San Francisco’s Wilson Gil and the Willful Sinners are modern-day outlaws of the Wild West, though six-string instruments—not six-shooters—are their weapons of choice.  In addition to their cleverly coined album, American Banned, these very bad boys glide their way through songs of hard living and love affairs gone tragic in tunes whose titles include “Bad Reputation,” “Bitches and Stitches,” “Drink” and “Twinkies and Speed.”  Wilson Gil’s affected voice is true to his outlaw persona as the band alternately weaves through Rock tunes that cross-pollinate with forms of Alt-Country, Roadhouse Blues and Honky Tonk 

From start to finish, the hard rocking edge of this “American Banned” is evident.  In nearly every song solos abound and the Willful Sinners prove as accomplished at musicianship as they must be at sinning.  One of the most intriguing songs is the album’s closer, “Top Story,” a lengthy narrative-driven piece about a gunned-down country-rock singer who “was called everything from a saint to a Nazi / accompanied by photos from the estranged paparazzi.”  The gist being that speculation and conjecture in the press painted a disingenuous portrait of the man.  Perhaps Gil and crew aren’t quite the sinners we’d make them out to be… 

Favorite Track: Track 6, “(Can’t We All Just) Get a Song”