REVIEWS FOR SADDEST DAY OF THE YEAR | return to main page
» I suppose any review of a band with a name like this must start with a disclaimer: no, they're not naked spur-riders doing bad things on the range. What the X-Rated Cowboys might be, however, is the best purveyor of Americana music you haven't heard of yet. Saddest Day Of The Year, their sophomore album, is a rock-solid combination of barroom ballad, twang pop and rock and roll. Quinn Fallon's voice is a cross between John Wesley Harding and Warren Zevon, and like those artists, his songs contain an embarrassment of lyrical riches. If you have a brain in your head and a heart in your chest, you'll line up behind me in proclaiming this as a stone-cold lock for the list of 2003's best records. — Bill Holmes, Cosmik Debris
» You'd think that tapping Dan (ex-Georgia Satellites/Yayhoos) Baird to produce their record would have resulted in a raucous affair, with the Cowboys melding their considerable wit with big guitar sounds. Far from it. This is more of an easygoing country-laced rock album that is just a touch more conservative (musically) than recent Jayhawks and early Wilco, with a touch of Squeeze's mid-tempo pub rock. The smooth sounds do not overwhelm Quinn Fallon's lyrics -- he still finds a way to inject humor and sarcasm into the proceedings. Fallon often does it in the tradition of great country songs, which find a grain of truth in the wordplay: "I just can't wait/to never see you again" ("Just Can't Wait"); "I can try and say I'm sorry/but I'd rather just pick up the tab" ("Only Everyday"); and "every day is the saddest day of the year" ("Saddest Day"). My favorite of all is this one: "how is it everyone I know/is waiting on their big break/like an ordinary life/must have been a mistake." (from the lonely guy diatribe "High and Lonesome"). Sometimes, the band's playing and Fallon's vocals could use a bit more personality, especially on an album with so many slow and mid-tempo songs. Then again, this band isn't about musical innovation. It's about taking familiar tales of the broken hearted and running them through Fallon's unique perspective. He generally holds up his end of the bargain. -- Mike Bennett, www.fufkin.com
» We had it signals them to you like one of the Roots promises for 2002, threads to you in playlist of year-end between the indipedenti detections regularly and eccoci immediately you invest yourself from according to job of the X-Rated Cowboys . Little more than a year than distance from the interesting Honor Among Thieves these five boys of Columbus, Ohio decidedly double and raise the mail in game: called in direction cabin authentic rock' n' roll heart which a Dan Baird (already vocalist of the Georgia Satellites and then with the Yayhoos ), they could not that to exit uncovered with a sturdy collection of rock from road master, stemperando the already timid infuences country in sound a more wireless corposo and, but without to get bogged down, are clear, in one stucchevole and generic POP from the shooting trades them. However the melodiche potentialities of the band cannot sure be hidden: Saddest Day of the Year does not make part of the traditional provincial Roots big wave, is a parade of guitars and hooks POP that more and more very rarely we succeed to feel to the high plans of the classifiche. If you want a forced comparison, we turn from the parts of Wallflowers and Gin Blossoms, that POP-rock from the stradaiole vibrations that a lot lacks to us, but with verve "a marked laborer" (the arsenal electrical worker created from Andy Harrison and from the same Dan Baird it is first quality). Something to which the brand lacks the absolute personality sure, but knows to defend itself with effectiveness. The limpid voice, rich of transport, Quinn Fallon sufficient to makes from adhesive (with its acoustic guitar) in the paste first quality shown in Just Can' t wait and Only Everyday, becoming romantico in danced po' mielose ( a Fallen ) and rare siparietti Roots ( Drinkin' For Two , more country of the lottery). They are however the Roots-rock lines from handbook of High & Lonesome and Stupid to drag the listener, wrapped not only from the squillanti guitars, but also from the warm contribution of organ and plan ( Bob Hite ), without to forget along the distance the scariche rock' n' roll about Saddest Day (duel to the last blood between Harrison and Baird to the soliste), Whoever You Are and Behind , immancabilmente little originates them, but equipped of one enviable compactness. The X-Rated Cowboys betrays their name but the choice is winning under every point of view, making feint but not to have noticed the cover: the Pearl Jam will have asked the rights? -- (translated via Google) Fabio Cerbone, www.rootshighway.it
» The X-Rated Cowboys' Saddest Day of the Year could be a candidate for the greatest lost pub-rock album, if it weren't created in 2003. Quinn Fallon's singing, Andy Harrison's gritty guitar, organ fills courtesy of Bob Hite and the muscular rhythm section of Ben Lamb and C. Douglas Wells all deserve mention. Together, they rock and give you the feeling that they are having the greatest time ever in the process. All of the elements are here: great, loose country-, roots- and blues-rock playing, choruses that force you to sing along, and songs you can care about even if the subject matter won't force Stephen Hawkins to lose one bit of sleep. Loveable losers, mates that won't go away despite wishing really hard, and celebrations of eviction are all here. Roots-rock fans, especially Rockpile fans (one of the greatest unheard bands), would do themselves a disservice by ignoring this record. — Miles of Music
» Saddest Day Of The Year, the second CD by the Ohio-based X-Rated Cowboys, is easy-on-the-ears, alt-country Brit pop. “Just Can’t Wait” has sweet harmonies but a funny and sour chorus: “I just can’t wait/to never see you again.” Sarcasm is back-burnered on “Drinkin’ For Two,” old school, cry-in-whatever-you’re-drinking honky tonk with some accordion to make it go down easier. The X-Rated Cowboys, by the way, aren’t cowboys or X-rated. Their name may not make sense but their album sure does. -- Tony Peyser, Santa Monica Mirror
» Col nome che si ritrovano potrebbero essere scambiati per degli alieni bardati di cinturone oppure, peggio ancora, potrebbero balzare all’occhio a chi è a caccia di pornografia in rete (vedi il loro sito www.xratedcowboys.com, da non confondere con altra robaccia). Come se non bastasse, questo loro secondo disco ha una copertina che potrebbe essere passibile di denuncia per plagio da parte dei Pearl Jam (vedi “No code”).
Ma gli X Rated Cowboys non hanno niente a che fare con tutto ciò: sono una rock’n’roll band.
Se a qualcuno o a qualcosa sono legati, è ad una formula di rock verace e stradaiolo, levigato con qualche armonia pop, come può essere quello dei Gin Blossoms o dei Bodeans. Qualche differenza c’è, perché le canzoni di “Saddest day of the year” non hanno lo stesso tiro di quelle dei Blossoms e, nel caso vi venissero in mente, non hanno il tasso alcolico dei Quireboys, o la secca adrenalina rollingstoniana dei Georgia Satellites o ancora le stesse storte parabole dei Replacements.
Quello che distingue il rock degli X Rated Cowboys è il nutrito lavoro alle chitarre e alle vocals: le prime sono a carico di Andy Harrison, che si distingue soprattutto sui toni bassi, e di Dan Baird (Georgia Satellites, Yayhoos), che fa anche da produttore, mentre le seconde si dividono tra controcanto e cori, sempre a spingere i pezzi e a caricare di soul i crescendi.
Detto così, sembrerebbero uno dei tanti gruppi di pub-rock, come lo chiamano loro stessi: in realtà questi ragazzi dell’Ohio appartengono ad una dimensione superiore, a cui in prospettiva manca poco per centrare un suono personale.
“Only everyday” è una ballata su cui si intrecciano un wurlitzer e armonie tese, “Evicted” un punk addolcito con cori e dosi rock’n’roll, mentre “Behind” ha giri che scoppiano, saltano, risuonano. Quinn Fallon canta con l’innocenza e la convinzione di chi, terminato il proprio lavoro, cerca nella musica una salvezza. Ai tempi dell’Asbury Sound, per lui e la sua band ci sarebbe sempre stato un posto, almeno nel cuore e nella memoria di non pochi rockers.
Oggi invece il rischio è che gruppi come gli X Rated Cowboys si confondano nella massa, nonostante loro ce la mettano tutta per plasmare la materia rock. Se “High & lonesome” è il pezzo più roots dell’album, “Drinkin’ for two” e “Nowhere is my home” mostrano tutte le potenzialità del gruppo: basta ascoltare come suona la fisarmonica o come le note del piano fanno entrare lo spoken word di John Schwab, oppure come una sorta di riverbero accompagni la ballata conclusiva fino ad un assolo di sax colmo di soul.
Dietro la loro X non si cela nessun mistero, se non quello sempre vivo del rock’n’roll.
(No idea what they are saying here) -- Christian Verzeletti, Mescalina
» Co-produced by Dan Baird and guitarist Andy Harrison, the album has a warm and clear resonance that makes for a listen that goes down easy... The records best moments come when the Cowboys are letting loose with real horsepower ("Whoever You Are"), returning to their honkytonkin' ways ("High & Lonesome") or adapting new nuances ("Only Everyday"). — Columbus Alive
