Nasty, sweaty southern rock

Banditos have roared onto the music scene from Alabama by way of Nashville where they currently reside. A bandito, according to Merriam-Webster, is an outlaw, particularly one coming out of Mexico. The word conjures images of any number of grizzled, sweaty characters of ill repute from the old Clint Eastwood spaghettis Westerns. The music that Banditos make is just as grizzled and nasty when it wants to be. But they’ve added some wrinkles to give what amounts to southern rock their own brand.

This sextet comes specifically from Birmingham, AL where it is reported that a hipper aesthetic is taking hold in a state widely considered to be a bastion of…something else. The biker-esque look of the band befits their music which feels like it was made for a raucous bar for the express purpose of rising over the din. A banjo, pedal steel and three vocalists–one of whom is a female voice–give the band the tools to stretch out a little bit. Their self-titled debut Banditos, released on Bloodshot Records, opens with two barn burners, “The Breeze” and “Waitin’,” before giving way to the bluesy, sultry voice of Mary Beth Richardson on “No Good” and later on “Old Ways.” Her voice is present all over the record, but they let her lead on these numbers to add layers to what they can do.

The band is clearly becoming a road horse that takes command of the venue and the audience. According to Bloodshot Records, they’ve played 600 shows in the last 3 years, and the comfort they have with their instruments and songs shines through. This group is not trying to take the listener on a music nerd trip, they simply exist to rock in the southern tradition of Lynyrd Skynyrd and more recently the North Mississippi All-Stars. The playing is gritty, the songs are about good times and boozing, and the sound veers from rockabilly to delta blues, with hits of straight-up country. This is not a band meant for listening to while cooking dinner at home; this is a band meant to be seen live with a beer in hand and a readiness to hoot and holler. No experiments here, just some righteous southern blood and sweat.