The outsiders

"Just in case the title of The Outsiders doesn't give away the game, Eric Church takes pains to strike a defiant stance throughout his fourth album, underscoring his status as a genuine Nashville Rebel. He sings about his "Dark Side" and the Devil, murmurs ominously about "A Man Who Was Gonna Die Young," winks a double entendre about "The Joint," and declares "That's Damn Rock & Roll," a provocative statement from a singer who is nominally country but loves to strut with a heavy metal swagger. Church brings on the thunder with "The Outsiders," a galumphing rallying cry that's intended as a middle finger to all those cheerful bros in tight-fitting jeans who sing songs about trucks set to a hip-hop beat".

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"Church is a crafty, ambitious songwriter with a sensitive, rueful side. The understated "A Man Who Was Gonna Die Young" is about a hell-raiser saved by a good woman, and the acoustic "Dark Side" quietly flexes leashed machismo. The burnt lovers of Chief's "Hungover & Hard Up" and "I'm Gettin' Stoned" get re-imagined on the arena-scale single "Give Me Back My Hometown," penned with hot songwriter Luke Laird. But Church is at his most heartfelt singing about his buddies. Another Laird cowrite, "Talladega," might be the set's hookiest song - a wistful bromance about an Alabama road trip. Call it NASCAR emo".

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