Emerging in 2001, these Detroit brothers lash the hard-livin’ loucheness to traditional country ache. Frontman/songwriter Kurt Marschke’s wail is Jaggeresque and there’s lonesome balladry aplenty (“27 Hours”, “Such A Crime”) plus enough “Happy”-like fretwork to suggest what might have been had Gram’n’Keef really got it on. “Entitled” pits the sideways chug of The Breeders’ “Cannonball” against early Replacements sneer, and dobro/pedal steel player Peter Ballard tints the big skies with a yearning airiness. Seriously impressive.
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