I figured since we were working on spreading the love around, I’d get a country album in here. Yes, ladies and gents, I even enjoy country music from time to time. I wish I could cheat and write about the Pistol Annies debut album, but I’ve already listened to it too many times to pretend I needed to up the play counts for that one. Check them out if you’re a country fan – especially the song Hell On Heels.
Tangent. Anyway, today’s album is the self titled disc from The Band Perry.
I think what I love most about country music are the little mentions of things that every person who really lives in the country knows and can relate to. Most of the time, these things are realities, even when it’s something being poked fun at. That’s the fun part of country music. I’ve grown up in a small town in southwest Virginia and I couldn’t escape country music any more than I could escape these little mentions of every day life in country music.
The first song, Lie, gives me one of those mentions that I can chuckle about because I know that it’s a reality: “You lie like a coon dog basking in the sunshine on my porch.”
The lyrics to Hip To The Heart are probably a strong struggle to be cool and well, hip, but I don’t think it succeeds. I checked my iTunes to see when the song would be over. You know, there’s such a fine line in country music. To me, country is not a band like this, or Taylor Swift, or anything like that. Country music is the lines of Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Randy Travis, people like that. This is basically pop-country. A lot of the “country” that is popular now is that kind of genre and I can never decide if I like it or if it annoys me.
I’ve heard If I Die Young about three hundred times on commercials or on CMT or whatever, but this is one of those songs that is nice every time you listen to it.
The next song that makes any kind of impression on me is Double Heart. There are some pretty cute lyrics, mentions about tattoos (first comes the ink, then comes the ring), and catchy tunes. This is definitely one of the better tracks on the album.
Even though the lyrics are pretty cheesy – well it is a country song after all – Lasso is the best slow song on the album. The vocals sound better in slower-tempo songs like this.
I’m pretty disappointed with this album. I’m not sure if this is the only album this band has out, but I would hope that with another album, it’d get better. The lyrics weren’t exceptional, and the quality of the music is bland. The majority of the time that I was listening to this, I was wondering if the two guys in the band were brothers…
Google tells me they’re all siblings. The more you know.
Key Tracks:
If I Die Young (track 3)
Double Heart (track 4)
Lasso (track 11)
backtothemusic 