The Transgressors

Stevie Tombstone

7:30 a.m. (Saustex Media)

 

Not unlike a Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds karaoke party, the Transgressors' eponymous debut is a disjointed mass of strained vocals and shaky guitar that comes up short but is chock-full of effort. Opener "Depot No. 7" attempts to bring the Rev. Horton Heat into a darker place, but instead leaves Chad Nichols' vocals scratched and bleeding all over J.R. Keyton's rockabilly axe. In Nichols' regretful "I'll Never Get Even With You," Buzz Moran's production brings the album to a screeching halt: Vocals fly high over the viola track, leaving the song uneven and lurching. "He'll see you down below," Nichols chants throughout "The Man in Black," an example of too much Farfisa, not enough balls. Maybe the fact that Nichols spent the last few years recording the album in 12 different makeshift studios lends the whole endeavor an aura of trying too damn hard.

Perhaps if Stevie Tombstone had shared his compression, The Trangressors could've broken new ground as well as old rules. Tombstone's 7:30 a.m., meanwhile, is a C&W album hiding under the epithet of alt.country. Tattoos and long hair do not an indie rocker make. San Antonio's son has produced a core of trite ballads full of childhood and breakups ("Can't Go Back to Yesterday," "Something That I Never Thought I'd Be") on this overproduced full-length. Only Joey Borja's pedal steel shines here. Fans of Hot 100 country might appreciate Tombstone's wake-up call, but for those with higher expectations, don't let it near your "Kevlar Heart."

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