Press For 2007’s Road, Avenue, Railroad
Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
Slider Pines sets the bar awfully high on the group’s masterful debut, Road Avenue Railroad. The Dallas trio, led by the garrulous, gritty vocalist/guitarist Joey Shanks, has a rootsy, engaging sound, bridging the gap between the straight-ahead Americana of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (glimpsed on The Memphis Hack) and the incisive indie navel-gazing of the Shins (evident on the album’s best song, The Missing Street Sign). This is the album you want blaring from your car’s stereo as you roar down the open highway into a world of unknown possibilities. One of the year’s finest local offerings. — Preston Jones
Hybrid Magazine:
Slider Pines’ songwriter Joey Shanks claims to have written Road Avenue Railroad while moving back and forth between Dallas and Memphis, and there’s a distinctly unsettled feeling running through these 11 tracks. Shanks appears to have learned well his lessons in rock & roll sarcasm. Nick Lowe once sang, “I love the sound of breaking glass,” which makes boy-girl arguments sound not so bad after all. With “The Art Of Falling Down,” Shanks sings, “It’s such a beautiful sound/The art of falling down.” But before reaching the chorus, he fills his verses with admonitions, such as getting prepared with the best helmet you can find, before artfully tripping all over yourself. Much like any good novelist, Shanks also knows his way around creating a musical narrative. He gets specific with towns and cities along his lyrical travelogue, notably with one titled “Bluffs Of Riverton”, which is followed by “The Memphis Hack”.
This CD closes with “Visitor At Your Grave”, which sounds on the surface like another one of those depressing Morrissey laments. But surprisingly, it’s not nearly as morbid as it seems. Shanks sings about his imagined devotion to a girl; one he aspires to spend a lifetime with. If he realizes this dream he says, “I won’t be just a visitor to your grave.”
Slider Pines is a smart rock band that incorporates hints of alt.country, without actually sounding country at all. Instead, this trio knows how to slip in the best bits of American music without ever becoming typecast by any particular genre.
I have no idea where Slider Pines is, but if it’s hiding any more music like Road Avenue Railroad, then doggone it, I want to get there soon. — Dan MacIntosh
Pop Matters:
With a name like Slider Pines, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this Dallas-based trio is another bunch of good ole boys whooping it up honky-tonk style: well, guess again. Owing more to the well-crafted songbook of Ray Davies and the power-pop bravado of Big Star than Willie Nelson’s whiskey-soaked country, singer/sonwriter Joey Shanks—along with drummer Bill Spellman and bassist Andy Lester—deliver a solid debut album that offsets adventurous hard rockers (”Fast Track”, “Leading Me On”) with emotive rootsy pop-ballads (”Wolf River”, “Visitor at Your Grave”), while a buoyantly leftfield mellotron and some serious drum riffage keep things interesting. And even when the band settles into a comfortable place, nestling up too close to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on a couple of numbers, there’s always cuts like the melodious bitter-sweet pop of “The Missing Street Sign” to redeem them. — Alan Brown
Miles of Music:
“That`s the fast track.” That lyric from the album`s second track “Fast Track” rolls over and over, propelled by guitar over-drive, harmony-rich vocals and a muscular rhythm section. It speaks to the power of the album. The Slider Pines have taken style cues from early 80s Power Pop and College Rock without sounding like a cliche. Every song is a hook-filled three-minute gem. Fans of the Replacements, Plimsouls, The Records and every other band from that era that knew how to rock and also got you humming along will love Road Avenue Railroad. — Jeff Weiss
Screaming Bloody Mess:
From the band’s name to their logo, to the rustic looking album cover the first thought that springs to mind is “more alt country lite”. Listen to the second track “Fast Track” and you realize that no, that is not the case. Yeah, so they are from Texas and yes there is definitely some country rock type elements to a lot of the song structures. But listen carefully and songs like ‘Fast Track’ bring a more melodic power pop ala the Shins or even bands such as the great DB’s. The highlight ‘Leading Me On’ is straight up foot stomping college rock, back when college rock was good. — Tim Scott
Sea of Tranquility:
Road Avenue Railroad isn’t prog, and it certainly isn’t metal, but damn if Slider Pines haven’t come up with one hell of a addicting roots rock album here. This trio, comprised of Andy Lester (bass, keyboards), Bill Spellman (drums, vocals), and Joey Shanks (vocals, guitars), take their mass of influences from Memphis and put together a feel good, catchy batch of tunes here that should appeal to a wide variety of rock fans. From the accessible power pop of “Leading Me On”, to the crisp Southern Rock of “Fast Track”, to the Mellotron drenched ballad “The Missing Street Sign”, this one has a little bit of everything. Images of the early 70’s scene (Badfinger anyone) can be heard on the poppy “Wolf River”, beefy power chords and organ permeate the crunchy rocker “Built to Explode”, and “The Memphis Hack” is a just a great example of bluesy roots rock, complete with breezy hooks and solid guitar work. Images of The Doors can also be heard on “The Art of Falling Down” and “Visitor At Your Grave”, two haunting pieces that bookend the CD. Slider Pines seem to have all the goods to take Road Avenue Railroad to a wide audience. Let’s see if they can make it happen. — Pete Pardo
Bar De Rock:
Esta banda representa um resumo de muitos sons que gosto de ouvir. Desde o country ao southern rock e passando pelo alternativo, este álbum tem de tudo. Gosto especialmente do resultado final da mistura de géneros musicais nos temas mais calmos.
