Liquored Up and Lacquered Down

Since 1985, Southern Culture on the Skids have been elevating white trash to the level of high art, finding inspiration in trailer parks, truck stops, and empty six-packs of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Obviously, there’s plenty of nodding and winking going on, but there’s also a subtle respect for this much-maligned subculture that has kept their previous records from devolving into mere shtick. Liquored Up and Laquered Down doesn’t veer far from the formula. The problem is that musically, SCOTS haven’t grown much, leaning on the same mix of country, rockabilly, and surf music they always have. The title track throws some mariachi horns into the mix and “Drunk And Lonesome (Again)” is a straight country tearjerker with real emotion; however, most everything else feels stale. If you’ve never tasted SCOTS southern-fried cookin’, its worth diggin’ in, but most others will come away less than sated.