Simon RushworthCory Marks — Sorry For Nothing Vol 1 (Better Noise Music)
In 2024 the lines between country and rock have never been so blurred.
Blazing riffs jostle for position with subtle slide.
Banjos clash with beefed-up bass lines head on.
And it’s perfectly acceptable to like Lainey Wilson and Linkin Park.
Imagine a Music City meets West Hollywood match made in heaven.
But Cory Marks explores new territory to take an increasingly popular fusion to the next level.
Bringing in big guns from the likes of Godsmack, Bad Wolves and Mötley Crüe is a bold move.
Sure, there’s plenty of pared down, classic country here — Drunk When I’m High would keep the most conservative of traditionalists happy.
But let’s be honest.
Marks’ USP is his ability to make metal sound country and country sound like it belongs in the dark underbelly of Detroit’s rock city.
There are songs on Sorry For Nothing Volume 1 that would horrify Nashville’s founding fathers.
But anyone who’s wandered down Broadway lately will understand that Marks fits right in.
You’d find his like entertaining the masses in any number of the city’s stag-do, hen-party friendly, tourist-facing bars.
And there’d be as much AC/DC as Allman Brothers if Marks was rolling out the covers to make ends meet.
On your Marks
Damn, it’s tricky to set your mood by Sorry For Nothing Volume 1.
1949 — one of the more retro tunes here — finds itself slap bang in the middle of a hard rock sandwich.
A Lot Like Me and Lit Up wouldn’t sound out of place on a Black Stone Cherry or Shinedown record.
The latter, in particular, is a beast of song.
But the unpredictability at the heart of Sorry For Nothing Volume 1 is surely its strength.
Those seeking samey, safe-as-houses country rock have Eric Church for company.
Marks is more Brothers Osborne and The Cadillac Three.
And that’s why this killer album caught our attention in the first place.
Marks is unrelenting in his quest to create something that’s both melodic and menacing.
‘I’ve been known to piss some people off’ he admits on (Make My) Country Rock — HARDER. Upper case most definitely required.
And it’s on this crunching collab with Sully Erna, Travis Tritt and Mick Mars that Marls really lets loose.
Ironically he’s still more than capable of tugging at the heartstrings on the Def Leppard-does-country of Tough To Be Strong.
But Marks may well be more comfortable getting down, dirty and deliberately aggressive with his rock and metal mates.
Sorry For Nothing Volume 1 is unapologetically divisive.
But if Marks is country music Marmite then we’ll happily feast on a healthy dollop.
