The Crowe Boys run away with it this week.
Dierks Bentley
Broken Branches
Grotesque lead single (“She Hates Me”) notwithstanding, this is Dierks by-the-numbers, and not another record of Up On the Ridge or Riser caliber that he’s now years overdue to drop again. The songs are mostly fine, and he should get a top 30 hit or two off of this.
This record feels like a last gasp at maintaining commercial relevance before making a more deliberate pivot to a legacy act. He’s demonstrated that he has the chops to make just such a move really count; this doesn’t even feel like a transitional work so much as simply inessential.
Ashland Craft
Dive Bar Beauty Queen
A refinement of the persona introduced on her solid debut, this is a terrific set of rough-hewn narratives of lives on the verge. The cleverness, cracking production overcome a few moments when her rasp sounds physically painful. She’s an A-lister in a better timeline.
Dillon Carmichael
Keepin’ Country Alive
Your service isn’t required in that regard, my dude. In a golden era for KY country, this stands out as uniquely poor for its over-reliance on beaten-to-death small-town superiority clichés. There’s talent here– Paisleyesque humor, a solid voice– but it’s untapped.
Brokestring & the Empty Promises
The Upside of Down
The vocals will be an acquired taste for some, but what a remarkable songwriter. Clever without lapsing into arch irony, political without apology or ham-fistedness, these are powerful modern folk tunes: Making me think of Dan Bern is always a plus.
Crowe Boys
Made to Wander
Another mis-judgment on my part: I expected more Wallen knock-offs and got knocked off my feet instead. Deeply human, empathetic songwriting– the lyrical hook on opener “Bootstraps” hits hard– set to a wide range of country forms, delivered in killer close harmony.
Rascal Flatts
Duets: Life is a Highway Refueled
(**):
Barely tolerable even at their peak, this spin on a greatest hits collection proves that the only thing more inconsistent than their taste in material is their taste in collaborators. Notable that it’s the pop acts (Kelly Clarkson, obviously, but also the Jonas Brothers) who fare best.
Hailey Whitters
Corn Queen
A 50/50 split between lyrics that are clever and lyrics that scan as Hee Haw drag, and about the same ratio of songs that actually fit her vocal range instead of fighting against what the Lord gave her. Crisp, modern trad-country production is the selling point here.
And, as ever, her willing proximity to Music Row’s MAGA contingent– though, notably, she’s collaborating with Molly Tuttle and Wilder Blue on two tracks here– and some of the TradWife coding in her lyrics and overall schtick have me arching an eyebrow while I keep her at some distance.
Tayla Lynn
Singin’ Loretta
And, per her usual, doing so quite competently. Her second full album of these covers, and a more interesting set of songs than on the predecessor. Still, this is inessential on its own merits. She has quite a solid voice that could serve her well on originals.
Carin León
Palabra De To’s
I missed the standard release of this at the tail end of ’24, and it’s an album worth catching up with. He’s got a brilliant full-on country set in him still; this is a bit more conservative in form than his best recent work, and it’s a bit overlong in this version.
Kevin Bacon & Jennifer Nettles
The Bondsman (Original Soundtrack)
There’s entirely too much lore behind this for these songs to stand fully on their own, and the songs aren’t great enough to inspire me to dig into any of that. Nettles goes for camp-on-purpose a bit too often, but she and Bacon do sound pretty great together.
…”she hates me” may not be dierks bentley best effort ever, but it comes with a clip that combines a “pimp my ride for haters” episode with “the lastest from the latex universe” rather watchable. not since since taylor swift’s friend shouting “that is so messed up” in that “picture to burn” clip” a truck and latex have been combined more…
…when it comes to hailey whitters’ “corn queen”, i can’t help but being shamelessly entertained in all departments. that stoicism in her voice gets me every time. if she’s the general dollar in an avenue of neiman marcuses and bloomingdale’ses, i would know exactly where to head first.
…dillon carmichael on john deere gear, with fishing gear, in hunting-gear – well, had he smashed an ozempic package as well, he probably would have ticked all the cliché boxes of life in the country. without some flair, talent is nothing.
…rather comforting to see that other people suck big time too, when it comes to get to grips with graphic design. i’m not alone on this and neither with my view on that flat(ts) endeavour as a whole, it seems.
…tayla lynn singing loretta… about as necessary as “hamburger helper” to make a burger.
…who needs bacon with jennifer nettles? on the other hand, is there anything that doesn’t taste better with some bacon?
…tried ashland craft three times already in the last two weeks – it won’t stick for some reason. what am i not getting there?