“This four piece original act has identified their own sound with a bleeding mixture of rock and roll bluegrass, Americana, soul, and vocal styling just not available on the music scene today.” That’s the tagline that comes with their bio!  While we all know these lines are just made up by promo guys to attract your attention and seldom display the truth, things might be different with Victory Gin.

For once this line is telling the truth! Victory Gin is different! Victory Gin indeed mixes bluegrass, with rock and Americana and the sound that they produce is unique and not to be found somewhere else.  Basically the band plays bluegrass-infested pop/rock, with just enough bluegrass to be called roots music!  The first two tracks on the album (“Corn Fritter” and “Roughneck”) are quite average and don’t offer anything very special.  “Corn Fritter” mixes pop with bluegrass, while on “Roughneck” a more country approach is used.  But from the third track on (“Milk”) the fun starts.  “Milk” is still somewhere between pop and Americana but offers already a glimpse of the quality that these guys have to offer. A catchy tune with an easy to remember chorus.  “Hurtins no good”, “Depends on you” and “Hogs” are one by one tunes that you simply can’t ignore.  “Hogs” is without doubt a tune ready made for the radio and surprise, surprise, the tune was spot on Sony’s Acidplanet by March 2008. Acidplanet is an Internet community for Dj’s and sound artists who are into mixing & re-mixing tunes.  Instead of beat driven, pumping techno tunes, both “Milk” & “Hogs” where offered for a remix as a contest.  Not only did the contest doubled the traffic on their website, but it also give some great exposure to the band!  Like said, tunes like “Hurtins no good” and “Depends on you” bring simply the best out of the band.  Both drenched in Bluegrass, this songs are the basis for a 5 star album.  “Hogs” is quite traditional if you ask me. Sober in instruments, with a haunted sound in the background, this tune is the hot pick on this album for sure.  “Happy” brings us back to the typical country atmosphere. Done in a typical tearjerker style the lyrics of this ballad are filled with satire and dark humor. 

No old-time style seems to be safe from these guys. “Turn to you” blends fifties do-wop with a little bluegrass! A combination that I haven’t heard before but that surprisingly works well. Absurdity is not strange to these guys as well!  On “Space Cheerleaders” they talk about Lizard Skinned cheerleaders! It’s also the only tune on the record I found that uses some electric effects and instruments, but in all honesty I don’t mind cause it creates some kind of novelty effect.

When listening to Victory Gin, the thoughts on Hank Williams Jr. are never far away!  Maybe the lyrics are a bit more civilized on “Tender Loin” but it’s the only comparison I can come up with! 
Tender Loin doesn’t burst with 5 star tunes but overall the sound is so fresh that I simply can’t go for less.  The self-penned tunes betray the character and quality of the band, something that is quite unique in a world dominated by producers who only care for radio play.  They might not hit the charts with this album to easy, but once the world knows about their unique blend of styles and sounds I’m pretty sure world-domination is the next goal for these guys!

Mr. Blue Boogie.