The Stapletons

"Low Dealers and Hangers On" CD

3rd Silo Records

Genres: country-rock, country-pop

3rd Silo Records
PO Box 30030
Cincinnati OH
45230

Apr 28 - May 5 2003

The Stapletons are your run-of-the-mill bar-touring country-rock band that plays locally and is probably never going to gain any widespread recognition.  They know their way around some pretty catchy melodies and country riffs, and they can get you humming along to songs as soon as they come on your stereo, but they're lacking on brilliance and originality.  And as fun as their music is every once and awhile, it can become a bit monotonous due to a lack of variety and standout tracks.

For example, a song like "Secret" is fun and carefree, with some nice hooks, but ends up being very repetitive and thus doesn't hold up for multiple listens.  Many other similar cases can be found on Low Dealers...  Fortunately, this is not always the case.  "Dallas", for example, isn't repetitive at all, standing up well time after time, and "Brand New Trouble" is a fun rockabilly number that makes good repeated listening.  Despite the minor differences, though, the majority of Low Dealers... sounds pretty much the same, so if you aren't interested in the genre, you probably ain't gonna like the album.

All in all, this is an okay choice for alt. country and modern country-rock fans, but one that may leave some listeners craving something a bit fresher.

73%

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 11 songs, distributed by the label, released 2002]