By Jim Rowland
Hailed as new torchbearers of Southern rock, Georgia-based quintet The Georgia Thunderbolts have shared the stage with heroes of that genre new and old, including the likes of Black Stone Cherry, The Marshall Tucker Band, the Allman Betts Band, Blackberry Smoke, The Kentucky Headhunters, and The Outlaws. This month sees the band release their highly-anticipated sophomore album ‘Rise Above It All’, an album that is set to bolster their already growing reputation no end.
Singer TJ Lyle was raised by his dad, who loved 1980s rock, and his grandma who loved classic country, and you can hear those influences from his formative years seeping through in the Thunderbolts’ sound. ‘Rise Above It All’ covers a fair bit of terrain within the loose rock/country/Americana bracket across the 13 tracks that make up the album. ‘Moonlight Play’, ‘Little Jim’, ‘Whiskey Talkin’’, and the excellent ‘Rock and Roll Record’ are sumptuous slices of heavy and soulful southern rock, oozing the spirit of Lynyrd Skynyrd, with the latter displaying the soulful rock traits of classic Brit rockers Free, a band that had a heavy influence on Skynyrd themselves.
The likes of ‘Rise Above It All’, ‘She’s Gonna Get It’, ‘Stand Up’ and ‘Pricetag’ are all grooving hard rockers with a country tinge, whilst the excellent and punchy opener ‘Gonna Shine’ and the smoother harmonies of ‘Wait’ are great country rock tunes with a more commercial sounding edge. There’s a couple of finely chosen covers thrown in too, with Bob Seger’s ‘Ain’t Got No Money’ taking a heavy blues approach, whilst the biggest surprise is a country/reggae fusion version David Bowie’s ‘It Ain’t Easy’ which actually works a treat.
With great production, ‘Rise Above It All’ is an absolutely cracking album for any fan of country/southern rock that packs a powerful punch. On the strength of this, The Georgia Thunderbolts can easily hold their own when compared to those more high profile names the band have shared a stage with in recent years.
- ‘Rise Above It All’ is released on Friday (23 August).
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