Living on hope, dreams, love and prayers is more complicated than it seems. That's the sentiment conveyed when The Fiver and Dimers' "Quarter of a Tank" begins to spin with their brand of "unfiltered Americana" originating from the St. Louis area. Rhythm guitarist and songwriter Matt Taul has a knack for capturing some languorous soulfulness in his lyrics, and the other five members of the band do a nice job of supporting the twangy ballads, raw bluesy tunes and rocking sprees. They include John Masinelli (upright bass), Adam Peipert (banjo), Matt McGibany (fiddle), Pete Klein (lead guitar) and Jeff Walker (drums). Masinelli and Peipert also provide some vocals. The album's recording engineer (Tony Esterly) provides some hints of pedal steel guitar in the title cut that is a song full of warm texture and relaxed sophistication as Taul sings of a woman who will "keep you fooled with the things she'll do." I was curious to see how Piepert's banjo would lay into the mix of such an eclectic body of material from country to rock, and I was impressed that it never comes off as too distracting or disrupting, even on slower country numbers like "Drunken Smile" and "Restless Angel" or the raucous song with a Calypso beat like "Are You Still Mine?" Perhaps an argument could've been made for a little more mixing of the banjo tracks on those kinds of numbers, but there's no question that the 5-string drives the snappy bluegrass closer "When I Was Wild."
Taul's voice is not a pure, clean one, but it's competent for the Five and Dimers' sparkling and expressive performance. The band formed in 2008 and has built a "loosely structured, non-synthetic country sound that is quickly evolving as their own." It's quite apparent that these six accomplished musicians have diverse influences, and those allow the band to cover many musical moods in their eclectic set. (Joe Ross, Roots Music Review)