It's hard to think of an album title that more accurately reflects the record's contents than Dance Songs for Hard Times, the 2021 LP from Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band. Like so many musicians, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band was rocked hard by the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. They lost gigs, their future was hazy, the band and its immediate family were bested by illness. Reverend Peyton coped with the stress by writing a dynamite set of new songs, then the group had the good fortune to team with producer Vance Powell, an engineer who took home Grammys for his work with Jack White, Buddy Guy, and Chris Stapleton. Powell decided the best course of action was to cut Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band live in the studio, adding some overdubs for color later. It was the right move. Dance Songs for Hard Times leaps out of the speakers, the band boogying with abandon and fearless joy. Listen closely and there are indeed tales of woe, songs filled with uncertainty and fear, yet Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band blows through the darkness by finding salvation within the act of making a giant, glorious noise. This is music of togetherness, finding a common ground during the hard times by deciding to rock hard and dance the troubles away. It might be pitched toward this moment in history, but these are eternal values, and Dance Songs for Hard Times sounds so electric and alive, it's hard not to see how this album will transcend its COVID-19 origins and offer solace and good times for years to come. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

1		Ways and Means
2		Rattle Can
3		Dirty Hustlin'
4		I'll Pick You Up
5		Too Cool to Dance
6		No Tellin' When
7		Sad Songs
8		Crime to Be Poor
9		'Til We Die
10		Nothing's Easy But You and Me
11		Come Down Angels