‘Ain’t Rocked in a While' is a raw and rocking rollercoaster sound from Georgia’s Brent Cobb and his band the Fixin’s. On the grittier side of rock, Brent Cobb brings ‘70s guitars to his genre-blend of soul funk Americana blues, recording ten tracks live to tape, with Josh Williams, Len Clark and Matt McDaniel (the Fixin’s), resulting in a raw forty minutes of escapist, sometimes unnerving, music.
The second self-produced album with Cobb’s label, Ol Buddy Records, in collaboration with Thirty Tigers, ‘Ain’t Rocked in a While' is also produced by Oran Thornton. Considering himself more of a songwriter-singer, there is a Led Zepplin laced sound around Cobb’s stories of ageing, living and dying, as individuals and humanity, that will have fans nodding along to at live shows.
The album opens and closes with ‘Beyond Measure’; the first track a piano-based intro, the final track a guitar-laced closer. If we were at a bar this would be the lights dimming for the audience to step closer to the stage.
Upbeat, title track ‘Ain’t Rocked in a While’ celebrates a six-string explosive experience of sharing a live show with a crowd, in the almost five minutes of music acknowledging 40-hour weeks and needing to let off steam; we’re here for a good time, if not a long time.
The beat slows on the blues-edged and ironically named ‘Bad Feelin’’ – there’s nothing bad about this hypnotic track with imagery of love potions, black cats, voodoo and the devil stealing souls.
The ride dips on ‘Do it All the Time’ with a gear change on the guitars that heads off into a discordant harmony, possibly prepping listeners for the second half of the album. ‘Even If It’s Broke’ moves like the honesty that fans appreciate from Cobb’s music – arrow-straight to the heart and the ears with lyrics like, “Got a lotta soul records spinnin'/I don't mind takin' my time/Even if I'm the only one listenin'” and I got a band/We pickin' for a livin'/And I'll be damned/If we ain't half-bad”.
One of the highlights on the album is ‘Powerman’, a driving, fierce account of the root of many of society’s problems – power. Reportedly written in a North Carolina parking lot after a show, the riffs slide like an ACDC track, the strings yelling out against the ills mere mortals face like Brian Johnson’s vocals up against a mic. The frenzied riffs and drums slow briefly on follow-up track ‘Take Yer Meds’; “take your head out” indeed and disappear into the album’s experience.
The energy slows down like an late summer Atlantic sunset on the penultimate and beautiful track ‘Til Dawn’, reflecting on appreciating the memories you made, not mourning the ones you didn’t; listen carefully and you can almost hear the surf’s soothing heartbeat in the melody.
Catch Brent Cobb on tour across the US through until December 2025.
Track list: 1. Beyond Measure (Piano) 2. Ain’t Rocked in a While 3. Bad Feelin’ 4. Do It all the Time 5. Even if it’s Broke 6. In Our Hands 7. Powerman 8. Take Yer Meds 9. Til Dawn 10. Beyond Measure (Fixins) Record Label: Ol’ Buddy Records/Thirty Tigers Release date: 11th July 2025
