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Taking Sides: The Derailers blend pop with Texas twang on new CD

By: Barry Courter
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By: Casey Phillips
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CD: “Guaranteed to Satisfy” by The Derailers.

Barry COURTER: Corny as it may sound, the title is on the money. These guys have steadily become a favorite of mine over the years because of their consistent work and because it’s just plain fun music. “Guaranteed to Satisfy” for me is one great song after another. Fans of Buck Owens, The Beatles, Steve Earle and all of the members of the Traveling Wilburys will find familiar ground here.

The band’s honky-tonk edge is a blend of Texas twang, ’60s harmonies and pop melodies. The result for me is a CD that is suitable for road trips or dancing in pointy boots on peanut shell-covered dance floors.

The Derailers are on the ticket for this weekend’s Chattahippie Festival at Camp Columbus and should be worth the ticket price alone.

Casey PHILLIPS: This was my first exposure to The Derailers, but I really liked what I heard. Fun is right on the money, especially for the opening track, a rollicking love song brimming with twangy guitar, growling vocals and keening lap steel. Ditto for the title track.

Just before they risk sounding like a one-trick pony, though, you get to “The Sun is Shining on Me,” which immediately reminded me of ’60s pop artists like The Tremeloes and The Cyrkle. It seems a bit incongruous to hear those smooth harmonies and catchy grooves coming from a Texas rockabilly band, but it was a welcome surprise.

Then, they swing back to that Lone Star high and lonesome. Tracks like “Bittersweet Teardrops” are straight Elvis-meets-Hank-Williams and “The Blood of a Man” is a black country/blues ballad in the vein of the Man in Black about a kid getting old before his time.

Whatever genre they’re grooving to, though, this album is a toe-tapping (or boot-stomping) good time through and through.

Barry: “The Sun is Shining on Me” was a highlight for me as well. That one in particular has a little bit of most of the artists mentioned above, but it is a Derailers’ song through and through. Don’t be misled into thinking this is a copy band or that they are simply mimicking or recycling. The influences are there, but the sound is all new.

Casey: I have to say that rockabilly isn’t normally my thing (at least not since the Tennessee Rounders split last year), but The Derailers may have shown me the error of my ways. That’s not to say that they fall into a mold, by any means. As Barry pointed out, this band has a quality — a spunk — that sets them apart from the pretenders. This one will be sticking around on my iTunes for some time to come for those times I feel like I need to get down for some boot scootin’ boogie.

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