SHOOTER JENNINGS > BAD MAGICK: THE BEST OF SHOOTER JENNINGS & THE 357s

Shooter Jennings didn’t necessarily grow up on country, not even the Outlaw kind, but it certainly runs through his veins like kerosene.

Label: UNIVERSAL SOUTH
[Rating: 3.5 STARS]

Shooter Jennings didn’t necessarily grow up on country, not even the Outlaw kind, but it certainly runs through his veins like kerosene. Add to that a proclivity for Metallica-level heaviness, and what you get is biker-leaning rockiness that serves as a frame for various outsider lyrics that evoke country’s baddest Daddy of them all, Waylon Jennings. With a voice that is thinner and a bit more husky, Shooter hurls himself at his songs – bringing a recklessness to this delivery that is the antithesis of safe, polite mainstream music. Which isn’t to say he can’t find his way around a melody with shine and exuberance. “4th of July,” which opens this mostly best-of package, shines like chrome and a prom queen’s smile- and is engaging on a sub-cellular level. “Gone to Carolina” has that true, good ole boy tang to its rural blues, while a live take on Hank Jr.’s “Livin’ Proof” is pure jukejoint soul. Guests include old school heroes George Jones, Doug Kershaw and the Oak Ridge Boys, but Jennings stands out as a sonuvagun seeking to make a brazen brawling mark-and well on his way.