Album Review – River Shook (Self-Titled)

Underground Country (#590) on the Country DDS.

No matter the name it’s been released under, the music of River Shook has always been graced with a gravitational pull towards those the seek out more involved and immersive experiences in song. It’s the way that River wields an uncanny ability to craft incredibly infectious melodies, and then brings them to bear on music otherwise colored with dark themes. It’s the way the music mixes country and rock into a confectionery of musical goodness, yet always maintains that serrated punk edge.

For many years, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers is how the music was released and booked on tour. They became one of underground country’s most revered performers, and when signing to labels like Bloodshot and Thirty Tigers, Sarah (now River) always insisted it was a band project, not a solo gig. Even when Sarah officially became River, the band name stayed the same: Sarah Shook and the Disarmers. But now it’s time for a new era.

Releasing this latest album as a self-titled, solo affair isn’t just a default. It’s an intentional statement. River’s life has been one of shedding skin, leaving behind past mistakes, finding sobriety, and exploring avenues for physical and metal health and well-being. As River sings in the opening song, “So today I am cutting all ties with my past, leaving it all in the dust to decay into rust, ’cause come hell or high water I will be free at last.”

But what isn’t left behind on this self-titled album is that ability to craft songs that seep into your bones. The second song on the album “Country Angel” is a soaring, epic work of twangy country mixed with an indie rock rise that has you feeling the full range of musical emotions. If not for the F-bomb, it would be a radio hit, though maybe there’s an edit out there. Even elements of the crowd who can’t stand performers with their they/them pronouns find it difficult to not find appeal in what River throws down here.

This is a strikingly personal album, which artists often love to boast about, because often the more personal music is, the more real and visceral the moments feel. But that doesn’t always translate to deep resonance with the audience if the words are too intimate to the performer, and the emotions don’t translate. That’s not the case here.

Whether River is singing about the love for husband, guitar player, and producer Blake Tallent, or sharing the absolutely heartbreaking story of showing up to their son’s graduation empty handed in the song “Beater Car” because all wealth was squandered on chasing musical dreams that never really panned out, it’s all stuff you feel deeply.

This is also an album about moving on. The song “Fading” is another great example of this self-improving action that can sometimes take you away from others who can’t follow you on that journey. “You had seven long years to give me one reason to stay. I’m done standing around here waiting. I’m coming into focus and you’re fading,” Shook sings. Though many of the songs feel immediate, River clearly mined the past to find inspiration in an album that often feels just as much reflective as pertinent.

This album is inconsistent in spots, and at times it’s hard to hear River’s voice and words in the mix. But you don’t need to accuse River Shook of being difficult to understand as a person or an artist. As River sings in the final song on the album “Loving Me is Like Rolling a Big Ol’ Rock” about being chronically misunderstood by their own parents, River knows the path chosen has been one hard for others to follow.

But under the prickly, dark exterior—and the internal brokenness that we all identify in ourselves as well—there is a sincerity to River Shook, and the story of an ongoing healing and regenerative process that’s willing to question everything and sacrifice parts of the psyche to yearn for the more perfect human—the one of your true self.

8.2/10

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