Customer Reviews

Jackpot

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Anyone who has seen the Derailers live knows that the Amazon.com reviewer has not. This CD, the Derailers first, showcases the Austin faves take on the classic Bakersfield sound. Picking up the torch from Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam, the Derailers add Austin flavor, peppered with lots of nods and winks to country's golden days. But this is not a band lost in the 50's. This is musical craftmanship at its best. Their latest, Reverb Deluxe is also excellent. Do yourself a favor: buy both and then get down to your favorite music hall to see these boys live.

This is the Derailers' first disc and it epitomizes fun music. If you have ever seen the Derailers live, you know that they give 150% to every show and are consu
mately professional entertainers. If you like twangy, somewhat old-timey music that played by a tight band and sung with a lot of heart, then give this disc a whirl. Sunsequent albums are also good -- this is the least polished, rawest album by the Derailers. I think that some are out of touch with what the Derailers are trying to achieve -- making high quality, fun, twangy music. This stuff is not meant to change the world or change your mind about issues of the day. It's fun music to dance to, to sing along to, and to play for friends.

Music with heart, a bass line hits deep in the heart, and a rythem you can't keep your feet from moving to. This is the type of music I remember growing up with... Not a bunch of glitz with no heart but something you can listen to over and over to. A friend of mine bought "full western dress" as a birthday present for me when he saw them at Houston's Continental Club. I couldn't stop listening to it and had to pick up my bass to play a few licks. Listening to Lover's Lie, Lost and Found,etc.. and you'll know what I mean. Hey Steel Guitar still lives in Texas thanks to these guys!!(...) I'm putting this review on every cd because after hearing them on "Full Western Dress" I bought everything else they had on here and was not dissappointed.

Jackpot, the first album from Austin's Derailers, is a good album that captures the feeling of seeing them live. Songs like: My Heart's Ready, Big City, and 100% Pure Fool are great rockin songs. Others like: Lies Lies Lies and Tarnished Love give that lonesome feeling that the Derailers can do so well. This is a good album, but Reverb Deluxe, their second album, shows more experience as the band cranks out great song after great song. -Jay Herndon

This release ranks up there with the best Country Music produced in the 50s and 60s. Plenty of other reviewers explain what the band was about at this time, so I'll just say everyone should own this disc. Everyone.

When I first saw The Derailers live in 1997 I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven. Here were four guys with Telecasters, slicked back hair, boots, western shirts and a swagger that left no questions unanswered. Live they absolutely killed. I had to have the album. That's when I was amazed to find that EVERY SINGLE SONG on it was written by either Tony, Brian or both. I was positively amazed at their talent and decided that I would never again write another song until I had a chance to learn at the feet of these two. That opportunity has not come to pass and I've remained true to my word.

The only thing that keeps Jackpot from getting five stars is the production value. It does very little in capturing their true sound. With the exception of She Left Me Cold and Swan Song this album seems to lack the spark and pop their live performances have but you need to have this album for a PHd in what good country lyrics sound like.

While some reviewers seem to think that the Derailers are BR-549, they're not. They're not a nostalgia act. They don't dress in vintage clothes, and there's nothing particularly ironic or overtly theatrical about their live show, beyond their charisma and great chops.

Musically they harken back to the electrified, Fender-driven Bakersfield Sound of the 60s, with a heavy dose of Buck Owens in attitude and vocals. Their original songs are excellent, and their taste in covers even better.

This debut disk is a classic.

The Austin, TX based Derailers 1996 debut was an oddly ironic breath of fresh air on the alt.country scene. While others got exercised distancing themselves from country music's commercial directions and cozying up to variously defined `roots,' the Derailers whole-heartedly embraced a sound that had struck immense commercial gold in its initial go-round as an outsider sound. The derivation of "Jackpot" from Buck Owens' Bakersfield classics is a short one: the band's twangy twin Fenders, rock `n' roll energy, and, most of all, chill-inducing vocal harmonies (courtesy of singers/guitarists/songwriters Tony Villanueva and Brian Hofeldt) left no doubt as to their own chosen roots.

While many of their tunes could have been lifted from the good pages of the Buck Owens' songbook, their inheritance is a lot more than a genuflecting novelty. The call-and-response vocal of the opener, "My Heart' s Ready," is vintage Buck & Don, but voiced with a youthfulness and vitality that speaks more to influence and reverence than to imitation and rote re-utterance. "Lies, Lies, Lies" builds from down-trodden verses to a harmony chorus whose defeat overshadows the feigned stridency, and "One Hundred Percent Pure Fool," mixes killer riffs, dancing steel guitar and clever alliteration into a sing-a-long gem.

Hofeldt and Villanueva's adopted Lone Star home has shaped their singing into nearly perfect drawls, all but obliterating their Oregon origins. Their twangy guitar playing includes the requisite tick-tack rhythms and bass string runs, supplemented by superb pedal steel from Scott Walls, and fiddle from Erik Hokkanen. Producer Dave Alvin remains mostly behind the scenes, capturing a band sound that would be just as home in a honky-tonk as on CD.

Subsequent releases would find the Derailers expanding their sound, incorporating additional country, pop and rock influences with which they grew up. "Jackpot" provides their undiluted shot of the Bakersfield sound. Texas Music Group's reissue of the 1996 original adds an early, faster, version of "Just One More Time," a song that would eventually lead off their second LP, "Reverb Deluxe." It's a nice addition to the twelve tracks that already stood tall on their own.

You'd swear that Buck Owens is singing these tunes. The Derailers debut shines with that good good ol' Bakersfield country sound. Unfortunately, these guys decided to turn in their hearts after their second disc, "Reverb Deluxe". They changed their style to a polished brand of country that would not not sound out of place in a retirement home or the Grand O'l Oprey. Hopefully (but don't count on it), they'll get back to their roots.

While it is true that The Derailers aren't the best band ever, who the heck is? These guys are the real thing. They have a lot of fun and sing from the heart. If want some good music that is not drivle then get this album. And do yourself an even bigger favor, go see them live. They really kick out the jams.