Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown - Pressure (2020) Hi-Res

Pressure is the fourth full-length album by Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, and since its release on October 16th, has been acclaimed on social media as the greatest album of the band.

It’s like fresh air into the lungs to hear TBSD playing such energetic rock, as shown on songs like “Pressure”, “Wildside”, or “Fuel”. But they do it without losing their roots, remembering Roosevelt Twitty, Bryant’s blues mentor in his early days as a musician. The resonator is one of Bryant’s instruments of choice. On Pressure, this approach is well-represented by “Hitchhiker”, “Misery”, and “Coastin’ ”.

But the album isn’t only a collection of fuzzy guitar or resonator riffs. “Crazy Days” featuring Larkin Poe’s Rebecca Lovell, and “Holdin’ My Breath ”featuring Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke, are quite good songs. Always keeping the groove, these songs put a critical view on people’s behavior in the midst of COVID’s pandemic. For guitarists, “Loner” and “Fever” are the kind of songs that make you run fast to grab your guitar and try those licks. Then you’ve got “Out There”, heard in Truth And Lies (2019), and “Like The Old Me” which slows down the pace. It’s an inspiring ballad with amazing arrangements, harmony, and melodies.

Pressure is an album that lifts blues rock in its essence, with melodic vocals, powerful guitar riffs, firm drum beats, and cohesive bass lines. All the songs, not just on Pressure but throughout their previous albums are cohesive and help build an identity for the band. For an inattentive listener, some little details in the TBSD albums can pass without receiving the deserved attention. As seen in their first full-length album Wild Child (2013), they cherish the old school recording process (without all the ease proportioned by ProTools and plugins…), avoiding automatized resources, and trying to keep and show the band as good as they really are. No doubt that they are building their own railroad, line by line.