This Band Right Here Is Called (Self-released, 2001)

Shot to Hell, alt.-country-punkers hails from LaCrosse, Wisc., run the gamut from cry-in-your-beerweepers to cowpunk stompers.

Singer/songrwiter/guitarist Aaron Monte is the driving force, but he has assembled a talented pair of bandmates in bassist Brian Stehula and drummer Kendric Nelson, along with guest musicians Dennis Hatlelei and Mary Pat Reasoner on steel guitar and sax, respectively. This band picks their influences wisely, as one can hear the subtle homages to the greats of the alt-country canon (Tupelo, Jayhawks, Whiskeytown, etc.) interspersed throughout.

However, that can also be said to be Shot To Hell's one great liability. They sound too much like so many bands that have come before, that nothing sounds all that original. Has the alt.-country genre run its course, or are people just running short of ideas? Shot To Hell seem to have the talent to play great music, they just need to find an original direction to distance themselves from the rest of the pack, or their name may just be a prediction of their future.