Showing posts with label Carly Pearce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carly Pearce. Show all posts

Jan 15, 2021

3 Up, 3 Down: January '21


3 Up




Lainey Wilson - Things a Man Oughtta Know

First and foremost, this is a country song. It's a modern pop-country song, but it features organic instrumentation, country vocals, country imagery, and story-telling. There's listing, yeah, but it's used to the furtherance of the theme, revealing the message a little at a time. Good stuff, and highly impressive as a debut single. And it seems to be getting some traction.

B+


Carly Pearce - Next Girl

Clever hook, strong vocals, catchy melody, strong message. What's not to like? Carly is such a promising artist; I hope this is huge for her. 

B+



Eric Church - Hell of a View

A mid-tempo anthem in the vein of “Talledega” and “Springsteen,” this is another winner from Church. Hey guys in the category below: See! It’s possible to write a love song that isn’t whiny and tediously selling a supplicant viewpoint in a relationship. Be equals, you crybabies. Anyway, “Hell of a View” is catchy and poetic, and non-embarrassing.

B+


3 Down


Niko Moon - Good Time

I already said enough when I named this the worst ‘country’ song of 2020. It may qualify for 2021 too. It’s that bad. 

F


Cole Swindell - Single Saturday Night

Cole has done some moderately better work recently (not that the songs I actually like are ever released as singles) but this isn’t in that category. This starts off with all the sonic signifiers of boyfriend country and gets no better from there. Listless, forgettable, and cookie-cutter. “White Claw” brand name drop… is that the first in a hit song? Anyway, this sucks and it kinda feels desperate. 

D-


Parmalee & Blanco Brown - Just the Way

Another boyfriend country song, I’m seeing a theme. There is nothing whatsoever country about this song. It’s listless, forgettable, and cookie-cutter. And it’s so cloying and wimpy. Stop worshipping women. I mean, don’t worship men either, or any other gender. Who wants to be pandered to this damn much? It’s amazing that something so boring and bland can make me want to punch inanimate things to get my rage out. Crap. 

F



Mar 11, 2020

3 Up 3 Down: Chase Rice, Ingrid Andress, Midland, etc.



3 Up

Carly Pearce & Lee Brice “Hope You’re Happy Now”
No snap beats, no slang, real instruments. Lee and Carly’s hit is a pop-country duet full of heartache and harmonies. Their voices sound great together. It’s one of those sad songs that makes you feel good. Well done. 
B+

Midland “Cheatin’ Songs”
We’re over their back story now - you either like their music or don’t. I do. This is a slice of 70s Bellamy Bros-esque goodness with steel guitar and modern slickness. The low key harmonies create just the right mood and there’s even a little self-awareness mixed into the lyrics. Midland is consistently one of the best mainstream artists out there and “Cheatin’ Songs” is another gem.
A

Ingrid Andress “More Hearts Than Mine”
Ain’t a whole lot country about this, but it’s a well-written and gets a lot more personal than most radio fare, bringing a fairly unique angle to relationship tunes. Andress’ delivery occasional veers toward that indie-pop style I hate so much, but never quite goes there and her conversational tone works well for the subject matter. Glad to see this song hit the top 10.
B+

3 Down

Jordan Davis “Slow Dance in a Parking Lot”
Standard issue dude pop-country, typical mid-tempo blah-ness, electronically affected vocals. This is pure boyfriend country. At least bro-country was loud and proud with its crappiness. This is dull and forgettable just like Jordan Davis would be without the beard.
D

Locash “One Big Country Song”
At least it doesn’t have snap beats? That’s a positive I suppose. Locash doesn’t sound particularly inspired …ever… but particularly on this anthem about the shared experiences and values of country fans. “Everybody knows the words to ‘Mama Tried’” is an actual lyric of this song and I guarantee you that 80%+ of Locash fans do not in fact know those words. Honestly, there are several songs much worse than this in the top 40 right now - I was just trying to avoid the usual suspects - but this is nothing you haven’t heard before.
C-

Chase Rice “Lonely if You Are”
Snap beats, typical bouncy R&B lite delivery. This is pretty much a Sam Hunt rip-off without Sam’s lyrical ability and likability (and I don’t care for any Sam Hunt songs, so that’s pretty rough). It’s a booty call song that somehow comes off both sleazy and sleepy. There are a few early Chase Rice songs that show some promise, before he was asking fine ass girls to slide on over or whatever, so one would hope he’d eventually dig a little deeper in his subject matter, but nah. Once a bro, always a bro.
F

Sep 12, 2018

The Current Poop of Country Radio: September '18

A poop emoji is negative, a strike-thru is positive.

The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-14) overall which is a 16 point rise from June (the last time we did this chart). After June's worst score of all time, this is heartening. The best song on the chart is Eric Church's "Desperate Man" The worst is Dylan Scott's pointless "Hooked." There are 2 solo women on the charts and one song by the female-led Sugarland.


Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

Nov 2, 2017

The Current Poop of Mainstream Country: November '17

A poop emoji equals a negative rating. A strike-thru poop emoji is a positive rating.



The current Poop Rating of the Mediabase Top 20 is (-17) overall which is 6 point improvement from August (the last time we did this chart). The best song is Luke Combs' "When It Rains It Pours." The worst is easily Walker Hayes "You Broke Up With Me."  There are 2 solo females in the top 20 - as there were in August. And what do ya' know? Aaron Watson has his first top 20!

While there are some truly awful songs here, the overall quality of the chart is trending upward. Let's hope it continues in this direction.



Chart info from Mediabase/Country Aircheck.

May 19, 2017

Single Review: Carly Pearce "Every Little Thing"

by Jonny Brick

Off on the latest round of Bobby Bones's Funny and Alone tour, Carly is the latest new hot 'girl singer' or, as they are now called, Anyone But Carrie.

It is quite horrific that Carly has entered the charts with this song and, excluding boy-girl duets (Craving You, Speak to a Girl, The Fighter) sits alongside only THREE (tres) other women singing on their own: Kelsea, Maren, RaeLynn. Carly made this point on social media. It'll change, but maybe not in Willie Nelson's lifetime.

At least Carly, on Big Machine, has bucks and Borchetta (that’s a songtitle…) behind her. The big marketing push must centre on her experience singing at Dollywood, but there’s less Dolly in here and more Crystal Gayle, a pretty and pure voice that will certainly leap out on the radio among our friends [insert least favourite act].

There are so few great female voices from the post-Shania era: Taylor obviously but she’s a writer first and a singer second, Karen and Kimberly, Hilary, Maren, Miranda (more attitude than beauty, and that IS just the voice), Angaleena and Ashley, the other Pistol Annies...Then Carrie obviously, Kelsea who is fun [editor's note: NOPE], RaeLynn who has The Voice, and now Carly. Being uncharitable, I could say Cam is on the line and wants her burning house back.

I love, as I am sure you will, the twang of the dobro (I think it’s a dobro). The song opens with a sense impression: ‘the scent that you left on the pillow, the sound of your heartbeat’. In fact, Carly remembers everything, ‘the shine, the stain’, but she has now turned her back on the guy. Then, as often happens, the last verse flips the narrative: ‘I’d die to not remember every little thing’. What a super song.

Every Little Thing fits the template of Maren Country (can I coin that?): confident, tender, beautiful (the song AND the act), traditional with lots of contemporary edge. Sounds like a hit.

7.5 out of 10

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