Halloween Review – Bridge City Sinners – “In The Age of Doubt”

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#590.5 (Gothic Country) on the Country DDS.

Imagine the Squirrel Nut Zippers or Sierra Ferrell making an acoustic death metal record. Or imagine your favorite death metal band making a bluegrass record. This is the wild and intriguing world that the Bridge City Sinners construct for themselves and their audience by bringing a dark perspective and a punk attitude to what is otherwise straight ahead acoustic roots music. It’s like nothing you’ve ever heard, but totally intuitive at the same time.

The Bridge City Sinners and front woman Libby Lux use dark stories and even darker sounds to exorcise internal demons and personal doubts, and to refract the darkness that comes barreling toward the human soul from all directions in this unforgiving moment in time. It’s not just suitable to talk about the Bridge City Sinners and In The Age of Doubt on Halloween. As America sits on the eve of a contentious election, their music speaks to the unsettled nature we all feel in a moment when right and wrong, and truth and fiction have become difficult to impossible to identify.

Beyond their pioneering and aggressive approach to acoustic music that incorporates folk, bluegrass, punk, and Depression-era jazz styles, what’s so remarkable about the Bridge City Sinners is how articulate and involved the songwriting and musicianship is. Speed and tempo are certainly tools they use to infuse entertainment value into their sinister expressions, but they don’t simply rely on it, or the brute force of the aggression of the music.

Underneath the moody and bellicose attitude is an almost delicate substrate of acoustic sounds. And though there must certainly be a temptation to add some braying over-driven electric guitar on certain tracks, or glass-shattering double bass drum solos, their reverence towards wood and wire is unwavering. What they do incorporate into certain songs is horn sections to really emphasize the ’20-’30s jazz vibe, or ragtime/saloon piano, and sometimes second fiddles.


The contrasting sounds and moods of their music keeps the experience enthralling throughout. It’s only the occasional screams from Libby Lux whose voice otherwise brings a sweetness to the sadness of the songs that allows the music to veer into the hardcore world. Though these banshee moments might be too much for some country and roots fans, they’re also what bridges the gap with the punk/metal world, and earns this band praise in that sphere.

In The Age of Doubt doesn’t rely on the tired tropes of either Appalachia acoustic music, or serrated punk/metal. It exists in it’s own somewhat surrealist world, and the writing on the album is one of its strengths. It fearlessly explores the battleground of internal arguments, where self-doubt becomes one’s own worst enemy and naysayer, and you search for equilibrium and the guide of a moral compass in a morass of conflicting thoughts. Of course, the outside world is no help, but perseverance from calling forth your own inner strength is the way to endure.

What’s also remarkable about the Bridge City Sinners is the success they have experienced with this very experimental and manic approach. Their sound might be underground, but the scope is anything but. In The Age of Doubt debuted at #2 on the Billboard Bluegrass charts when it was released in July. Though they’d probably never be accepted at the IBMAs, the footprint and following this band has built by pulling in country, punk, metal, folk, and roots fans is quite remarkable.

The Bridge City Sinners are a curiosity for sure. But as a completely independent DIY outfit, they have taken a love for banjos, fiddles, mandolins, and organic sounds to the distinctly electrified world, and earned great respect. Early in underground country, there were a gaggle of post punk outfits that attempted to do when Libby Lux and the Bridge City Sinners do. But they’ve not only persevered, they’ve flourished with music that finds appeal with a certain type of listener well beyond the Halloween season.

1 3/4 Guns Up (8/10)

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