For those of you who are not familiar with this band, I would say what are you waiting for? Put down your coffee and go download their CD today off iTunes.

Hooray for good reviews!  Read the full article.

From the print edition, September 1, 2009:

Cobalt & the Hired Guns
Jump the Fence
“You Left Your Sweater” w/ “Of Summer”
(Updawg Records)

If I told you this band combines Country & Western with pop punk you would probably think “Insurgent Emo” and throw up in your mouth. But trust me, somehow this is incredibly charming, poppy, youthful music that feels like traditional roots music, but without any weight of history or dreary anything attached. Hee haw, indeed!

The Jersey Beat just released really great reviews of “The Double Single” and “Jump the Fence,” written by Joe Wawrzyniak. You can read the review in context here.  A stellar review, and more explicit love for “Secrets of the Burgh!”

COBALT AND THE HIRED GUNS – The Double Single

This two song EP CD delivers seven minutes worth of neatly hoppin’ and harmonic country-tinged pop-rock fun. The lively tempos and jumpin’ beats keep things peppy and rousing while the robust vocals and snappy playing are both up to speed. A cool little item.

COBALT AND THE HIRED GUNS – Jump the Fence

A smooth-jumpin’ blast of pure straight-up cookin’ basic rock’n’roll, this album goes down easy with a good deal of flair and spark to spare. There’s no dreaded pretense or needless flashy razzle-dazzle to speak of. Instead we have neatly vibrant and melodic meat-and-potatoes rock that gets right down to snazzy brass tacks with admirable economy and tunefulness. The pleasant vocals, clean and crisp arrangements, and proficient playing keep things bubbling along throughout. Favorite song: The hard-groovin’ number “Secrets of the Burgh.” A solid and worthwhile album.

Double Single was the perfect way to kick off a Chicago summer.  You Left Your Sweater is a boot stomping anthem about the transitory nature of summer love and Of Chicago is a Jason Mraz meets Dashboard Confessional anthem.  The addition Alexander’s sweet vocals on Of Chicago is delightful and fills the track with the sort of tension that tugs at your heart strings.

TD: Things are starting to blow up, that’s exciting! So, would you guys say you have an over arching musical, performance, band philosophy you are working with?

TF: Love and fun. We love each other, we love what we’re doing, we love the people that come to the shows.  We love playing the venues.

MH: I mean, you’ll see, like when we play, it’s all about having a great time and not pretending that we’re not.  We’re doing exactly what we want to be doing. So we try to share that.

I am also pretty pumped that The Clash “I Fought the Law” is a top related video on YouTube

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/30/32_30_smash_cobalt.html

It’s official:  Brooklyn LOVES “Secrets of the Burgh!”