This album's opening track, "Bouncin' Beer Cans off the Jukebox" (one of the seven
Dallas Wayne originals here), throws down the gauntlet on Wayne's own style by evoking the names of those Bakersfield giants Buck and Merle. Wayne plays reverent, hardcore honky tonk, and this is another strong release chock-full of classic country instrumentation. All of the originals are quite strong, but worth particular mention are the countrypolitan-flavored tearjerker "The Stuff Inside" (which stirs thoughts of George Jones' "Good Year for the Roses"), the lively and gorgeous "If These Walls Could Cry," and the fiddle-driven roadhouse anthem "I'm Going to Break Some Promises Tonight." Wayne also has an ear for which tunes to cover -- no more evident than on the title track (once a
Faron Young single), on which he manages to sound at once bewildered, grumpy, and heartbroken.
Dallas Wayne makes country music that doesn't just nod to, but seems to inhabit that wonderful time between the late '50s and early '70s. Genuine stuff indeed. ~ Erik Hage