Album Review: Randy Rogers Band 'Nothing Shines Like Neon'

Having spent over two years writing material for this, their seventh studio album, Randy Rogers Band’s new release,  Nothing Shines Like Neon,  will emit its glow on January 15th. Recorded at Cedar Creek, produced by Buddy Cannon and released on Rogers own Tommy Jackson Records (in conjunction with Thirty Tigers), the sextet is a well-oiled machine – but one that has yet to show signs of becoming rusty or tired. 

Firmly steeped in tight musicianship (pedal steel, guitar and Brady Black’s fiddle) alongside Rogers’ identifiable, warm, smoky vocals, Nothing Shines Like Neon  showcases why they have remained atop the Texas scene for fifteen years. Things kick off with the Keith Gattis penned “San Antone” a shuffling ode to the town you love, despite spending time away. Of course, it wouldn’t be a RRB album without love songs…the sad and optimistic…and they’re both duly represented here. The latter in the beautifully romantic “Old Moon New” as well as in the sultry sexiness of the bluesy “Rain and The Radio.” The flip side is present on the immensely relatable, “Things I Need To Quit” about a woman at the top of his list of habits he needs to break. “I keep that song stuck on repeat/Something ‘bout the words and melody/Takes me back to the way it used to be/Even with you gone you get the best of me.” (Who hasn’t experienced that?!), as well as “Tequila Eyes,” which exudes a realistic sadness that finds him wanting to rescue her from a pain that even alcohol cannot disguise. “Girl the trouble with the past/You can’t kill it with a shot glass once it catches up with you,”  and finally on the sad yearning of “Meet Me Tonight” with pedal steel conveying that longing for her to look at him in that special way, be with him one more time….even if it means his heart will break.  

It’s not all melancholy, however. There’s the rollicking, rebel rousing “Taking It As It Comes” with Jerry Jeff Walker and the rowdy, sure to be a crowd-pleaser “Actin’ Crazy” (feat. Jamey Johnson), where he sings, “The rent's as high as Willie.”  

The eleven-track collection is rounded out with two standouts, “Look Out Yonder” and “Pour One For the Poor One.” The former, written by Bud Earl Lee and featuring Alison Krauss, is a tender and affecting nod to Roger’s mentor Kent Finlay who passed in 2015. The latter is a “tear in my beer” song if there ever was. Left by the one he loves (in the middle of the night no less), he finds some solace drowning his sorrows in alcohol a pitiful and "sad sight to see.” 

Nothing Shines Like Neon  is unmistakably Randy Rogers Band. Full of earnest lyrics and meaningful (and occasionally downright fun) melodies, it’s traditional, it’s country and it’s about to become your new favorite Randy Rogers Band record.

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