Single Reviews
One of the things that frustrates me the most about today’s mainstream country music is the way so many of the songs just seem to be screaming ‘Like me! Like me! Like me!’
Single Review: Chris Young, "I Can Take It from There"
In some aspects, Chris Young’s hook-heavy new single may come off as a calculated bid to regain the airplay he unjustly lost from country radio’s tepid response to the excellent but underappreciated “Neon.” Unfortunately, it’s hard to call him out for peddling safe material when I can’t get my toe to stop tapping.
Sonically, newcomer Greg Bates’ debut hit is a pleasant, infectious slice of nineties-esque contemporary country with a moderate traditionalist bent. It’s the kind of song that country star Chris Young has made his calling card.
My natural inclination is to hate any song that employs the word “bikini” right in the opening verse, but there might actually be a decent feel-good country rock jam in here somewhere.
Pleasant enough, but it just feels a bit too safe.
Single Review: Taylor Swift, "Begin Again"
The title of Taylor Swift’s new single is oddly appropriate, as her label hits the reset button at country radio.
“We are Never Ever Getting Back Together” was apparently too pop for her genre home base, though it will certainly continue to dominate top forty for a good long while. Country radio is now getting its own single, and it’s quite the genre exercise.