B-Side Guys

Nashville’s musical landscape has always contained multitudes beyond its country music reputation. Four-piece outfit Malibu Blackout continues this tradition of boundary-pushing on “The Rack,” a composition that merges psychedelic expansiveness with red dirt grit to create something both familiar and disorienting.

Recorded at Welcome to 1979 in Nashville—a studio known for its analog approach—the track benefits immediately from warm, physical production that enhances its vintage-meets-modern aesthetic. This sonic foundation perfectly complements the band’s self-described “fuzz and octave drenched soundscape,” creating dimensional depth that rewards repeated listening.

What gives “The Rack” particular interest is how it documents Malibu Blackout’s evolving sound following the addition of guitarist Andy Blum. His influence—specifically “Fender blackface tones and Telecasters”—introduces western and surf elements that create fascinating tension against the band’s established psychedelic tendencies. This combination transforms what might be standard desert rock into something more texturally complex.

Lyrically, the song explores the cyclical nature of addiction and recovery through vivid, fragmented imagery. Opening observations like “Our lives are ever changing/You’re going and you’re waiting” establish immediate thematic focus on transformation and stasis occurring simultaneously. This paradoxical perspective continues throughout, with declarations like “In our minds were never changing/Battle the same ole cravings” suggesting psychological entrapment despite external progress.

The central metaphor—”The Rack”—functions brilliantly as multi-layered reference. It suggests medieval torture device (appropriate for addiction’s physical torment), retail display (nodding to consumerism’s role in substance culture), and gun rack (incorporating southern cultural touchstones). The repeated refrain “The Rack, it’s got me, pulls me” transforms this object into active force, creating agent of torment rather than passive implement.

Most compelling is the song’s structural approach to representing addiction’s cyclical nature. Rather than following standard verse-chorus progression, the composition circles back through recurring phrases with subtle variations, mirroring the “same ole cravings” described in the lyrics. This circular structure creates mounting intensity that enhances the emotional impact without resorting to predictable dynamic shifts.

As first single from their forthcoming LP, “The Rack” positions Malibu Blackout as band refining rather than reinventing their approach. The three original members (Cory Calvin, Chris Husak, and David “Woody” Woods) clearly benefit from their 15-year musical relationship, creating tight foundation that allows newer elements to enhance rather than disrupt their established chemistry.

For listeners seeking psychedelic rock that incorporates southern/red dirt influences without falling into blues-rock cliché, Malibu Blackout offers compelling evidence that Nashville’s rock scene continues to produce music that defies easy categorization—or as the song repeatedly reminds us, “it’s not what you think.”