Pour yourself a tall glass of whiskey and light a cigarette. Grizzled, the debut album from The Council of Smokers and Drinkers will bring you to the back of a poorly lit but crowded bar, and rock you the whole night long.
The Council of Drinkers and Smokers, an Alaskan country band with hard rock and blues tendencies give a supreme effort on there debut album. The music is consistently funky with the hard crunch and southern twang of electric guitars, a steady bass, and heavy percussion. There is no doubt that the band knows how to play. The entire album has a very live feel to it. For a debut album, The Council of Smokers and Drinkers play with a surprising amount of experience that takes many bands years to find.
From the very beginning of the record the tracks smoke through the speakers. Russel Biggs has a soulful voice that turns to a snarl at points to match Jonathon Russel’s energetic guitar playing. Mark Rogers and Joe Erickson put the catchy groove in the rhythm section. Elizabeth Dubey and Mark Kimmins add a little more southern flavor with additional keyboards, harp, and vocals.
Grizzled is an album that doesn’t have any weak tracks. If your lucky enough to find yourself in a bar with Grizzled on the jukebox, let the album play and get the bar a rocking. The Council of Smokers and Drinkers might be an Alaskan band, but they can teach a few things to the southern states about county rock.
