If there ever is an opportunity to do a scuzzy line dance during a nice night on the Square, or at someone’s wedding this summer, or maybe even in some godforsaken Tennessee backwoods dive bar, Murfreesboro’s own down-home and perfectly raucous Don Coyote has released a self-titled EP that should probably play on the jukebox wherever that scuzzy kicking and grinning happens.
This quintet of country-western punkers has successfully pulled off a 5-track collection, released this past Valentine’s Day, showing a loving gift to our fair state. Don Coyote sounds as if it was specifically tailored for the Tennesseean-at-heart, as the band’s home-state pride, celebratory nature and, most entertaining, its satirical observations about Middle Tennessee, make this album an easy listen.
Being such a short disc and sounding like a Levon Helm-assembled band mixed with an upbeat, Father John Misty sound, it’s kinda hard not to play through it two or three times.
The opening track, “Give it a Rest Coast,” showcases the satirical nature of Don Coyote’s lyrics, supported by a punchy tack piano and a Marshall Grant-esque, bass-driven rag. The band’s contentment with its geographical location plays in contrast to the ambitions of other bands who’ve been moving to “greener pastures,” outside of our state’s borders. “Moving to Smyrna” is a comedic interpretation of those folks who don’t quite make it to any coast, much less the musical Mecca of Nashville, iterating their interpretation of the post-Murfreesboro Smyrna experience. (Fittingly, Smyrna native Josh White blows the saxophone.)
The more personal “She’s a Needer” stands as the album’s half-step country- western harmony-growler, deserving of a spot in a Tarantino film, while members of Coyote’s pride chime in, creating a sweet harmony like the ones the guys and gal are nailing down during their live shows.
The big, Tennessee-celebrating kicker of the Don Coyote EP, though, is the final track, “Brothers.” If there’s an honest song nowadays about how a group of folks have come together over the years in Tennessee, this is it, a goosebump-raising anthem and a reason to congratulate the group for its longevity and authenticity.
They all keep me out of trouble when my back’s against the wall/
We’re all . . . right-hand brothers/And we’ll be brothers until we die.
For more on the Don Coyote guys and gal, visit doncoyote.bandcamp.com or facebook.com/doncoyoteband. Feel free to contact them for information on how to make coffee-can-based string instruments, and maybe even wakes.
