Chicago-based Trickshooter Social Club is a four-piece outfit with eccentric musical tendencies to fuse fuzzy, garage rock with an assortment of different colors and flavors. On their latest single ‘Television’, written in response to the passing of a band member’s father, is a heartfelt meditation on the fragility of the fleeting moments that form a life. The song is fittingly bittersweet with a touching chord sequence and a bustling, piano-led arrangement.

The song features a wealth of instrumental layers that makes it akin to a sobered-up Brian Jonestown Massacre alternative anthem. Layers of overdriven guitars strumming along in the ether, a solid backbone of a beat, leagues of ornamental harmonica and piano leads, and an easygoing, gentle character all make ‘Television’ an immediately heartwarming offering from Trickshooter Social Club.

A capable group of musicians, the guys from Trickshooter Social Club stun us once again with a gentle and well-balanced offering that’s profoundly touching. A reliable outfit whose lyrical and instrumental arrangements are often lush and busy, but never messy, and ‘Television’ readily follows the same formula.

A 6-piece rock band hailing from Chicago, Trickshooter Social Club are led by Larry Liss and frontman Steve Simoncic who have been music partners for years playing in bands around Chicago. Together the duo is responsible for writing all songs for Trickshooter Social Club, and on their latest single, the band are arguing that there’s something even better and more fulfilling than love.

The group are arguing that in the complete acceptance of the one sitting beside us, whether they be a family member, a friend, or a significant other, in the acceptance of all their flaws and drawbacks, and in having zero intention in changing anything about them whatsoever we find something that’s sweeter, more fulfilling, and more sustainable than love. The backing for this probable theory is an involved rock ensemble full of colorful rhythm guitars and memorable vocal melodies. The sweet composition on the song, the stirring cello solo, and the striking piano performance throughout make ‘Better Than Love’ a very gripping and mature arrangement that’s reminiscent of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ more soulful cuts, or like a poetic Leonard Cohen offering.

‘Better Than Love’ is lyrically and musically mature. A piece of engaging songwriting with a beautiful arrangement and a balanced mix that we can’t get enough of.

The song begins with a stomp-clap kinda beat coupled with a harmonica, highly reverbed vocals and is shortly joined by the guitars and bass. The vocals have a mix of huskiness, raspiness, and grit but still retain their melodic nature…the lead singer is magnificent in every sense of the word. The hook has a horn/brass section interplaying with the lead guitar, and after two choruses we get to an awesome guitar solo which immediately generates a beer pint and a  leather jacket to whoever listens to it.

The drums, bass, and rhythm guitar are as present as you’d want them to be in a Classic Rock tune, but there’s a country music quality and flavour you get from the rhythm and the additional instruments that makes this song. 

All in all, The way this awesome band has an element that represents Classic Rock in a pure way but still flirts with other genres like Country and Blues is the true charm that they have. And if you’re looking for a fine upbeat Roots Rock song that doesn’t overdo the style or sway from its normal tropes, then Mile Wide is definitely the right pick for you. 

Hailing from Chicago, Trickshooter Social Club define themselves as more of a collective than a band in the traditional sense of bands. With a wealth of collaborators and instrumental variety in their sounds, Trickshooter Social Club have successfully created a fully-fledged society of musical fun and like-mindedness around their core members.

With ‘Honey I Believe’, the group starts in Chicago and ends up in a dusty motel in East Tennessee as they follow their protagonist’s story to move out and start figuring out herself in a journey of fulfillment and a search for freedom. The music is likewise. Loud, optimistic, in-your-face, and larger than life. The clear pop-rock leanings are hard to miss, and you wouldn’t want to miss them. Infectious energy defines the song and its overdriven rhythm guitar and powerful grooves, and the crisp, balanced production amps the energy up just a few notches, just enough to send the song’s vibes soaring high.

The refreshing story on ‘Honey I Believe’ is empowering and weirdly relatable. Who never dreamed of throwing all caution to the wind and moving away in a journey of utterly unplanned soul searching? We all did, but our protagonist here did not resort to dreaming, she got up and actually did it, and in a way, that gives me a feeling that things are going to be alright with people like her around. It’s also nice that the music is as hip and punchy as it is. 

Trickshooter Social Club kickstarts Truck Stop Dangerous with the rocking sound of Beautiful, promising an energetic EP to come and I love it already. Beautiful is a powerfully dynamic tune with hard-hitting bass, enjoyable jazzy drumming, and eargasmic melodic guitars in a powerful streaming flow, pushing their sound forward towards a bigger, catchier one with guitars, synths, and engaging vocals leading the way and keeping the listeners fully hooked. Clarksdale Serenade #2 hit next with an open sound and an irresistible groove, building up to a groovy old-school verse with heavy organs and catchy vocals. Moving forward with a smooth progression and impressive arrangement, new folky elements are being introduced adding a deep emotional layer to Trickshooter Social Club‘s mix, showing off their diverse influences and interesting writing skills. With fast guitars and warm moving violins, Elvis Figurines boosts the EP’s energy higher while keeping its beautiful emotional vibes going. It has a fun, unstoppable flow with exciting twists and turns, producing a highly dynamic structure that kept me on the edge of my seat. Ending the EP on a high note comes the mellow ballad Lie To Me, mixing all its predecessor’s elements while steering towards a more mellow, chill direction. It offers a multi-layered structure with escalating sound and engaging harmonic vocals, all within a clever arrangement that creates a unified melodic stream that smoothly leads to the end of the EP, leaving you playing it over again from the top.

Truck Stop Dangerous is a brief straight-to-the-point EP by Trickshooter Social Club that clearly shows their highly melodic sense, attention to detail, and seasoned writing skills. They managed to create spacious structures that embraced their haunting mix of diverse elements and melodies, resulting in a beautifully written and executed EP that softly invites the listeners into their own world. I’ll definitely be looking forward to more from Trickshooter Social Club, keep on rocking guys. Cheers!

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Wilderness Radio kicks off with the heavy energetic Girl Vs. Monster. A fuzzy tune with a haunting groove and a pretty catchy dual-vocal melody. It has strong sludge and stoner vibes with engaging irresistible violin melody, relentless enjoyable jazzy drumming, and one of the coolest basslines I’ve listened to in a while, amazing opener. With bright sound and warm dreamy vocals, Trickshooter Social Club steers to a more mellow mood on Say Anything. It has a chill soothing flow with sweet heartfelt melodies flowing smoothly within a tight enjoyable structure with a colorful uplifting production, and some violins and piano work that aim straight for your heart. Run All Night comes next boosting the record’s dynamics to the roof and showing Trickshooter Social Club‘s pure rock n’ roll influences. It has a solid hard rocking sound with shredding solos, distorted intimidating riffs, and heavily dynamic shifts that’ll send the listeners off their seats and drive the crowd crazy when played live. Ending the EP on a deeply emotional note, Bury Me In Light comes next. The mix between piano, violin, and those floating guitars created a touching layer that I believe forms an unbreakable bond between the artist and listener. It has a simple structure that depends on Trickshooter Social Club‘s writing skills that shines brightly in the way they arranged and layered their elements to reach for such a beautiful from-the-heart ending of Wilderness Radio.

Trickshooter Social Club managed to flex their writing skills and show their different sides and sounds cleverly on Wilderness Radio. With just a 12 minutes EP, they took us on a musical journey with well-thought and executed dynamics that’ll keep you hooked and entertained right from the 1st to the last note, with diverse moods and vibes that made me already looking forward to their upcoming release. Keep on rocking guys, will be waiting for more. Cheers!

…enter “Trickshooter Social Club”.

It can’t get more “USA” than this, they play rock/americana…this is it.

The group has actually evolved into something more than just a band, it has become closer to an actual social club…made up of eight members.

…two vocals…keyboard…guitars…bass…drums…a violin that’s played more as a fiddle…

They sound huge, they sound big, they sound unique and they will blow the hat off of your heads with their musical blasts.

They shared the stage with Peggy Young and the Survivors (featuring Spooner Oldham) and recent shows have included gigs at the Whiskey a Go-Go in LA and The Hippodrome in London.

They’re also regulars at the House of Blues Chicago, Club Metro and Lincoln Hall, and are regular guests on the Nick Digilio Show on WGN. 

They have a new album that came out on the 30th of March called “Wilderness Radio”, it’s more of an EP actually, made of four songs…the band’s energy definitely shows across all of their body of works, it’s obvious in their music…but you can also see them in action, both on social media as they have a couple of music videos and if you’re in the US of A, you can go to one of their shows…their energy is unmatched.

…and without further ado…let’s jump into their latest EP, “Wilderness Radio”…

It starts out with “Run All Night”…and boy, you’ll feel like running after that one.

The intro drum fill is iconic…the two vocals fuse together beautifully…

Filled to the brim with energy, this song is a perfect pick for being the first track in the EP…it also feels like it would be great for the opening song in their show.

Chuggy riffs, slap delay vocals, in your face snare hits and piano licks…a guitar solo…

this one rocks hard and takes you by storm…of course production value is top notch.

…going into the second track…”Say Anything”, a more ‘country flavored’ song with female vocals as the centerpiece for the lyrical delivery this time around…the flavor is accented with hints of harmonica in the intro and a fiddle solo almost midway along the song…harmonica and fiddle play together, hand in hand near the end of the song…the song has a very uplifting musical energy to it…backing vocals also add layers to the personality of this song…

Moving back to a more heavy energetic mindset…we get into the third track “Girl Vs Monster”…

The drums are heavier, the guitars are heavier, even the fiddle is playing the same riffs as the guitar…it’s saying “hey, I can get heavy too”…and it surely can.

Let me also highlight how powerful the bass is here…it’s literally doing some heavy lifting and giving body to the already powerful track.

…unfortunately we find ourselves at our last stop in this small yet huge sounding journey, with the fourth and last track of the EP…”Bury Me In Light”…and they close the album in a very appropriate musical, lyrical and emotional way…the song is mellow and laid back…all the instruments are chilling…vocals are chilling…the slide guitar tones are relaxing…the fiddle licks are helping us also relax…the piano is shining in this track…and it ends on a happy note, it leaves you hopeful, it leaves you in a good mental spot.

Listening to their EP “Wilderness Radio”, I’ve been taken by storm with their unique fuzzy, punk, rock, country fusion is killer…highly recommended to anyone who likes to listen to music in general…you’ll find something you like here…

Trickshooter Social Club has a very distinct sound and flavor to their music…if you want to listen to something unique and flavorsome, you gotta check them out…you guys absolutely rock.

Wishing you all the best in the world.

Cheers!

The Chicago-based group tries to deliver their western sound roots and blended this perfectly with rock, pop, punk, blues, and country elements. In 2019, they have released their highly acclaimed by critics and fans album, American Experiment. And they continue in such a direction to prove that we’re talking about an iconic group. While checking the new track, I focus on music arrangement, mix, vocals, and other instruments as well, and I was really amazed and surprised as well because I literally cannot find any negative point. In 3 minutes, you will feel the EARgasm and the music chill indeed. Definitely, they added to my library, and I will be looking forward to their upcoming release.

Trickshooter Social Club on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Spotfy.