Reckless Country Soul

Today's alternative country movement owes Jason Ringenberg more than it knows. During the '80s he and his motley band of heavy metal honky tonkers raged against the Nashville machine, and made music of lasting vitality and cathartic release. And though the Scorchers maintain their loyal following, they've never quite broken from small club and sales obscurity. This album, recorded on a four track and a boot-buckle budget, remains their defining moment: no-holes-barred, no-prisoners-taken roots music, punctuated by Warner Hodge's slashing guitar and Ringenberg's unsettling wails. --Roy Francis Kasten