“Too Old to Die Young Now”

The Comancheros

As reviewed by Allen Fennewald

The Comancheros are the young among a dying breed. Before them walked men like Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard.

They are simultaneously Merle Haggard and Jimmy Page, Angus Young and Willie Nelson. They breathe red dirt and spit high-octane distortion. They are less a free bird than they are the southern thunder. They want you to party harder. Harder! HARDER STILL!

They thrash crazier than the majority of Billboard’s top rock songs of 2020 and are still more western than most of the stuff you hear on country radio. Their ballads are deep and passionate. Their heavy licks are intricate and dazzling. And while they adorn an outlaw persona for their performances, they’re also the sweetest group of fellas you’ve ever met.

“Too Old to Die Young Now” puts all of this and more on display. The album debuted in early 2020, and Mike “Bobcat” Cook says it’s the culmination of everything that he and co-founder Tanner Jones wanted when they first set out in 2015 to record the acoustic EP, “Four Horsemen”. The two met while working together at a music shop and bonded over their love of metal and country music. By 2015, they’d decided to try out a project together.

The band formed around the concept of a rock band playing country. They asked, “What if Van Halen played a Waylon Jennings set or Judas Priest did Johnny Cash?”

The resulting Heavy & Western genre/slogan has since been trademarked for the band’s merchandise (available at heavyandwesternclothing.com). Although The Comancheros say what they do isn’t all that much different from what Lynard Skynard did or bands like Blackberry Smoke do now, they’ve added their own spirit and color to the music that stands out against any other group. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly what it is, but you know it when you hear it. Even if the sound of any particular song may harken back to other things, their blending, comparing and contrasting of country music with metal energy brings about a feeling all its own.

The Comancheros quickly became known for their spirited performances after hitting the scene in 2016. They kick up their heels and climb on the bass drum; bend over backward, shredding on strings slick with sweat and maybe a little blood. Each show is a battle scene, and they bang out every number like it’s the last one they’ll ever play. That attitude had to get all too real when the lockdowns kicked in last year.

Want to test their merit? Just scream “Free Bird” at one of their shows and see what happens. As Cook would say, “Free fuckin’ Bird, man.”

It’s been a wild ride since their first record came out. They’ve been sponsored by Gibson and then some. A handful of music videos are live on YouTube and they’ve opened for hit acts like Alabama, Marshal Tucker Band, Whiskey Myers and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

They were on a three-show run from Wichita to Dallas and back when the pandemic hit. They had a great weekend but came home to full-on lockdowns and the infamous toilet paper shortage. The show was over for a while, but they came back with social media performances, keeping their fans in the loop until they could get back on the road, playing a lot of outdoor shows wherever they could through the summer and into the winter. It meant a lot to them that their fans were willing to come out and see them, whether or not they had to wear a mask.

And now, they say goodbye to lead guitarist, Bradley Hutchinson, who recently departed the group to concentrate on his solo work. The group plans to forge ahead as a three-piece, with respect to inspiring trios like ZZ Top, Rush and Motörhead. It’s going to put more weight on Tanner’s shoulders as he leads the band on vocals and guitar, but he’s got some heavy hitters behind him to help support the sound and keep up the energy, especially that crazy-ass, shirtless Bobcat drummer of theirs.

“Too Old to Die Young Now” was recorded at a lake house with wood floors and good ceilings, which could be one way to describe their sound as well, though they may blow the ceiling off from time to time. Engineer Nolan Osmond brought in his recording equipment and the boys knocked it out over the course of a weekend in the spring of 2019. The album was later produced by Jon Deere Green and mastered by Chris Henderson.

Cook said that after they laid down the last track, the boys jumped on a pontoon boat, sang shanties and drank beer, feeling relieved to be done. That feeling can never last long though. It was almost time to take the show on the road.

If you’d like to follow along as we explore the tracks, you can hear the album on all streaming platforms like Spotify, Amazon and YouTube. You can also download it on Apple Music and through thecomancheros.com.

The record begins with the classic rock ‘n’ rolling “Train Bridge”, which was also released as a single and music video. We open with a chuckin’ guitar intro followed by the bass and drums, breaking into that quasi-country blues number that defined so much of early rock ‘n’ roll.

We lyrically enter a familiar country music setting with familiar set pieces, but something’s a little different. The truck looks broken down, and it never takes long to drive around a tiny town. There are no long-legged jean short girls insight, and there’s nothing to do but drink beer at the train bridge.

Reminds me of high school. It’s a good time until the deputies arrive.

Let’s go on down to the train bridge and have some fun

There’s nothing like the roar of the engine when you’re trying to get you some

You’ve got nothing to do and you’re on your own

We’ll be down at the train bridge when the sun goes down

It might surprise you to know that the drummer, Cook, wrote almost all of the lyrics for this album with the assistance of his co-founder and singer, Jones. Cook said “Train Bridge” is one of his favorite pieces of work on the record.

Bradley Hutchinson’s guitar solo comes in so bright and chipper it almost makes you feel like Christmas is coming around again. It’s sassy and sweet and capped off by a hell of a drum fill from the ever-rowdy Bobcat Cook.

“Caffeine, Nicotine & Weed,” comes in with guitars like polished steel above a looming bass drum. Written by Tony Martinez, it tells a working man’s blues to the beat of a trudging stomp. It’s a grittier blue-collar song than you’ll hear out of Rush, with all of the pride and twice the remorse.

Lead singer Tanner Jones relays the tale with a smoky rasp, like a tenor Charlie Daniels on his way down to Georgia.

The day begins with coffee and the trip to work, “a little whiskey at the morning break.” This man works his hands raw and breaks his back, but he still doesn’t have much to show for it besides his name. At least he’s got the three things that keep him going.

Yeah I’m selling everything I've got worth having

Anything just to keep that dream alive

Oh I’m running on caffeine and nicotine

Dustin’ my knuckles till they bleed

Woah, and I’m putting in overtime

And that’s just my speed

Caffeine, nicotine and weed

Martinez, of the Whitey Morgan band, also offers the guitar solo for the track. It’s howling and haunting, rambling and rolling.

“Down In Flames” brings down the tempo, but doesn’t spare any of the power. The riff is booming and dark. It falls out to give Tanner room to tell a dire barroom tale.

I see the red smoke rising, there’s a fire in the sky

I hear the love song fading, our tree is about to die

We had a good run, we had our fun

But we ain't like the rest

Well baby if we’re going down in flames

Pedal steel and bassist Kyle Imgarten picks up a different set of strings to lay down a crazy guitar solo as Kelby Ray takes over on slide. That ends in a wild dual vamp fit for the Eagles, really showing how well these guys play off and with each other.

“A World that Moved On” is your country mama’s sort of ballad.

Tanner holds sole writing credit for this track. His singing has that classic country twang, his vowels resonating like a banjo string. His brood is as haunting as a steel guitar, like a young, putdown, hungover Alan Jackson.

The tune serves as a caustic lament against the times that be and a nostalgic look back at things that perhaps never really were — like a charged rewrite of “The Older I Get” with a political bent and the spirit of “A Country Boy Can Survive”.

I’m a part of a world that moved on

And I’m getting older, I’ll be older yet by dawn

I’m still here, and I fear

That at my funeral, my funeral they’ll cheer

Because the changes that they’d like to make

Just turned the tables on the ones to hate

I’m a part of a world that moved on

This song leaves an interesting feeling in its wake. It’s a part protest song and part counterprotest song. The world is seen from a mile up, but at the same time, you’re in the middle of everything. It takes aim at the vitriol of our political culture and how it resonates throughout our social lives, putting down every high horse in the stable.

Spinning hate different ways

Don’t fix the problem

It helps it stay

I think some just want the power

That you get when you’re pointing the finger

Don’t get me wrong, this world is broken

You can be outspoken about the fact that you’re hurting

You don’t win wars fighting fire with fire

It’s through understanding, love, and a higher power

After such a heavy ballade, an instrumental gospel-inspired number like “Amazing Grace” feels just right.

Kyle Imgartin comes in with his slide, offering a mesmerizing take on an old classic that maintains that soulful, sacred sound, channeled through a distorted electric guitar. It’s beautiful, short and sweet. You’ve just got to listen to it.

The Comancheros bust out of their moment of quiet and respite with a wild, heavy drum solo that pulls you back out of the dream state brought on by “Amazing Grace”.

“66185” comes rolling in like a windstorm, bringing that overpowered blues rock of AC/DC, booming guitars complete with a high-powered solo that rises through the roof, where the song stays for a break that has more of a downplayed spoken word Doors vibe. Tanner is joined by guest vocalist Billy Don Burns, adding some pepper to the stew.

A man is right and he is wrong

But he must sing his songs

From the harvester of cotton

To the reaper on the souls of man

All the saints they're cloaked in black

With a choir of sinners at his back

With the hymns of the south and lower

So that all may behold his power

But they soon plug the electricity back in for a final chorus.

66185

Woah is me when the hammer comes down

Woah is me when the man comes around

“Bow and Arrow” is freakin’ nuts. The dual guitar/bass riff just busts right out and slaps you in the face, no introductory pleasantries. It’s Rush brought to a new life. It’s wild and yet elegant, with fits of something more modern, like The Mars Volta.

The band falls back for the verses, giving you room to breathe after the instrumental. But don’t worry, that crazy-ass riff will come back around.

The story is one of classic rock fashion, just how damn sexy a rockstar can be. It tells of a heart-breaking fellow with yet another lady rocking the wheels off his Camaro.

The chorus brings about the song’s namesake, with all the phallic imagery one must expect, with lines like “she’s the bow and I’m an arrow”, and “she keeps me on the straight and narrow”.

Just when you think the song is over, the boys come at you with a different flavor, churning into a whole new jam with the hyped vibes of Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way”. Guest guitarist Daniel Danato rides the storm, putting down a Billy Gibbons meets Jack White sort of solo as Tanner leads the charge on vocals.

Fly until you find your mark

Fly by the hunter’s arm

Life is the end and death is the start

“Crazy As Hell'' is aptly named. Yet again, the sheer string-tickling talent of these guitarists is on display with some insane high-pitch licks coming from Jones on guitar and guest John Schreffler Jr. (from the Shooter Jenning’s band) on pedal steel. Bobcat tirelessly keeps the Aerosmith-esque energy going with a rolling snare.

Well, I might be crazy as hell

But I will never tell

I’ve been out of my mind for so long now I won’t go back

The solo is perfectly all over the place, picking up and pulling off notes like the crowd around a broken ATM spewing out hundred-dollar bills — it’s a hell of a scene, but you may have to punch someone in the face.

“Comanche Brave” rocks you like a hurricane of whizzing arrows and gun smoke. This is what it must feel like when people used to scream “Round up the wagons!” in the old western trail days. The war drums are getting closer as Tanner offers his warcry.

I said burn it all, burn all that I own

I’m out, I’m on the hunt

And I won’t be coming back

I’ll be fighting from the front

The break gets straight metal — like pulling darkness and hell flames on a freight train conducted by Lemmy Kilmister — before Tanner demands: “I said burn it all, burn it all, burn it all!” The boys put their inspirations on display with this piece. Cook said they try to embody the energy, aesthetic and powerful sound of Motörhead when they set out on this project not all that long ago.

And we finally come to the “Heavy & Western” a song that harkens back to the very origins, the root of the theory behind the Comancheros, and it doesn’t disappoint.

We begin with a long-drawn acapella harmony that makes you feel ready to ride west, following whoever’s silhouette traveling toward that orange glow as they fall beneath the horizon.

We ride into the sunset

Through the night wide awake

Oh, we ride into our destiny

Hunting down our fate

And into the sunset we go, running hard and long into the future on a progression fit for an outlaw cowboy. Somebody holler “Bonanza” because it’s time to ride hard westward, wherever it may lead.

We’re heavy western, whatever it means it’s true

We’re heavy western, take it or leave, you’re free to choose

We’re heavy western, free to die, we’re born to lose

We’re heavy western, live to win, both me and you

It’s a rather fitting ending track in hindsight, as The Comancheros face change in the lineup and move forward as a three-piece. Hutchinson and Jones put on a dual solo that will resonate in their fingers and souls for years after Hutchinson’s departure.

They have a great body of work to look back on, back when the posse had two more pistols and four more hooves. While the next time you see them live will probably be as a three-piece, they’ve still got a live album in the works with Hutchinson on the six-string SG. And the remaining three are ready to party all the way through the new year.

I would be remiss to not add “Too Old to Die Young Now” to the review as a bonus track. It’s an acapella rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” — you know, that one people sing on New Year’s Eve that starts “Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and days of auld lang syne”. (FYI: “Auld lang syne” translates roughly to “days gone by”.)

The Comancheros bring that same melancholy as the old Scottish poem.

They have a habit of including title tracks on albums that aren’t named after the song. The song “Heavy and Western” appears on this, their second album, and not their first, which was named, you guessed it, “Heavy and Western”.

So if you haven’t yet, check out “Too Old to Die Young Now” as well as their prior albums like “Heavy and Western” and their music videos on YouTube. You can also check out their Heavy and Western and other apparel on The Comancheros’ website if you want to make sure everyone knows who you came to see when you show up to their next show. It’s bound to be a barn burner.

ALBUM REVIEW: The Comancheros' "Too Old to Die Young Now"