REVIEW: Griffin Winton – ‘Best All-Around Boy’

If you thought rock had run out of ways to surprise, Griffin Winton’s ‘Best All-Around Boy’ is here to prove you spectacularly wrong. Bursting out of a Nashville winter over eight tracks, this album is a wild, hilarious, and unapologetically human ride through the full spectrum of rock ’n’ roll energy. From fuzzed-out guitar chaos to bouncy college-rock hooks, Winton and his band deliver a record that’s as clever as it is combustible.

Winton’s lyrics are sharp, witty, and often laugh-out-loud funny, but beneath the humour lies a keen observational eye. It’s initial single ‘Balls Deep’ is a riot of sardonic self-reflection and social commentary, while our personal favourite ‘MAGA MILF’ gleefully tears into pop-culture absurdities with a ferocity that’s impossible to ignore. Even tracks that seem lighthearted, like ‘Grow Ur Own Boyfriend’, are threaded with incisive insights on gender, identity, and modern life. Winton’s vocal delivery dances between sly sarcasm and earnest revelation, balancing narrative flair with an infectious immediacy that pulls you right into the room with him.

Musically, the band is on fire. Austin Drewry’s drums and Hunter Mulkey’s bass provide a perfect engine, propelling songs from slow-burning slacker grooves to white-knuckle, high-octane riffs. Cole Clarke’s guitar work alternates between melodic levity and scorching frenzy, perfectly complementing Winton’s own overdriven riffs. From blues-rock swagger on ‘Cutthroat’ to the unrestrained vibrancy of ‘(You Don’t Know) How To Have Fun’, each track crackles with a vitality that is impossible to resist.

‘Best All-Around Boy’ shows us all that rock can still be fun, sharp, and emotionally resonant. Griffin Winton has crafted a record that celebrates the joys of life, all while keeping you laughing, headbanging, and grinning ear-to-ear. This is rock in its most thrilling, irreverent form.