Country music has always felt like home field for the male/female counterpoint–it is a genre just as comfortable with love as it is with trouble, and though The Blind Staggers may not be the first to hitch country’s wagon up with punk’s, their endeavor comes off like a back country dream. They play what feels like a familiar brand of chugging country guitar rhythm that right when the ear feels starts pulling in some punk stunts with the sharp drums and heavier guitars.

The outcome is a match well made, as both parental units to the Blind Staggers sound pass down a rich heritage that the group uses for theme. The he/she conflict, the alcohol and late nights, the kind of love that draws blood–all the right elements are there. Damien Christian’s strained and deep voice plays well with Laura Loo’s soulful and confident vocals. In a recent interview with Gaper’s Block, Christian called their musical union as a sort of, “updated Johnny and June,” which though it seems to tempt a bit more fate than is safe, is a fine sonic assessment of what the two find in their songs.

The group, formerly Press Gang (had to be changed after an unfortunate incident with some Germans, true story), have been hard at work in Chicago. They’ve started to build a solid cv from shows alongside groups such as Split Lip Rayfield, Siderunners, and Devil Makes Three. The down home liveliness of The Blind Staggers music is contagious in that have-to-bounce-your-knee sort of way, finding a healthy balance of pace and melody between their two adoptive styles.

Their writing is real-deal as well, a full on sampler platter of the best summer tent stomping–they do story songs through the lens of a beer bottle. On their track ‘Brass Ring’, He says, “I can’t sleep at night cause this this bed is too damn cold / And you know that I hate to sleep alone / So I fill it with whoever I can,” to open up a classic ‘baby where you gone’ story, to which She replies, “Does it help the heartache / Does it make you feel a man,” for some distant recrimination. He’s not slow to bring the issue full circle, “No girl but since you’ve gone / It’s all I got left.” It’s well worn stuff, but actually well worn–like a old jacket or grandma’s best brooch. There’s history there, and when put to the right soundtrack, it comes out golden.
-Jordan Brown
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