For a man who fronted a death metal band in his teens, Cory Branan sure sings sweet. The No-Hit Wonder is a rousing affair, stuffed with singalong choruses mined from Nashville’s richest seams, from gleeful opener You Make Me, with a riff driven by honky-tonk piano, to the trad-country bounce of All The Rivers In Colorado.
While this isn’t a groundbreaking recording by any means, it’s enormous amounts of fun, from Daddy Was A Skywriter’s cajun shuffle to the woozy roadhouse romp of C’mon Shadow. The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn and Steve Selvidge show up on the title track to give proceedings a burst of adrenalin, and it’s all carried along by Branan’s rasping, warm voice.
It won’t change the world, but The No-Hit Wonder makes it a nicer place to live in.
