Single Review: Lauren Alaina, “Georgia Peaches”

In sharp contrast with the sensitive balladry of “Like My Mother Does,” American Idol graduate Lauren Alaina does a total 180 with her follow-up release “Georgia Peaches” – a spunky, loud, in-your-face uptempo that’s all about the southern beauties who hail from the state of Georgia.

Perhaps the song’s most notable positive characteristic is the wild, unrestrained energy with which Alaina attacks the song.  It’s a wonder that that energy shines through, as producer Byron Gallimore sounds like he’s doing his best to drown her out.  It comes as a pleasant surprise that fiddles are audibly included in the mix, but layers of rock guitars force Alaina to compete against a nearly impenetrable wall of noise.  Though the song namedrops both Alan Jackson and Jason Aldean, the musical styling definitely owes more to the latter, with audacious guitar licks that sound unpleasantly reminiscient of some of Aldean’s less tolerable efforts.

Neither the vocal nor the production is able to push the song past the cliché fencing.  The lyrics read like a familiar checklist of safely familiar country radio themes, with “Mama” and “Sunday church” both getting shout-outs, while the song displays the same rural self-congratulatory attitude that has made country music’s frat boys so insufferable as of late.  While the hook – “There’s a reason why the boys pick the Georgia Peaches” – strains to sound clever, it becomes nearly intolerable with repeated listenings.

If Alaina can just take all that infectious energy, and channel it into a better song, then we could be in good shape.  But the way it is, Alaina’s “Georgia Peaches” lacks any discernible hint of freshness.

Written by Blair Daly, Mallary Hope, and Rachel Proctor

Grade:  C

Listen:  Georgia Peaches

15 Comments

  1. Sassy, shouty, only vaguely country. Yep, that’s pretty much exactly what I expected from a teenage American Idol contestant going the country music route.

  2. I’ve been reading rave reviews of Alaina’s album on other sites. so it made me curious enough to listen to the album. I find the vocals on most of the songs shouty. Not impressed so far.
    Do you plan to post a review on the album? Thanks

  3. Lauren Alaina showcases her playful and youthful personality on her debut disc “Wildflower,” which dropped last week. Lauren suffered on the charts with the “Like My Mother Does” retread (it was given to Kristy Lee Cook after season 7). As she aims to change that, the disc opens with second single “Georgia Peaches,” a country rocker where she lets audiences know why Georgia-grown girls are the best. While I’m glad the label gave her something upbeat for her second single, it’s not the strongest of the upbeat tracks. “Growing Her Wings,” a Faith Hill-esque coming-of-age tune or the sublime soulful “Tupelo” would have made better selections. For every great track there are a few songs like “The Locket,” “Funny Thing about Love” and the Carrie Underwood-lite “I’m Not One of Them” that are wasted space. Half of this album is really good and the other half is just meh. Guess they should have made this a 2-disc set and called one “Wildflower” and the other “Weeds.”

  4. Alaina has a lot of potential: Obviously, she has some power to her voice, and I actually like her vocal tone.

    That said, she has far and away the worst breath control of any contestant ever to make a serious run on American Idol— and that’s really saying something– and her producers didn’t do much to address that in the studio. She starts off fine but goes flat by the end of the “whoa” fills in the chorus and she’s consistently clipped and abrupt and the end of phrases. The song and production are no great shakes, but the technical issues with the performance don’t help her out much.

    Get the girl a vocal coach and some better material than this, and she could develop into a pretty terrific singer. As is, she’s a case of untapped potential.

  5. I don’t mind it, it’s a cute idea for a song, but it just comes across as another ‘country pride’ or ‘hey, look at me I’m country!’ song… Which have become tiresome for me, because it seems like the default for new artists to do, or an easy way to earn a sizable hit. Not trying to be mean to Alaina (who does have a pretty good voice), just stating my opinion, but if you like the song, then more power to you. And not that I don’t like these types of songs, I just happen to really enjoy them when they are done well.

  6. There’s an unfortunate innuendo in the title somewhere………….which Aldean actually already expounded on in his earlier hit “She’s Country”. =/

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