I concluded my previous Kellie Pickler review with the conjecture that “Someone Somewhere Tonight” “would seem to confirm that Pickler’s pandering days are indeed over.” Now, with the aforementioned single having missed the Top 40 entirely, here comes her new single “Little Bit Gypsy” to make me eat my words.
It’s not all bad. It’s catchy, it’s identifiably country, and she sings it like she means it. But there’s no getting away from the fact that “Little Bit Gypsy” clearly aspires to be nothing more than a factory-assembled radio hit tailor-made for endless airplay. The song offers nothing more than colorless sketch of a stock character, with nothing about feeling clever or revelatory enough to make the listener invest in the character on any meaningful level. Sure, you could be so generous as to say that it’s at least better than most of the music on country radio, but it would be a hollow compliment for an artist who has already proven herself capable of so much better.
A jaunty melody and a lively production pull just enough weight to make the song a pleasant diversion between radio commercials. But when the song’s radio run has reached its end, there’s just nothing here that’s going to be worth revisiting.
Written by Tammi Lynn, Fred Willhelm and Kyle Jacobs
Grade: C+
Spot on review, in my opinion. I like the song, and listen to it regularly at the moment, but know that I probably won’t in a few months time. That being said, Kellie Pickler is still by far my favourite artist in mainstream country at the moment and I cannot wait for her next album.
On a side (yet related) note, I do feel that she is infinitely better when singing ballads rather than up-tempo numbers. Provided the content is right, she just seems to pull them off so convincingly.
I love this song. Some of your review and the C+ makes no sense. You gave Sara’s Slow Me Down average pop song with pop string symphony and droning robotic overprocessed vocals a B and this song is much better and more country. I’d give Slow Me Down a C+ or lower and this at least a B+.
‘Sorry kid. I disagree with this one! I LOVED it, and I had never heard it before. The beat is great…and I find the words meaningful. Maybe it is a “girl thing!”
Here’s a spot on review
http://www.nashvillegab.com/2013/08/kellie-pickler-little-bit-gypsy-single-review.html
She’s never had enough country/rock songs. The more the better as long as she balances it out with pure country songs. What I like about her first album is it has all types of country. 100 Proof is great but left me wanting a few songs like this.
JD, all I can really say is that you and I are two different people who hear music different ways. I found “Slow Me Down” to be a more interesting song than this one, but I do agree that this one has a better production.
It’s a trifle,but in the context of today’s country radio it’s better than average fare – somewhere between a B and a B+. I doubt if anyone will remember this song five years from now, but most stuff I doubt anyone will remember two years from now !
More proof (as if any more was necessary) that radio hits are the only way to stay viable if you aren’t one of the big guitars. Certainly, in terms of women in country music there are the Big 3. Underwood, Lambert, and Swift. Arrange in any preference you prefer.
Underwood= mix of rebel and sweetheart
Swift= a ball of cavity causing cotton candy
Lambert= distilled in a Jack Daniels factory
These three ladies for better or worse dominate the country women segment. Behind them is a lump mass of struggling artists trying to constantly reach the Top 40. Is it fair? No, but tell that to Ashton Shepherd, Sara Evans, etc. The quality of the music on the album doesn’t register with the masses only the radio hits. Albums can pricey understandable, a lot of listeners (Myself one of them)only buy the albums of their favorite singers (Church and Turner).
Both Pickler and Turner last released songs died outside the top 40 and both weren’t your typical releases. Pickler was more somber and Turner was playful and not about a truck, beer, and one night stands.
It seems to me the only chance for the “complex” songs of country music to be hits is for the songs to be sung by the headliners (Lambert, Underwood etc) Don’t get me wrong, I love radio hits and I sincerely believe well-written “fluff” can be as moving and well-done as “complex” songs. But as the situation stands, the only chance for those ambitious songs to success is for the genre transcending stars to belt them out. If it takes massive amounts of radio hits to let Pickler and others reach that status, that’s the price for our ears to bear.