Texas Hippie Coalition ‘High In The Saddle’
Album Review By Adam McCann
eOne Music/Southern/Groove Metal
Is there any other band which mixes the Texan swagger, southern charm and good ol’ groove as well as Texas Hippie Coalition? These guys have been drinkin’, cussin’ and fightin’ their way through the desert of heavy metal for the best part of fifteen years now and this year has Texas Hippie Coalition (THC) follow up their excellent 2016 album ‘Dark Side of Black’ with their latest album ‘High In The Saddle’.
As expected, ‘High…’ is full of the dirty groove metal foot stomping riffs which have made the THC sound so appealing and although this album does very little to step away from the THC comfort zone, it is still enjoyable nonetheless with ‘Tell It From The Ground’ and ‘Moonshine’ having all the appeal of Corrosion of Conformity, Down and Black Label Society, whilst touching base with Pantera and Hellyeah through the sexy swagger of ‘Stevie Nicks’ and ‘Blue Lights On’. One of the most enjoyable parts about the THC and ‘High…’ is that there is always an element of a good time party hospitality and although this can cause songs such as ‘Dirty Finger’ to entire almost the nu-metal territory of DevilDriver and Kid Rock, but who actually cares when this album is so enjoyable? Yet, ‘High…’ takes a nod towards the godfathers of the Texan sound, ZZ Top with the song ‘Tongue Like A Devil’ as vocalist Big Dad Ritch’s voice drips with a liquor stained boogie that is almost irresistible.
There is nothing here on ‘High…’ that a fan of THC hasn’t heard before, but that gives this album a warm, familiar feel that instantly allows it to be thoroughly enjoyable; so, grab a cold one, crack it open, turn it up loud and get that Lone Star hot tonight!
Rating : 80/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
