North Carolina’s Sarah Shook sings with a conviction and hard honesty sorely missing in much of today’s Americana landscape. Always passionate, at times profane, Sarah stalks/walks the line between vulnerable and menacing, her voice strong and uneasy, country classic but with contemporary, earthy tension. Writing with blunt urgency - so refreshing these days it’s almost startling - Sarah’s lyrics are in turn smart, funny, mean, and above all, uncompromising. Meanwhile, the Disarmers hit all the sweet spots from Nashville’s Lower Broad to Bakersfield and take Sarah’s unflinching tales out for some late-night kicks. At times it’s as simple and muscular as Luther Perkins’ boom-chicka-boom or as downtown as Johnny Thunders. From the indie-rock snarl in ‘Heal Me’ to the big sky horizon of a Cormac McCarthy western in ‘No Name’ the Disarmers keep it in the pocket, tight and tough. 'Sidelong' is a record that will make you sit up and notice. This is a new voice for a new country.