Back To The Door is The Hoyle Brothers recently released debut album. The Hoyle Brothers hail from Illinois (with the exception of Lance, who says he's from 'here and there') and have been based at Chicago clubs The Hideout and The Empty Bottle. The Hoyle Brothers however, aren't really brothers, at least not by birth. Think traditional country music's equivalent to The Ramones. The members of The Hoyle Brothers are: Jack (Jacque Judy) Hoyle (lead singer/guitar), Steve (Doyle) Hoyle (lead Guitar), Brian (Wilke) Hoyle (pedal steel), Josh (Piet) Hoyle (upright & electric bass) and Lance (Helgeson) Hoyle (drums).

The Hoyle Brothers aim isn't to change the world, they simply wanted to play the kind of stone traditional honky tonk country music that they grew up on. Back To The Door boasts 12 original songs in that tradition, plus a George Jones cover. It's brimming with steel driven, hard core honky tonkers, further fuelled by crisp, clean arrangements and Jack Hoyle's emotive vocals that range from catch-in-the-throat ache to growling baritone bravado.

Their songs run the gamut. They deliver up a few drinking songs: a pair of two-steppers (the terrific, high octane "Got Hammered" and a fine cover of George Jones' "Relief's Just A Swallow Away") and a barroom shuffle ("This Life I Choose"). In another trio of shuffles, "Call Heaven" finds true love come walking through the door of the honky tonk, while "Cry If You Want To" is a leaving song and the title track, "Back To The Door" is about the struggle of fighting off memories. There's a pair of delightfully raucous trucker songs, "Trucker's Life" and "Truck Attack."

The Hoyle Brothers leave no stone unturned and provide a mournful mid-tempo Tex-Mex ballad of murder and prison with "Mama I'm Sorry." Heartache is hardly overlooked either. "Home" is a mid-tempo aching tale of regret, while "What If I" and "All The Right Places" represent the classic mournful barroom weeper in outstanding fashion. Back To The Door closes with a swinging, instrumental two-stepper that features some stellar steel guitar work.

The Hoyle Brothers display some mighty fine songwriting, vocal and instrumental chops that genuinely reflect that true, traditional honky tonk sound of Nashville's days gone by. Back To The Door is an impressive debut album from this very talented band and fans of weeping steel, George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, Carl Smith and Ernest Tubb should find much to enjoy here.          

Standout Tracks: "Got Hammered," "Back To The Door," "What If I," "This Life I Chose," "Home," "Mama I'm Sorry," "Penny Pinchin' "

On The Net: www.hoylebrothers.com

AnnMarie Harrington TakeCountryBack October 2004