Chris Shiflett

Former Foo Fighter’s lead guitarist Chris Shiflett releases his third studio album: ‘West Coast Town’. An LP full of the wonders of country and western, honky-tonk and Americana we have come accustom to from this artist. As Nashville is where Shiflett’s heart truly lies. For classic country fans out there; this is the album for you. As the pedal steel guitar constantly hovers around every track, thrown together with tales of women and nights in bars. Finally mixed together with some pretty decent guitar work (which you would expect from Chris Shiflett) you get this country concoction.

When track one blares out of your speakers (Sticks and Stones), It’s a hit of country with a bit of bite. It starts off quite rocky then mellows out to a happy, foot tapping track. It’s quicky tempo and rhythmic, rhyming couplet lyrics make it a likeable song and a good choice for the opening number. West Coast Town – the title track of the album - is much the same in terms of having a rockabilly foot tapping haze around it, the only surprising aspect is that Chris decides to nonchalantly throw the F-word in there – which seems like a desperate attempt to shake things up a bit. I’m Still Drunk brings a likeable, heavier, bluesy feel to it. The arrangement is pleasing and it does have more of a modern sound to it than the rest of the tracks of the album.

There is no doubt that Chris Shiflett is an extremely talented musician, band leader and song writer. It is commendable that he has blended other genres and mixed his individual flare into this album. However, He has played it safe and stayed within the confinements of what he knows works well with this genre both in sound and in lyric subject. Unfortunately, it’s not ground breaking enough to stand out from the crowd. Although die hard country fans will eat this up.