I smell a holding pattern.
Yes, I get it. The boys of Florida Georgia Line have got to make their $$$, and the way to do that these days is to give radio what they want. But if you’re going to serve up radio filler, you could at least serve up a different variety of radio filler than what you’ve previously been putting out.
Case in point: “Round Here” is the third consecutive rural party anthem that Florida Georgia Line has released, and of those three, “Cruise” is the only one that has been any good at all.
Yes, I still believe the hook and melody of “Cruise” had something great going for it – even though the song’s place in country music history is being blown grossly out of proportion by Billboard’s nutty new chart rules. But the same cannot be said for “Round Here,” which grasps at a trite, overused phrase for its title, and burrows down into the usual formulas. Bloated production and affected vocals only make things worse.
The bottom line: Kiss some radio butt if you must, but don’t make a one-trick pony out of yourself. Remember Gretchen Wilson?
Written by Rodney Clawson, Thomas Rhett and Chris Tompkins
Grade: C-
I do like this, though not as much as others on the album.
I do think they can change it up when needed. They are capable of it with songs such as “Black Tears” and even “What Are You Drinking About” or “Stay” (new single) from HTTGT.
Also, good review.
”Round Here” is the third consecutive rural party anthem that Florida Georgia Line has released…
But remember, the traditional country fans are the ones who want to hear the same songs over and over!
I am from the 1990s. Round Here will always be the place where we talk just like lions but sacrifice like lambs.
I copied and pasted what I wrote under CMA awards:
Am I the only one who doesn’t get Florida-Georgia Line? I mean, they are ok, but doesn’t all their songs sound the same?
I like this song. Radio fluff but good radio fluff.
“I only know three chords.” – Alice Bowie
What this one-two punch of “Round Here” and their newly-released single “Stay” tells us is this.
At this point in time, Florida-Georgia Line and/or Borchetta believe playing it safe and cultivating a trustworthy, assured relationship with radio is more important than going off on a limb and rolling the dice with “It’z Just What We Do” or “Dayum, Baby”……….which that sort of move would all but certainly result in superior Billboard Hot 100 chart placements and stronger digital sales, but possible backlash from their core format.
So they’re clearly taking the safe route here, and because “Stay” sounds just like a mash-up of 3 Doors Down’s “Here Without You” and Nickelback’s “If Everyone Cared” with a pinch of token banjo, they probably also chose “Stay” so they can have a proper all-genre follow-up to the “Cruise” remix.
I personally think if they wanted to maximize commercial returns for this album, they should have released a new version of “Dayum, Baby” featuring a new female Mainstream Top 40-influenced vocalist for the mainstream formats, while releasing “Hell Raisin’ Heat of the Summer” to Country radio. I can’t believe I’m about to state the following, but I happen to think Florida-Georgia Line are more convincing trotting out party anthems than tossing out a generic outlier attempting to show their serious side. “Stay” just doesn’t suit their musical personality well, even though I could do without most of their annoying “frat boy country” anthems too.
*
Anyway, I just find it fascinating how conservative Florida-Georgia Line are being with their single releases right now. “Round Here” and “Stay” are easily the two most inoffensive tracks on the album, and I honestly think they have bigger probable hits waiting in the wing off of “Dayum, Baby” (a likely crossover minor-to-moderate hit) and “Tip It Back”. Heck, given the track record of sky-high Billboard Hot 100 placements off of “hick-hop” releases, “It’z Just What We Do” would likely fare much better in terms of digital sales than “Round Here” or “Stay” ever would.
“Dance with the one that brung ya”
-Darrell Royal
If FGL had the niche of party songs down pat and they do, they might as well keep rolling the windows down. I would rather hear a good party song than a token “serious” song.
I like this song a lot, you should also check out the new Tyler Farr video:
http://vevo.ly/XHMcw8
I seriously see zero positives in this song. What sets this apart from all of the other songs on radio today (or most of FGL’s very own songs)? It’s repetitive, boring, and lifeless.
C- was a generous Christmas gift. Should be an F.
Taylor, I actually would have rated this a C- myself, and here’s why.
This doesn’t strike me as deserving a failing grade because, well, it fits hand-in-glove with exactly what you expect out of a middle-of-the-road “country” radio release. Slightly over three minutes of amped-up guitars sprinkled with token banjo and overly-inflected drawl, lyrics that reference the done-to-death “work hard, play harder” motif, and a catchy, sing-along hook.
There’s no point in handing additional demerits out when they’re at least not badgering you with poor grammar (“Baby you a song”, “cuz you and me be rockin’ all night long”…) or peddling country-rap to your eardrums. In the most part, it’s a straight C-grade song that screams mediocrity but not so much horror.
The reason why I ultimately give this a C- as opposed to a straight C comes down to this: the exploitation of blue-collar sensibilities in the opening four lines of the track (“Hammerin’ a nail, stackin’ them bales, I’m dog tired by the five o’clock hour but I’m ready to raise some hell…”) Without those four lines, this would be just another disposable yet catchy party song, and yet they couldn’t resist capitalizing on blue collar sensibility to show “Hey, don’t get us wrong, dudes! We work hard too, man!”………and that dishonesty reduced the song one peg.
Still, this isn’t going to rate among my Top Ten Worst Singles of 2013 list. It’s greatest sin is exactly how conservatively mediocre to a tee it is an effort.
I love their music. Mind you, I’m 52, not 20 something. After only hearing their singles on a local music station, I went to see them with Brantley Gilbert while they were in NH. Eventhough I was unfamiliiar with most of their music, I can honestly say that my 50 yr best friend and I have never danced as much as we did during their performance and we were sober. Their energy is amazing! I bought their CD and I can’t get enough of it. I used to listen to classic rock until a few yrs ago when I discovered the NEW country music.I have never listened to hip hop or rap (couldn’t stand it) but I love their interpretations. I loved their song “Round “Here”. It has their energy. So what if its another drinking song? I was just talking with my 20 yr old son about how most of their songs bring up drinking. He pointed out the age of their targeted audience. Their songs give me energy and make me want to dance. I think its exactly for that reason that they are so popular, even with us older people. Most artist’s albums might have 2-3 songs that make one want to dance where as ALL of their songs make me want to dance. Oh yeah, they stole the show from BG! I hope they release “Tip It Back” and “Tell Me How You Like It” because I think they could easily be #1’s but so could “Dayum Baby” and “itz How We Do It”. Lifetime fan here!