless, and I’d contend that no one writes better hooks on Planet Rock these days. These are utterly unashamed — and all the better for it.
“Caught Up In The Up Down” brings the sass, very much the work of men who’ll happily blame it on the boom boom without a moment’s hesitation.
“I’m Fine” proves they can still surprise. It sounds like Black Stone Cherry taking a sideways glance at — if not quite grunge — then certainly ’90s alt-rock. Stone Temple Pilots fans would love this (I know I was… and am).
“Deep” was written by live-wire guitarist Ben Wells just two days after his wife suffered a miscarriage. You can feel the pain in every word. But here’s the thing with the BSC boys: they put it all out there, they invite us in with them, and yet it never turns maudlin. There’s always the sense of we’ll get through this together.
That thread runs straight into “What You’re Made Of.” Stern stuff. Powerful stuff. That’s all.
“Don’t You (Forget About Me)” — featuring Theory Of A Deadman’s Tyler Connolly — sees Robertson teaming up on one of his favourite songs. And yes, we all know it’s sensational, but here it genuinely sounds like Black Stone Cherry wrote it themselves. That’s no small feat.
And the thing is, they have written some beauties here. A couple of these sit right up there with the very best songs they’ve ever done. Even better, they’re young enough to do another 20 years — and that really is something to celebrate.
RATING: 9/10
