*** Waco Brothers

WACOWORLD

(Bloodshot)

A raucous, rootsy side project of the Mekons' Jon Langford and various folks with less distinguished lineages, the Waco Brothers don't jump on the No Depression covered wagon so much as take the reins and drive drunkenly into a deadly pass where the heroes of punk rock and country lie in wait to mock lesser outfits. The band's most obvious touchstone is the Clash -- Langford's guttural vocals, in particular, bring to mind the righteous punk utterings of Joe Strummer. Only in Waco world the Clash's reggae-inflected rhythms get treated to a little Sun-session stomp, and politics takes a back seat to hard living: "Raise your glass/Raise your voice/And raise the dead/Life runs by too fast to paint it anything but red," Langford sings on "Corrupted." The Wacos have never been shy about their influence: they've often billed themselves as "Cash-meets-Clash" rock and roll. And that's a perfectly reasonable way to describe the anthemic songs on WacoWorld.

-- Alec Hanley Bemis