3 Up 3 Down: July 2012

3 Up


Zac Brown Band - The Wind
Unfortunately, it seems the band led off this new album's single era with the best song of the bunch. That doesn't do anything to blunt the impact of this thoroughly enjoyable, heart-racing bluegrass pop-country tune. Probably one of the best commercial country songs of the year.
A


Lee Brice - Hard to Love
I've read people comparing this to a couple of Tom Petty songs, but I don't really hear it. What I hear is an undeniably catchy, honest-sounding modern country song that veers a little too close to adult contemporary at times, but still stands above the fray. It's well-written, decently performed and thankfully free of trucks, cutoffs and beer.
B


Jerrod Niemann - Shinin' On Me
This is hardly, barely a country song, but it just sounds so damn cool. Niemann's laid-back delivery, left-of-center instrumentation and the crisply askew production makes this winner of a summer song, avoiding nearly all the cliches so common to this season on commercial country radio. Is it the best written song ever? Of 2012? Of this month? Probably no to all of those, but it's darn sure a treat for the ears.
B+

3 Down


Little Big Town - Pontoon
I hope that's out of their system now. This is a talented band. I'm not sure why they took the easy route to.. oh wait, yeah I do: $$$. These guys have great voices and up to this point have released pretty decent singles. This dunderhead song broke that streak. It's a lockstep summer anthem with nary an original thought and a goofy "motorboatin'" hook to hook the teens and pervs. Not really anything redeeming about this song. Do better, LBT.
D-


Tim McGraw - Truck Yeah
What else can be said, really? I could copy and paste all the synonyms for "feces," but I already did that the time Bucky Covington covered Nickelback. Can you believe this is actually worse than that? It's improbable but true. Also, if Tim continues in this direction, he will easily overtake Luke Bryan and Brantley Gilbert on FTM's shit-list within months. For the love of all things decent and good, Tim, stop this. You're embarrassing yourself.
F-


Blake Shelton - Over
It's not that this is such a horrible song, but it's a mediocre potboiler right at the time Shelton should be delivering massive hits to cement his place as an A-Lister (please shape up Blake! I'd rather have you as an A-Lister than Luke Bryan!). It's a position-holder to keep his brand on the charts and his name in listeners' ears. Blake is at the apex of his fame - shouldn't he use this position to cut and record the best Nashville songwriters have to offer? This is fluff that nobody will remember in… yep, already gone. I honestly can't make this song play in my head even after listening to it for review. It's that forgettable.
C-

Luke Bryan Needs to Loosen Up

Bad Luck Hank?

Yeah, I know. Too many memes this week. 

I'll try to get back to more typical content as soon as possible, but work is nuts this week.

Condescending Wonka on Outlaws

EP Review - Proud Cut Ponies

by Kelcy Salisbury

So back about two months ago I was asked to give a listen to a new band, and consider reviewing their material.  The band called themselves Proud Cut Ponies, and my initial thoughts were, #1 "Oh great, another Texas/Red Dirt/Outlaw country band that thinks they're doing something cool and original" and #2 "At least they appear to have a sense of humor, based on the name".  It took a little while before I even bothered to listen to the Lubbock, TX based bands EP, and even longer to finally get around to reviewing it (sorry but my real world job takes up a little bit of time).  I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised by Proud Cut Ponies...and I wonder how many people outside their current fan base will get all the levels of the joke in their name (the Angel Dust reference is the easy part, for you city folks at least).

 

My overall impression was that the band immediately reminded me of the John D Hale Band (a criminally underrated country band out of Southeast Missouri if you're not familiar).  The story-telling brand of songwriting is quite similar, and that's a good thing in my book.

 

I didn't hear a single song about floating the river, or how awesome it is to be from Texas...another positive on the first listen.  Cigarette seems kind of familiar, perhaps a bit too much so, but Corby Owens sells it with all his might in the vocals, the guitar work is more than adequate, the drumming is solid and the song works.  My only complaint with it was that the bass was hard to find in the mix, although it could have been due to the relatively low quality speakers I heard it on.  Jesse James opens with a buzzing riff that sounds like it borrows heavily from Heart's "Barracuda", which seems a bit off-putting at first given the subject matter of the song.  But again the band means what they're doing and the sincerity with which they sell the song makes it work.  This tune is the one that most calls John D Hale's songwriting to mind.  It's simple, straightforward, even blunt, but it's also very effective at painting the picture of the story it tells.  The EP closes with Guitar Hero, which is easily the strongest song of the set.  The songwriting is very good, Corby Owens' voice is better suited to this song than the previous two and the music is perfectly suited to the song.  It's extremely well done & it sold me on the EP & on the future possibilities for Proud Cut Ponies. 

 

Proud Cut Ponies are Corby Owens on lead vocals, Drake Hayes on Bass, Jamie Berryhill on lead guitar, and Roy Stout on drums.  You can check them out and hear their songs at www.facebook.com/proudcutponies . I've heard a rumor that tee-shirts and other merchandise are available as well, so if you've ever wanted an "I Love PCP" shirt (and who doesn't need one of those for the family reunion? I know I do) they can help you out with that.  Seriously, these guys are a cut above the vast majority of new music I've heard coming out of the TX/OK scene in the last few years so give it a listen.

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Not sure of a release date for the EP, but we'll let you know. For the time being, check them out here: http://www.reverbnation.com/proudcutponies for tour dates and other information.