COUNTRY WESTERNS // Last Train

This world-weary garage-rock trio’s music is tailor-made for a pre-pandemic era of basement shows…
Their debut feels ragged in all the right places." - Pitchfork (35 Best Rock Albums of 2020)
"[Forgive The City is] a follow-up that confirms their debut’s prowess wasn’t a one-off while whetting the
appetite for what could be on the horizon as the elements continue to come together." - PopMatters
"It’s the kind of rock ‘n roll college kids would be praying to on
beer-soused barroom floors if they weren’t all busy doing TikTok challenges." - Consequence

"Country Westerns sweat for their pay as they craft tidy, punchy songs and sounds around a tried and
true formula." - Glide Magazine
"With confident production, tight songwriting and hooky lyrical turns,
Country Westerns is a striking addition to 2020’s rock landscape." - No Depression
"No matter their name or place of origin, this Nashville band doesn’t so much twang as sneer with some
good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll energy. Their music balances jangle and grit like some of the greatest of
great American bands, like R.E.M. and the Replacements." - UPROXX
"It's good to know there are still bands like Country Westerns, making records as good as this." -
BrooklynVegan
"[Country Westerns are] shaking up the Nashville scene with their poetic punk rock sneer." - American
Songwriter
"[Like Springsteen fronting The Replacements, Forgive the City is fist-pumping, blue-collar rock ’n’ roll,
and one of 2023’s finest releases."- Nashville Scene, Best Rock Album 2023
Nashville rockers Country Westerns have shared new track “Grapefruit,” accompanied by an official music video by
Miranda Zipse. The track comes from their an7cipated sophomore LP Forgive The City, due April 28, 2023 via Fat
Possum Records. Marking the band’s second full-length release for Fat Possum, Forgive The City is also their second
to be helmed by famed producer MaQ Sweeney (who also contributes his lead guitar stylings to a few tracks).
“‘Grapefruit’ has Country Westerns’ frontman Joey Plunket singing from a bartender’s point of view – and he lets it
rip like he’s been wound up by years of endless night shiAs,” says Sweeney. The result is as sharp as a spray of
citrus in your eye, but way more f’n fun."
2023 saw Country Westerns play well over 100 shows, all across North America, including two 6-week runs
suppor7ng Titus Andronicus, as well as sold out record release shows in Nashville, Atlanta, and Brooklyn. They are
currently on their second run of tour dates with the kindred spirits in indie rock heroes Deer Tick. See below for
the full list of upcoming Country Westerns performances.
WATCH THE “GRAPEFRUIT” VIDEO & ORDER FORGIVE THE CITY
Country Westerns' self-7tled debut album (Fat Possum) drew praise from all corners of the media world.
Pitchfork called the album "ragged in all the right places" and named it one of the 35 Best Rock Albums of
2020. American Songwriter called "Gentle Soul," the album’s first single, "the band’s not-so-subtle entrance to
the Nashville rock scene" and praised its "poe7c punk rock sneer." Nashville Scene also weighed in, lauding
the band's "rocking post-Neil Young sound" and "casually literate songs." Shortly therea[er, BrooklynVegan
noted that "Country Westerns make twangy rock n’ roll with a punk energy that is in the same tradi7on as The
Replacements or Old ’97s or Bo_le Rockets." Glide Magazine shared their enthusiasm, no7ng that the band
are "quintessen7al barroom rockers." Consequence of Sound had similar sen7ments for album highlight "I'm
Not Ready," calling it "a ripper of the classic kind." No Depression also praised the album, calling it "a striking
addi7on to 2020’s rock landscape."
Country Westerns’ sophomore album, Forgive the City, hit the streets on April 28th, 2023 via the venerable Fat
Possum Records. With twelve songs in thirty minutes, it’s a 7ghter and faster spin on their sound. Joseph
Plunket, chief songwriter and electric 12-string samurai had this to say about the album a[er being pressed
for intel:
“Overall, it’s about partnerships. Though never planned as a concept, wriGng the last few songs (someGmes in
the studio) I started to realize that none dealt with romanGc relaGonships in any direct way. They’re intense
songs about friendships, fellow travelers, even business associaGons—how exciGng they can be when things
begin and how disappointments, betrayals or shared success can leave just as much a mark on your life as
romanGc love. In the end that’s all a band is right?”
Forgive the City builds on the band's self-7tled debut, which Pitchfork included in their "35 Best Rock Albums
of 2020" list. Handling produc7on du7es as he did on their debut, guitar impresario Ma_ Sweeney says about
Country Westerns following their Forgive The City sessions:
“I wanna make records with these fools Gl the wheels come off. Joey’s this iconic poeGc rocker, for real. His
voice is desperate and wise. His songs are too. And anyone who’s seen Harmony Korine’s movie Trash Humpers
knows how Brian Kotzur can wreck a joint but have you watched him slay the drum set? Kotzur is unmatched.”
Sweeney contributed lead guitar to three stand-out tracks on Forgive The City, adding polish to the
Replacements-esque pop of Wait For It, magnifying the brooding chaos of Hell, and catapul7ng the gloomy
themes of Where I'm Going into outer space with his soaring solo.
“Money on the Table,” the album’s first single, was a DJ pick of the week on Nashville’s Ligh7ng 100 with heavy
rota7on. The track also gained men7on in Nashville Scene’s 2022 “Year in Music” issue, Brooklyn Vegan,
Pitchfork, and more.
A Nashville ins7tu7on in the making, Country Westerns infuse punk rock chutzpah with a classic rock sheen,
yielding a sound that’s simultaneously fresh and reminiscent of all the LPs you used to “borrow” from your
cool uncle. Their debut album came out in May 2020, beau7fully coinciding with… a worldwide pandemic.
Despite everything that cursed year threw at it, the self-7tled LP survived and thrived on its many merits