Spun: The Dustin Bentall Outfit

By Preston Haffey

Dustin Bentall, a Vancouver native and front man for The Dustin Bentall Outfit, has followed up his 2005 release of Streets With No Lights with Six Shooter. The first thing you envision when looking at Six Shooter is an intense moment before a shootout.

“Three Thousand Miles” offers a country over-tone with honky-tonk guitar feeling setting the song up with an upbeat sound. The vocals and lyrics turn it a shade darker with lines like “Four days in a city cell/yeah, I’ve done Christmas alone,” and “I can’t wait to celebrate/stop by and do a line on the hood.” The contrast between the lyrics and beat make it a catchy addition to the album.

The title track “Six Shooter” is amongst the record’s most aggressive and fast-paced songs. The intricate guitar riffs give the song energy and excitement and provide that mix of rock and country that the Outfit is so good at. Repetition of the lyrics and Bentall’s powerful vocals give the song a hardy feel and enhance the tracks’ energy.

While “Three Thousand Miles” and “Six Shooter” are powerful and high-spirited, other songs like “Secrets” and “Deserts Of Our Mind” use slower chord progressions to produce a more psychedelic, melancholy feel.

The album is a testament to Bentall’s writing ability and the group’s musical diversity. He injects himself into the lyrics, which are far from superficial. Lyrics about heavy drug use and finding one’s self mirror his personal experience, offering a wisdom that seems beyond his years.

Every track on the record offers a different musical experience keeping it fresh and interesting to listen to. If you like country ­– and even if you don’t — you might find something by the Dustin Bentall Outfit that fits your style.