For the last couple years, The Black Ale Sinners (originally known as Saddle Rash) have been flying below the radar with the occasional underpromoted gig and some impromptu performances at The Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield. The group always drew enthusiastic responses from its inebriated audiences, but the Sinners seemed like more of a ragtag band of friends than a band - partly due to lead songwriter Steve Hammond's devotion to his primary gig with local scuzz-rockers Filthy Jim.
That laid-back attitude is the primary appeal of "The Devil In My Drink." Rather than get all hoity-toity about it, the Sinners simply recorded 15 of their songs at home and threw together some creative homemade packaging.
The disc encompasses a melting pot of styles that spans the vaults from country (the Hank Williams kind) to honky-tonk (the Sun Records kind) to bluegrass (the Bloodshot Records kind).
Psychograss barn-burners like "Ain't Right" and "To My Grave" owe a heavy debt to local contemporaries Split Lip Rayfield, but still manage to come across more as reverent nods than underachieving tributes.
"The Devil in My Drink" is borderline parental advisory country fare, with more than enough time devoted to the side effects of "whiskey dick" and hallucinogenic ingestions. But the album is no novelty item either, with an equal amount of heartbroken love songs and sinner's laments. Throw some spotless harmonies and skillful musicianship in the mix, and you've got a solid debut effort from a group that - if the lyrics are any indication - is seemingly composed of a bunch of drinking buddies.
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