Dan Milliken

Jamey Johnson, “My Way To You”

July 23, 2009 Dan Milliken 10

Very interesting. It’s almost like Jamey Johnson decided to try his hand at a typical radio ballad – unspecific narrative about finding fulfillment in a significant other/God, rock bent, oversized electric guitar solo – just to show that he could make even that sound pretty cool.

Good thing the idea worked out. Expectations have become so bloated for Johnson that his career could suffer quite a dip if the follow-up to That Lonesome Song doesn’t manage to woo both critics and consumers again. This single’s savvy blend of commercial trimmings and un-commercial delivery suggests that won’t be a problem.

Dierks Bentley, “I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes”

July 20, 2009 Dan Milliken 5

Forgettable. Bentley had a very good come-on song in the frank “Come A Little Closer” a few years back; this one feels like a forced effort to recreate the magic. The writing is pleasant but dull, lacking the sexual urgency that made “Closer” come alive, and the vocal is uncharacteristically flat.

Not sure there’s much else to say, really. It’ll climb into the top five, bother me for awhile, then disappear. That’s the thing about playing it safe once you’re an established star: you might keep denting the charts, but you’ll cease to leave much of a dent in your audience.

Pat Green, “What I’m For”

July 17, 2009 Dan Milliken 3

I don’t think any artist this decade has frustrated me more than Pat Green. Here’s a man endowed of a wonderfully expressive voice, a solid songwriting gift, an army of adoring Texans, and what does he do with them? He hires Dann Huff to blare them out so he can score a few hits.

I guess you can’t fully blame him, on one hand. Green is a first-class performer of his type, worthy of the national audience he seeks, and in a just world, he would have gotten it back when he was still ripping into “Me and Billy the Kid.” And he probably knows that.

Trace Adkins, “All I Ask For Anymore”

July 13, 2009 Dan Milliken 1

I was wary about reviewing this after hearing the gist, as I’ve become pretty sick of songs that remark on how awesome and fulfilling everyday life is. It’s not the theme itself that bothers me; it’s that most songs just gush about it, as though they have to really hype up the idea for you to buy in. It usually ends up sounding more defensive than celebratory, like an insecure person trying to brag – “What? All my friends just got raises? Well, I’ve got all I need, and it’s alright by me! I’m living in paradise! Yeah! So screw you guys!”

Not the case with “All I Ask For Anymore.” There is an understated, unassuming quality to this lyric that just makes it sound real, even as the verses cover a lot of well-trod ground. I suppose the key difference lies in the approach – he’s not straining to prove how great life with his wife and kids is; he’s just reflecting on how it’s changed him and leaving us to make our own judgments. Music for adults – nice.

Toby Keith, “American Ride”

July 10, 2009 Dan Milliken 111

The intro could pass for a Hamster Dance rendering of Reba’s “Strange.” The verses rattle off about tidal waves at the Mexican border and impressionable kids on “the YouTube.” And the chorus – the chorus is like that song from Team America (you know the one – “America, [Shucks] Yeah!”) cross-bred with the soundtrack of one of those overcooked Super Bowl car commercials where you don’t know it’s a car commercial at first, but then the car comes out and climbs over a mountain or something and you’re like, “oh, all that for a friggin’ car commercial!”

Yeah. But seriously, what else can you say about a song like this? There was a time when the sheer audacity would surprise me, but coming from late-00’s Toby, it just seems like one more cog in a big wheel of Ridiculous. And maybe that’s kind of on purpose?

Sugarland, “Joey”

July 7, 2009 Dan Milliken 16

Thought: being Jennifer Nettles allows you to get away with a lot of things that would wreck lesser singers. Her co-write “Joey” is certainly one of the more interesting songs getting shipped to country radio this year, with its drunk-driving scenario and unique “what if” narrative, but it’s also a bit of a mess, with verses that promise much and a chorus that delivers practically nothing – lyrically, emotionally, even melodically. Coming from a less soulful voice box, you know the thing would never float.

Lucky for Sugarland, Nettles’ surging performance manages to keep the track chugging along for longer than it probably deserves to, offering some interesting moments amid all the more underwhelming ones. With her in tow, plus a nice arrangement reminiscent of Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May”, even the song’s hiccups manage to sound like something worth hearing.

Eli Young Band, “Radio Waves”

July 6, 2009 Dan Milliken 1

Eli Young Band’s latest sounds like a hit from top to bottom, with crisp pop-rock production, likable vocals, and a brisk tempo that allows the song to breeze by pleasantly, even as the chorus just misses its intended melodic mark.

As I’ve said before, they’re basically just playing Rascal Flatts’ game with a little less drama, and the result here is pretty enjoyable, the kind of musical comfort food you expect from summer radio when it’s behaved.

Montgomery Gentry, “Long Line of Losers”

June 10, 2009 Dan Milliken 11

What do you know? Coming off of their invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry, Montgomery Gentry release their most country-sounding single in some time. The sound is a nice blend of Alabama, Hank Jr., and 70’s folk-rock, with a chorus ready-made for barroom singalongs and a colorful set of dobro fills.

It’s a credit to the songwriting that it manages to breathe life into a fairly tired theme. This whole “I’m proud of my broken family, gosh darn it” shtick has been done a good deal in recent years, and it’s been done well, with tracks like LeAnn Rimes’ “Family” and Eric Church’s “Sinners Like Me” providing some of the most memorable moments in those artists’ catalogs.

As with those examples, what elevates Montgomery Gentry’s take on the idea is its candor. Rather than try to falsely glamorize the relatives’ imperfections, as so many would-be Redneck Anthems would do, this song just throws them all out on the table, acknowledging them as they really are – not necessarily desirable, yet inescapable. Granted, the family does sound a little bit sensationalized, but the details are at least interesting enough to warrant a momentary suspension of disbelief.

Love and Theft, “Runaway”

June 10, 2009 Dan Milliken 6

Lyric Street really seems to lead the pack in terms of “country” acts who don’t sound particularly “country”, huh?

Their new rising act on imprint Carolwood is another three-piece boy band who sound like they paid a lot of attention to 80’s pop-rock and care deeply about the inner yearnings of suburban girls between the ages of 11 and 17. If you’re like me, you’ll play the first two seconds of this and marvel that it’s climbing the same charts that once featured the late Vern Gosdin.

But alright, I’ll admit it’s a catchy little thing. I don’t know that music gets a whole lot blander than this – even in fantasizing about ditching town and a paying job, they still sound as safe and neutered as can be – but it’s competent, pleasant pop-rock whose only real artistic fault is just that it’s not nearly as edgy or exciting as it would clearly like to be.

Playing Catch-Up

June 10, 2009 Dan Milliken 7

It’s one of those life/blog paradoxes: we dedicate a lot of words to the new – new releases, new issues, new news – and yet, when it comes down to it, our personal, non-internet selves spend just as much time trying to get up to speed on things we’ve missed. History is fat, full of great stuff that happened while you were preoccupied with playing on jungle gyms or raising babies. There’s always something to catch up on if you set your mind to it!

Like right now, for instance, I’m discovering the music of the 90’s. I was under 10 and on a Pacific island for most of those years, and was honestly only marginally aware of the “country” classification for most of them. So I’ve been diving in.

Although the 90’s are regarded by many as a very strong period for mainstream country, my current catch-up squeeze is the alt-country group Old 97’s, and one song in particular: “The Other Shoe”, from their ’96 set Wreck Your Life. It’s a catchy, clunky little tune about a creepy husband who tells his wife he’s leaving for Phoenix (the specific phrasing is an apparent nod to Glen Campbell’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” – cute), only to hide under their bed and await the appearance of her lover, whom he promptly guns down along with his adulterous wife.

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