Album Review: Sarah Shook & The Disarmers 'Sidelong'

​-Tara

North Carolina’s Sarah Shook & The Disarmers - Eric Peterson (guitars), John Howie Jr. (drums), Aaron Oliva (upright bass) and Phil Sullivan (pedal steel) - unapologetically deliver truth, grit, and a brazen, no-nonsense attitude on their Bloodshot debut, Sidelong. The twelve-song set (originally released in 2015)  begins with the rousing “Keep The Home Fires Burning” and hammers through to “The Nail” whose rockabilly melody provides the backdrop for a clever look at a couple pretty much ready to call it quits, “When I think about the end and boy I think about it often/I can’t decide which one of us will be the nail in this here coffin.” Proving hard living and drinking aren’t just for the boys, Shook fearlessly gives us snapshots of damaged women who don’t fit the mold, particularly on “Heal Me” a shuffler which tells of heartache unhealed by the bottle, “There’s a whole in my heart ain’t nothing here can fill/But I just keep thinking surely the whiskey will”; “Misery Without Company” which amplifies despair and loneliness this time while finding comfort in alcohol, and the ballad “Dwight Yoakam” which finds her alone after being left for another (who happens to look like the title’s namesake).

The themes of heartbreak and loneliness can also be found on “Solitary Confinement” which begins as a tear in your beer ballad but quickly morphs into a spirited tune about that familiar feeling of drinking away the loneliness before giving  into it “I wish I could forgive you as quickly as it seems you can forget me” and on the title track where being alone is deemed the better option over a deceitful relationship, “I don’t need no one to set my world on fire/I rather die all alone than settle for a liar.” The album is rounded out with “Fuck Up” a song that bluntly conveys a feeling that’s all too universal. “I can’t cry myself to sleep so I’ll drink myself to death…. Ain’t a thing that I can change to get my luck up/God never makes mistakes He just makes fuck ups” and the darkly alluring “No Name” whose mythical outlaw’s identity is only found in the devil’s book, before closing out with some light on the buoyant “Road That Leads To You” a tune whose hint of vulnerability offers some hope.

On Sidelong, Shook conveys a world-weary honesty told through the eyes of one who has lived the drunken nights at the bar, suffered through the less than ideal relationships, and felt many a broken heart. Delivered with candor and conviction, it’s a (totally badass) record for the one who might be broken in love, but isn’t down for the count. 

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