Williamson Brothers

★★★

Williamson Brothers DIAL BACK SOUND. CD/DL/LP

Punk’d-up political Southern rock from Alabama.

As the freshfaced rhythm section from Birmingham, AL firebrands Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Adam (bass) and Blake (drums) Williamson have had a hand in plenty of broadsides against pervasive attitudes in their native Yellowhammer state. On this breakaway debut, the siblings take The Glory Fire’s Replacements-y brink-of-catastrophe ramalama to precarious straits. Their lurching melodic skills instantly register on powerpop opener Take Back Summer, while Pressure’s On marries blue-collar worry with clanging riffs and falling-down-thestairs rhythm to pulse-racing effect. The gentler I Hate It Here avoids polemical earnestness with a country-tinged litany of Birmingham-centric beefs delivered in an amusingly dozy stoner drawl. Produced by Drive-By Truckers’ bassist Matt Patton, Williamson Brothers feels steeped in Southern alt-lore, charged by the rage of Southern disenfranchisement, but with humour and kicks that sweetens the listening experience.