Andrew Browning and The 9 Pound Hammers features members from places as varied as Oklahoma and Moscow (Russia, not Idaho) but calls Los Angeles home. The band began as a honky-tonk cover band, but has grown into a sound that is a blend of alt-country and soul.
The band’s first album Blood on the Door is a collection of gritty melodies that bring Webb Wilder to mind. Those melodies are frequently peppered with harmonica parts reminiscent of John Popper. The songs are not only well crafted, they are also evidence that the band was no longer content to do honky-tonk covers.
The new album The Midnight Desert Talk Radio maintains the rock n roll swagger of the previous album and shows Browning embracing his misspent youth. Of the album, he said, “These songs are about the families we make as we move through life, the complex dualities we experience, and the deep, imperfect love and lessons that come from those life-changing relationships.”
Right away, you get the sense of Browning’s ability to tell a story. Of “Menthol Cigarettes”, Browning said, “This is probably the song most derived from personal experience.” At the beginning of the track, the narrator sings, “I started smoking menthols when I was eight. I used to get ‘em from the old woman. She lived nextdoor. Her hand was bent like a claw.” The song is propelled by a beat by Derek O’Brien (who also engineered and produced the album) that is sure to get your feet tapping while the distorted guitar and the harmonica by Ilya Portnov bring a gritty twang to the arrangement.
The band may have started as a honky-tonk cover band, but it’s fair to say they have moved on from that. Granted, there is still some honky-tonk twang in these songs, but there is also a lot of rock n roll swagger. “Goddamn Girl (If the Love Ain’t Gone)” is a good example. The piano part is similar to the early days of rock n roll and the rest of the band brings both the volume and the energy you’d expect from such a rocker.
“Unburden Me” takes a turn toward a soul sound. The melody has some similarities to the songs on Let It Bleed. It is laid-back and a little twangy especially in the guitar. The soul sound comes mainly from Lelah Simon’s steady bass line, the warm organ tone, and the backing vocals. This song features one of those harmonica solos that brings John Popper to mind. There is a similar soul sound in “Godless and Sugar Free”. In fact, the organ and the backing vocals in this song lean a little more toward gospel, kind of like you’re hearing the organist backed by a church choir. You could call The Midnight Desert Talk Radio an alt-country album and you wouldn’t be wrong. However, to call it alt-country is to ignore the rock n roll, soul, and gospel sounds that the band weaves into these songs. It is an album filled with great characters and stories, and it is the perfect soundtrack for a road trip at night.
