William Randolph Hearst once declared that a cover photo of a child, a dog, or a pretty girl was all he needed to sell newspapers. The Dollarstore Cowboys take this lesson to heart, slappin’ on their CD cover a young cowpoke vixen with her shorts zipped down just a inch shy of her snatch. Yeehaw! Although they unintentionally cribbed the album title from Soul Asylum, And the Horse They Rode in on is a rockin’ debut complete with the usual cowpunk accruements; the Tacoma, Washington band proudly boasts of their white trash (damn, this scene is in need of some new buzzwords) heritage, greasy hair, and allegiance to all things trashy and dumb. To their credit, they have their Eddie Cochran cum Stray Cats licks down pat (“How Long You Wanna Live Anyway?) and dutifully pay homage to the Man in Black (“Folsom Prison Blues”). Original tracks like “Off the Wagon” are reminiscent of the Supersuckers at their honky tonk best while “Bowling Alley Blitz” sounds like Zeke at half the speed.
–eric (Infect)