ALBUM REVIEW: Brule County Bad Boys - Burden Lake (Cold as Life)
** This review originally appeared in our January 2026 print issue **
“Add the footsteps, campfires, and running water that we hear throughout the album, and it feels like we are going on a journey with the band, with danger constantly behind us and the promise of a better life ahead.”
When I sat down to review the new Brule County Bad Boys album, the temperature outside was below zero, so I found it extremely fitting that the title of the album's opener, “Cold as Life,” matched the to-the-bone cold happening outside. As the song opens, we hear what seem to be footsteps, trudging through a winterscape setting of sorts. Within seconds there is the sound of a good ole fashioned shootout, set to the song “He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.”
What happens next is unexpected to say the least. As the sounds of the shootout come to a crescendo with gunfire, horses wailing and the continued refrain of the old-timey tune, the actual song takes off like an escaped mustang. The drums, guitar and fiddle all hit a whip-fast set of triplets before announcing that "There's flooding in the valley,” launching into one of the most confident, competent and, dare I say, groovy tunes I’ve heard in a while.
The ability to create fresh, original music while sticking to traditional roots has always been a strong suit of Brule County Bad Boys and this album-opener is no exception. The guitar-picking and bass work so incredibly well together that at times it’s hard to decipher which instrument is doing what. They are both entwined so succinctly that they move as one lovely machine.
Josh Coletto, BCBB frontman and chief songwriter embodies “old country” to such a degree on this album, that I swear if you dropped him back in the ‘50s, he’d be as big as Hank, Waylon, or Willie in no time. You can feel the honesty not only in his lyrics, but his delivery as well. You get the feeling that Coletto has lived these stories. Considering that Coletto hatched the idea for Brule County Bad Boys while sitting in a jail cell in, you guessed it, Brule County, ND, I’m assuming that feeling is correct.
Moving through the songs, a common theme keeps arising, though not a musical one. A lot of the songs have non-musical intro elements. Whether it’s the aforementioned shootout, lone footsteps, a babbling brook, or some dialogue, it’s impossible to refrain from weaving a dialogue between them. I am not sure that the Bad Boys meant anything by it, but it feels as though the non-musical aspects tell their own story.
While the album begins with a chaotic nature, quite literally with guns blazing, by the time we get to the album’s closer, “The Lantern,” things have taken a more joyful turn. The track begins with the question of “where are we going?” and is met with a gleeful “swimming!”
Add the footsteps, campfires, and running water that we hear throughout the album, and it feels like we are going on a journey with the band, danger constantly behind us and the promise of a better life ahead.
I could be postulating here, but I really hope there is at least a grain of truth to my theory.
While this album contains not one moment of “filler,” with all of the songs hitting their intended marks, what stands alone as its own beacon is actually one of the interludes.
“susanna gal,” with its intentionally lowercase first name, is a front row seat to a campfire jam session. With just a guitar, a fiddle and the noise of a small crowd, this one oozes with authenticity, as if someone just happened to hit the record button at the right time and then later decided to slap it on the album.
I could almost smell the moonshine.
Another standout is “Truckin,” a dangerous little ditty seemingly told from the point of view of an outlaw trucker. The moving train of the drums and the bouncy barroom piano take the wheel on this one, but Coletto’s vocals aren’t content in the back seat, instead fueling the theme of danger with lines like, “Checking out my rearview now I’m choking down the lies. Slow down the truck, pull out the gun, now it’s time to die.”
If that doesn’t paint you a picture, my friend, I honestly don’t know what will.
If you are looking for some tried and true outlaw country, you need look no further than Brule County Bad Boys’ newest album, Burden Lake (Cold as Life) — it’s a .44 caliber-sized notch in their belt.
Burden Lake (Cold as Life) is available 1/1/26 on all major streaming platforms.
