From Oklahoma, The Damn Quails are a duo ready to take flight. Their debut studio release, Down The Hatch, is a moody record full of classic and modern country mixed in with blues and an alternative twist.
Starting off the album is “Better Place To Stop.” Overall, the tune brings a fairly positive start to the release as well as a pretty slick guitar solo. Posing the question of ‘would you?,’ “Through The Fire” features light guitars and brings a strong country tone to Down The Hatch. Besides a change of vocalists, “Quicksand” also changes the sound of the release up a bit. The piece begins with airy guitars, rhythmic drums and a catchy bassline. The smooth vocals that were evident in the previous cuts are replaced with a scratchy voice yet “Quicksand” ended up being the catchiest of the release.
“Mary” brings a slower jam to Down The Hatch. The nostalgic, regretful and narrative tenth song is a smooth listen with melancholy guitar sounds. One of the stand-out pieces of Down The Hatch, “Iceman,” has a folk feel to the fiddle. The narrative is about a man who starts to tell the audience about why he’s so terrible; a bastard and a murderer. Though full of some sound advice “Dollars” ends Down The Hatch on a dismal note due to poor pacing.
In A Word: Decent
