Halcyon Times

I never did get around to making my top ten list for last year. I can tell you about one album that deserves a spot on the ten best albums of 2010. Halcyon Times by Jason and the Scorchers. Since 1982 Jason and the Scorchers have consistently put out some of the best albums that I own. They are also probably one of the most under appreciated bands of the last 30 years. Their mixture of hard rock, punk rock and country music is a joy to listen to and you have to wonder why they can't garner a huge following. Back in June of 2009 I wrote about the Thunder and Fire album and mentioned that they were working on a new album and I for one couldn't wait for it's release. Well that album arrived in Feb of last year and true to their name it's a scorcher. Halcyon Times is one of the best albums from any decade when it comes to this genre of rock.

These guys amaze me - instead of a fourteen year layoff it sounds more like 14 days where some transformation occurred and they were granted super rockin'powers. They always rocked with an abandon that most bands could only hope to approach and my goodness they sound great here. These guys did what conventional wisdom dictates can't happen in music as they took a hiatus for a very long time and came back stronger and better. This record is no “return to their roots.” It is instead a creative leap forward, showing the band at its peak, not on some sort of self-absorbed nostalgia trip. MOONSHINE GUY opens the record, full of bravado and bravery, driven by a character who “yells and he roars / likes The Stones, hates the Doors.” Whilst MONA LEE is certainly as exciting as anything the band has ever recorded, but it’s hard to pick a standout track on the record - they are all that good. Hodges’ guitar work has never been better, full of style and inspired originality, while Ringenberg rocks like he is still 18. If you only buy one album this year this should be the one.

Moonshine Guy /  Releasing Celtic Prisoners
Golden Days
Mona Lee
Buy It

Funny Toon