[.ca] Jackpot

From Amazon.com:
The Derailers are proud to be stuck in the '50s. Their suits, ties, boots, haircuts, even their sound, all slavishly imitate the honky-tonk fashions of 40 years ago. This theatrical, time-capsule approach to music can be a lot of fun in a nightclub, where your only competition is the bar band next door. It makes a lot less sense on a stereo, where the visuals are limited to tiny photos on the CD booklet and the competition is the readily available albums of Webb Pierce and Lefty Frizzell. Unfortunately, their songs would have been no better than album filler back in the era itself, and their competent but unexciting voices wouldn't have turned any heads either. --Geoffrey Himes

This is the type of country I remember growing up with!!!!!:
Music with heart, a bass line hits deep in the heart, and a rythem you can't keep your feet from moving to. This is the type of music I remember growing up with... Not a bunch of glitz with no heart but something you can listen to over and over to. A friend of mine bought "full western dress" as a birthday present for me when he saw them at Houston's Continental Club. I couldn't stop listening to it and had to pick up my bass to play a few licks. Listening to Lover's Lie, Lost and Found,etc.. and you'll know what I mean. Hey Steel Guitar still lives in Texas thanks to these guys!!(...) I'm putting this review on every cd because after hearing them on "Full Western Dress" I bought everything else they had on here and was not dissappointed.

Listening to this album is hitting a Jackpot!:
If you've liked any Derailers albums you've listened to before you're going to love this. The songs are indeed great. If you have hardwood floors, a stereo, and a bottle of gin, this CD is all you need for the perfect evening. Every song on this CD is perfect for a Derailers Dance Party. Everyone will be dancing and having the time of their lives!

I think Buck would've done it this way:
You'd swear that Buck Owens is singing these tunes. The Derailers debut shines with that good good ol' Bakersfield country sound. Unfortunately, these guys decided to turn in their hearts after their second disc, "Reverb Deluxe". They changed their style to a polished brand of country that would not not sound out of place in a retirement home or the Grand O'l Oprey. Hopefully (but don't count on it), they'll get back to their roots.

CD, Band are great:
This is the Derailers' first disc and it epitomizes fun music. If you have ever seen the Derailers live, you know that they give 150% to every show and are consu mately professional entertainers. If you like twangy, somewhat old-timey music that played by a tight band and sung with a lot of heart, then give this disc a whirl. Sunsequent albums are also good -- this is the least polished, rawest album by the Derailers. I think that some are out of touch with what the Derailers are trying to achieve -- making high quality, fun, twangy music. This stuff is not meant to change the world or change your mind about issues of the day. It's fun music to dance to, to sing along to, and to play for friends.

Bakersfield inspired 1996 debut from Austin, TX foursome:
The Austin, TX based Derailers 1996 debut was an oddly ironic breath of fresh air on the alt.country scene. While others got exercised distancing themselves from country music's commercial directions and cozying up to variously defined 'roots,' the Derailers whole-heartedly embraced a sound that had struck immense commercial gold in its initial go-round as an outsider sound. The derivation of "Jackpot" from Buck Owens' Bakersfield classics is a short one: the band's twangy twin Fenders, rock 'n' roll energy, and, most of all, chill-inducing vocal harmonies (courtesy of singers/guitarists/songwriters Tony Villanueva and Brian Hofeldt) left no doubt as to their own chosen roots. While many of their tunes could have been lifted from the good pages of the Buck Owens' songbook, their inheritance is a lot more than a genuflecting novelty. The call-and-response vocal of the opener, "My Heart' s Ready," is vintage Buck & Don, but voiced with a youthfulness and vitality that speaks more to influence and reverence than to imitation and rote re-utterance. "Lies, Lies, Lies" builds from down-trodden verses to a harmony chorus whose defeat overshadows the feigned stridency, and "One Hundred Percent Pure Fool," mixes killer riffs, dancing steel guitar and clever alliteration into a sing-a-long gem. Hofeldt and Villanueva's adopted Lone Star home has shaped their singing into nearly perfect drawls, all but obliterating their Oregon origins. Their twangy guitar playing includes the requisite tick-tack rhythms and bass string runs, supplemented by superb pedal steel from Scott Walls, and fiddle from Erik Hokkanen. Producer Dave Alvin remains mostly behind the scenes, capturing a band sound that would be just as home in a honky-tonk as on CD. Subsequent releases would find the Derailers expanding their sound, incorporating additional country, pop and rock influences with which they grew up. "Jackpot" provides their undiluted shot of the Bakersfield sound. Texas Music Group's reissue of the 1996 original adds an early, faster, version of "Just One More Time," a song that would eventually lead off their second LP, "Reverb Deluxe." It's a nice addition to the twelve tracks that already stood tall on their own.

• My Heart's Ready
• This Big City
• I'm Your Man
• Where Ya Been
• Lies, Lies, Lies
• Vision to Dream On
• Jackpot
• Swan Song
• She Left Me Cold
• 100% Pure Fool
• Tarnished Love
• Desperate Ways
• Just One More Time \o*\c