Top of the World

Album review

Not many bands can pick up where they left off after 17 years and make an album that stands with their best work. Fewer still can reconvene three years after that and do it again, but 6 String Drag scored a winning comeback effort with 2015's Roots Rock 'n' Roll, and they've made lightning strike twice with 2018's Top of the World. If anything, Top of the World sounds even more energetic and committed than this band did on Roots Rock 'n' Roll. The production by Jason Merritt (in tandem with the band) feels more muscular this time out, and rockers like "Small Town Punks" and "Robert & Lucy" kick with authority and a potent sense of rowdy fun. The arrangements put the emphasis on the guitars, as it should be, but the keyboards and horns that dress up several of the tracks expand the dynamics of the tunes and make the performances all the more evocative. Kenny Roby's vocals are passionate and full-bodied, with his smoky twang showing enough flexibility to embrace the country, R&B, and rock influences that power these songs. And Roby's songwriting doesn't miss a trick, documenting youthful misbehavior and the difficulties of adult relationships with equal intelligence; he still sounds utterly awestruck by the beautiful woman in "Every Time She Walks on By" just as he's trying to figure out how to win her over in "Let's Fool Around Til the End of the World." In their original run in the '90s, 6 String Drag were regarded as a better-than-average alt-country act; with Roots Rock 'n' Roll and now Top of the World, they've shown that they're more than that in their second act, and this is mature, heartfelt, and resonant rock & roll that's also plenty of fun.

© Mark Deming /TiVo