Earlier this week, the 2015 song “Smoke” from Nashville’s A Thousand Horses entered my cranial jukebox. Said song, which shot to #1 on the Billboard Countty Airplay chart in 2015. Additionally, the song, the band’s debut single made them the first country group to top that chart with their debut single since the Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried” in 2008. “Smoke” also peaked at numbers 5 and 47 on both the Hot Country Songs and Hot 100 charts respectively. The song was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold 474,000 copies in the United States as of July 2015.

But since then? Things haven’t been so spectacular. Instead of breaking up post-success the band has continued releasing new music, with three LPs under their belt. Last month the band released a new LP White Flag Down and from first listen one can notice a pronounced difference in their sound. There’s little twang and very little country crooning.

In fact, over the course of ten songs the band mines the sonic terrain of modern alt-rock (think Daughtry, Bush, Shinedown). This is raw, edgy, dense music meant to be listened to loudly. While the band has always had a rock edge that historically veered towards country (and this writer loved it), it’s still somewhat surprising. Sure the band covered Foo Fighters “My Hero” and released it to digital streaming platforms, but this writer was certain that had to have just been a one-off. Turns out, not so much. This shift in sound is different and significant. In an era when rock artists are shifting towards country, few artists are shifting from country to alt-rock.

So how is it?

Not bad, but not exemplary either. Fans of modern alt-rock will find a lot to like here but country music fans might be a bit dismissive. Whether or not A Thousand Horses sticks to this new sound is anyone’s guess, but in an era when everyone is veering towards country, the band should be appluaded for trying something different and remaining true to themselves.