Bro country's been (mostly) dead for a while now, but it's like all the poor lost bros suddenly got torches lit under their asses to not be bros anymore, and stat!, and come up with something Deeper. Deeper, with a capital D. But is there any actual substance here, or just pandering?
Case 1. Marry Me, by Thomas Rhett
I already talked about this one, which turned out to be the warning shot. The non-bro Bat Signal to the rest of the Bat Bros. Or whatever. I'm losing this narrative fast, but not as fast as country music lost its narrative. Zing! Anywayyyy... my takeaway was that, while the song is decent, Rhett's vocals do nothing for me and he has the emotional range of a wicker basket. A photo of a wicker basket was posted, to much snickering glee on my end because I am twelve. And yeah, that's how I still feel. Give the song to a more emotive, gifted vocalist, say Chris Young, Darius Rucker, or Randy Houser, and you've got something.
Case 2. You Make It Easy, by Jason Aldean
Jason Aldean's a weird one for me. This is the guy who made "The Truth" and "Night Train," two songs I love. I don't love his voice, but it's fine enough to carry some good songs. But this is also the guy who made "Burnin' it Down" and "Dirt Road Anthem," and the tonal dissonance kinda makes you think he's just a singer for hire, not an Artist with Something to Say. And never have I felt that more than with this song. Oh it's way, WAY better than either of the latter, but... dude is trying to be Chris Stapleton. It's like, SO OBVIOUS. And there's only one Chris Stapleton. His voice and songwriting come from a real place, a desire to create and express genuine emotion through music. Aldean is riding a trend, and he'll ride the next trend, and the next. While he's not devoid of talent, it's hard to have much respect for him. Also, the couple times I've heard this song I finished the chorus off with a rousing "like Sunday morning!" which was oddly satisfying.
Case 3. Most People Are Good, by Luke Bryan
Well, there's a pandering title for you. Look, this isn't a bad song, and I do like an opportunity for Luke to remind people he can actually sing. I used to like this guy, after all. I just wish he'd show off his voice on something a little less middle of the road. Like "all lives matter," "most people are good" seems like a fitting rallying cry for these divisive times, ON THE SURFACE. I mean, most people want to hear they're good. But it's pretty easy to compartmentalize this shit, you know? Take Mr. Middle America Johnson, he's a good guy, always helps his neighbours, always donates to the church bake sale, claps extra loud for his kids in the school play even though they suck, you know, a great guy.
But dig a little deeper and all his neighbours and congregation and kids are white, and he doesn't know any people of colour or gay people (that he knows of). And maybe he's got some subconscious, casual bigotry that causes him to vote for those who actively seek to harm such people who are outside of his own circle. Does this make Mr. Johnson a bad person? Not necessarily, but it doesn't really make him good either, and that's why these sweeping messages don't work for me. I realize the point was probably to make it not political, but I don't think my point is political. THAT'S the problem, that things like being a bigot or not are considered "politics." I say this because I feel this song is for Mr. and Mrs. Middle America Johnson, and I think you have to look below the surface level there. Saying someone is good doesn't really help anyone; bursting the bubble they live in does.
I do like how he said no one should be ashamed for who they love. That's actually... really damn progressive for Luke Bryan and this kind of song, so good on ya. But overall, I think "Humble and Kind" does this better. It's reminding you to BE humble and kind, not saying that most people ARE humble and kind. Which is a flat ass lie, obviously.
I'll end this with how Tom Servo replied to "Only the good die young:" "Most people are morally ambiguous, which explains their random dying patterns." Because there's a MST3K quote for everything, and it's gonna be my new (non)hit country song.
Case 4. Break Up in the End, by Cole Swindell
AKA The Dance 2018, but with all the power stripped away. Okay, this isn't a bad song either. If it hadn't immediately struck me as wanting to be The Dance, and failing, I'd probably like it more. I'd definitely like it more if, like "Marry Me," it was sung by a more emotive vocalist. Bless his heart, he's trying, but Cole Swindell wishes he had the emotional range of a wicker basket. He has the emotional range of a bowl of poi.
This isn't Cole's first non-bro rodeo, in fact "You Should Be Here" was probably one of the first big shifts away, back in 2015. I feel bad criticizing that song, it's about his actual dead dad, but look... like these other songs, it just didn't hit me emotionally. The detail wasn't there, there was no raw emotion in his voice. If anything, this new song hits me a little more, just because it IS the same theme as The Dance, and it actually has pretty nice sounding production.
EDIT: I discussed "You Should Be Here" here. I called it "grief lite." Damn, 2016 me was cold. http://mrsrowsdower.blogspot.ca/2016/05/#7215373552480327262
Actually, another thing I wrote there pretty much sums things up. "If you wanna have a hit, make a song that will somehow resonate with everyone despite actually resonating with no one."
We're at the point where the biggest compliment you can give a song on country radio is that it "sounds country". That sucks, but maybe songs like these are how we start to equalize. These are probably some of the best, if not the best songs on country radio right now, and you can either take that as a sad indictment or a stepping stone. Things aren't great yet, but maybe this will lead to some actual great songs being heard. Or maybe it won't. I mean, I wish it didn't all feel so calculated. But I'll give these bros the same grade I gave Justin Timberlake: "You tried." It's better than "You're a lazy sack of shit," at least. We still have to solve the woman problem, but maybe having less toxic songs on the radio is at least a start? idk. I mean, there's also something out there called "Singles You Up," so we might just be heading for the apocalypse.
So what's next? Will Sam Hunt's next single just be a tastefully EDM-laced recording of him singing in the church choir? Will Florida Georgia Line ask to duet with someone actually talented, and get laughed all the way to Alabama? Will Brantley Gilbert find his way out of his own asshole? Will Maren Morris EVER make another good song??
Stay tuned, I guess?
