The boys in Vandoliers dropped their new EP Afterglow today, and if you’re expecting another polished Texas country record, you’re probably parked at the wrong bar.
Vandoliers have always been something different.
Part cowpunk. Part punk rock revival. Part dusty border-town mariachi band that looks like it rolled out of Terlingua at sunrise after sleeping behind the Starlight Theatre. They’re loud, rowdy, emotional, and completely unconcerned with fitting neatly into whatever box Nashville or Texas radio wants to put them in.
You either love them or hate them.
There’s not much middle ground.
Afterglow collects five songs recorded between 2022 and 2025 with Grammy-winning producer Ted Hutt. The title fits. These songs feel like the last glow from a campfire after midnight, when the crowd has gone home and all that’s left are the stories.
“Longshot” and “Compass Rose” finally escaped the vault from the Sonic Ranch sessions. “Girl on the Run” throws a punch straight at the establishment. “Sink or Swim” has already become a crowd favorite, carried by the same rebellious spirit that’s always fueled this band.
But for me, the anchor of the EP is “Nobody’s Fault But My Own.”
Frontman Jenni Rose says the song marked the point when she finally got sober from alcohol. That kind of honesty can’t be manufactured. It can’t be polished up by a record label. It either comes from experience or it doesn’t.
And that’s what Vandoliers do better than most.
They don’t sing about life from a safe distance. They drag it onto the stage, scars and all.
Afterglow isn’t just an EP. It’s a bridge between who Vandoliers were and who they’re becoming. The afterglow of one chapter and the first light of another.
Somewhere between the punk clubs, the dance halls, the desert wind, and a trumpet echoing across West Texas, Vandoliers have carved out their own lane.
And thank God they did.
— Pancho
“Some bands chase trends. Others build campfires. Vandoliers are still throwing gasoline on theirs.”