Mexican Coke

Nashville’s Chris Denney is a wild man with a tender streak, and his first full-length album is largely a tribute to his hard-partying ways. Recorded and mixed in five days at the Bomb Shelter in East Nashville on two-inch tape by Andrija Tokic (who produced The Alabama Shakes’ Boys and Girls), Mexican Coke has a raw, honest old-time rock ’n’ roll sound that captures the synergy between drummer Evan Scala and bassist Joey Scala with no hint of studio gloss. It lends authenticity to tales such as “Water to Wine,” “Broke,” “Hooked,” and “Pain Pills,” where Scott Cotton’s lead guitar is often the one instrument mimicking the wild-side behavior spoken of in the lyrics. Not that the music is always going for broke. “Mama’s Got the Blues” lumbers at a deliberate pace. “Pain Pills” falls off the country-western wagon. “Darlin’” and “Alabama Man” tell of his troubles with women with a degree of tenderness. “Runnin’ Through the Woods” centers on piano and acoustic guitar for the sound of The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St., crawling to a close.