The Backsliders: You’re Welcome

From the opening track, “You’re Gonna Miss Me”, You’re Welcome establishes itself as sturdy bar rock. Vocalist Kim Pendleton has a direct vocal style and the band’s ability to veer from Beatle-esque pop to R.E.M. jangle to even a little doo-wop bounce makes it all sound like it’s cut from the same cloth. There’s not much indication of why the band won a Dallas Observer Music Award in the blues category, though — this is pretty straightforward rock ‘n’ roll. There are stray moments that stand out — the punkish riff here, the jaunty little piano melody there, the graininess that Pendleton adds to her vocals on “Fat Girls” — and the disc gets some momentum going, but it feels like something may have been lost in the translation from stage to disc. If anything, You’re Welcome really makes you want to see the band live. You can tell that many of these songs would practically leap off of the stage, so maybe it’s just a case of the Backsliders not capturing the right energy on this release.