Life is all about the moments where you have a choice to make. Do I keep going or do I move on. For LOCASH’s Preston Brust and Chris Lucas, there is no other choice but to keep going. Much like their good friend Chris Janson, LOCASH’s hard work paid off earlier this year when “I Love This Life” became their first #1 hit (and recently RIAA Gold-certified) and serves as the lead-off hitter for The Fighters. The ear worm is still one of country radio’s most-played songs and is backed up by the hit “I Know Somebody,” a song which hit the Top 30 just this week. That song is one of three outside written tunes, joining “Ring On Every Finger” and the album closing title track “The Fighters.”
This album found the duo working with friend and frequent co-writer Lindsay Rimes serving as their producer and it’s a match made in hillbilly heaven. His production techniques blend the best of modern country music with the traditional sounds of the past into a cohesive blend of vibe-y feel good songs, every one of ‘em a potential radio hit.
“Ring On Every Finger,” from Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure and Josh Kear is the kind of song that could easily be a massive hit. The lyrics are sweet in the way a man goes about proposing to the love of his life and there are some clever lyrical moments to go with the jovial melody. “Shipwrecked” is still a powerful ballad that deserves to be heard on the radio and streaming playlists. It’s emotive the production of the record helps it feel grand and epic, as the lyrics demand. “Moonwalkin” and “All Day” feel like LOCASH songs while “God Loves Me More” may on the surface feel like it isn’t a love song but that’s exactly what it is and it’s told in a unique lyrical way.
I actually didn’t think that LOCASH would be able to top the impactful “Shipwrecked” as a song that should be their third single but they did just that with “The Fighters,” a song the band recorded at the end of the album process after asking some songwriting friends to send them one of their best. The song, written by Tom Douglas, Rodney Clawson and Matt Dragstrem is definitely great. There’s a pulsating lyrical grove of stick-to-it’dness in the song and that suits LOCASH perfectly as if there were a song that described the journey to country music stardom for LOCASH, it definitely would be “The Fighters,” a song that anyone who has overcome something in their life will absolutely relate to.
A cohesive album from track one to eleven, LOCASH’s The Fighters is a record which has the duo poised for stardom they seemed destined to achieve from the moment they started recording together all those years ago. This one is definitely one for The Fighters and clearly deserves consideration as one of 2016’s best country album releases.
Cathy
Love every song on this CD .. it is amazing!