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Album Review: Florida Georgia Line–Can’t Say I Ain’t Country

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Rating: 3.5/10

Florida Georgia Line, who have made a career out of rap verses, tired dirt road clichés, and unintelligible vocabulary, have decided to prove to us all on their fourth album that they are, in fact, undeniably and authentically country. The Apple Music description of this album actually says, in part, that they are making a case for themselves against the “self-anointed purists who don’t warm to their snap tracks or frequent collaborations across hip-hop and pop.” This whole record comes across as defensive, right down to the cover, as if walking out of a barn somehow gives them country cred. But it’s hard to be something you aren’t, and the result of their efforts is a walking identity crisis which, though not the worst thing they’ve ever released, is certainly the most awkward and unsure of itself. It’s like two warring personalities were fighting for control of this record, and neither one really prevailed, so we wound up with a cluttered, contradictory, defensive mess.

ON one side, we have the FGL that are desperate to prove to everyone that they’re still country. The title track actually does this sort of well, inserting humorous details like the fact that it’s easier to believe the moon landing was fake than to declare that these guys aren’t country. It’s pretty decent on its own, but in the context of the whole album, it loses some of its merit. “Can’t Hide Red” is the darker, edgier version of this, featuring Jason Aldean and boasting about the dumb reasons they’re still rednecks even though they live in the city and play hip-hop. The darker, heavier production here is actually quite good; in fact, the instrumentation and production of a nice portion of this album is good, and certainly a huge improvement for Florida Georgia Line. It’s the lyrics, much like most of the duo’s output, where this song really fails, citing stupid reasons like smoking and drinking as evidence of their country cred and rhyming “twang” with “sing” because Tyler Hubbard intentionally pronounces it “sang” in a horribly exaggerated Southern drawl.

But it’s on this more country side of the record that we find the brighter spots. “Speed of Love” is just fun, and instead of rapping, it feels like the second verse is more of a spoken word thing that’s always been a part of country music. It’s nice to hear a prominent steel guitar in a Florida Georgia Line song as well. “Colorado,” one of the pre-released tracks that made the idea of this album interesting, is still one of the highlights, and yes, also sounds like modern pop country. “Simple” is still a fun track as well, although it’s a bit worse in light of the whole album, as the references to the simple life and flying down back roads feel more pandering in context.

By the same token, this attempt to cement their country status resulted in one of the worst things you’ll hear on any 2019 release: four useless skits featuring some redneck pastor named Brother Jervel. How anyone thought these would actually contribute to any of us taking Florida Georgia Line seriously is beyond me. I could go on, but these speak for themselves, and you have to hear them to fully appreciate their awfulness.

But even while trying to be as country as possible, they’ve somehow managed to also be less country than they’ve ever been on this album. WE have “Women,” featuring Jason Derulo, because you know, the presence of Jason Derulo is vital to any truly country record. The song itself is a lame attempt to do what Keith Urban attempted with “Female,” but it just fails spectacularly. “Talk You Out of It” is the first of several sex songs and the least offensive, as the production sort of works, and the lyrics aren’t completely cringe-worthy. It’s forgettable fluff on its own, but then, near the end of the record, we have the completely self-absorbed “Like You Never Had It,” a waste of three minutes where Tyler Hubbard tries to be charming by declaring that he’ll be the best sex this woman has ever had and that she’ll be calling her friends to brag about it. It’s followed up by “Swerve,” which, if possible, is even more God-awful. The hook of this is literally, “you’re makin’ me swerve.” Aside from the fact that that doesn’t really even make any sense, it’s filled with “Sun Daze” style innuendos and backed by horrifyingly bad production. And all of this begs the question: how can you call yourselves country in the same breath as giving us this crap?

What a confusing record. The dual personalities make this album a jarring, random, messy listen. On one hand, Florida Georgia Line seem hell-bent on proving that they’re still country and still fit in with their critics. ON the other hand, they’re stretching boundaries on some of these tracks further than they ever have, releasing some of the least country material of their careers. It’s obvious they don’t have a clue about their identity, and it’s a shame because behind all of the marketing and bullshit, there are a few really good selections here, bright spots on a strange album and in the duo’s career as a whole. Maybe they can’t say they aren’t country, but this record makes it clear that they can’t tell us who they are either.

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Album Review: Seneca by Charles Wesley Godwin

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Rating: 8.5/10

The roots of our beloved country music can be traced back to Appalachia, to the mountains of West Virginia and Kentucky where the struggles of real people laid the foundation for an entire genre. Even today, some of the most compelling country music being made is coming out of this region, from Tyler Childers to Justin Payne to Dori freeman. Charles Wesley Godwin is the next artist to bring the Appalachian sound and spirit to life, taking a more singer/songwriter approach similar to that of Freeman. If Tyler Childers is the Turnpike of Appalachian country, writing great lyrics that are still fantastic live, Godwin is more like the Jason Eady of the region, with thoughtful details and stories that capture the soul more and more with each listen.

Appalachia is home to a people with deep ties to the land and a resigned familiarity with the hard times. Godwin speaks of both in the opening song of his debut album, (“Windmill) Keep on Turning,” as he paints a picture of a difficult existence but declares that a mountain sunrise can make all those problems insignificant. It’s the beginning of an epic that unfolds throughout Seneca, a journey through Appalachia in both sound and story, told through these characters and through the lens of Godwin’s own perspective. It’s not a concept album, but it’s a complete and accurate portrait of West Virginia, from the loneliness of the woods to the struggle of the people to the hope that runs through it all and the beauty of the land that makes everything worth it.

The production of Seneca is nothing short of impressive. It’s often seen as secondary on projects like this, where the songwriting is the crown jewel. But Godwin uses the production to his advantage, as a tool to heighten these stories, the way it was meant to be utilized. There’s delicate piano to add color on “Coal Country,” and crying fiddles to accentuate the loneliness of “Seneca creek.” There is variety in instrumentation, but Godwin has definitely found his sound, a rare accomplishment on a debut album. Most of these songs are in darker keys, and everything feels lonesome, as if the whole album were recorded in a coal mine or on some deserted mountainside. But it’s not desolate and atmospheric like say, Red Shahan’s latest album, which tried to set the tumbleweeds and endless West Texas sky to music; rather, this record still has a warmth and intimacy to it. It’s lonesome, yes, but not lonely. It’s peaceful, capturing the mood of the land it portrays beautifully.

And then there are the stories themselves, from the five-minute tale of a couple who made their life together by Seneca Creek in the song of the same name to the story of the miner who tries to comfort his widow in “Sorry for the wait.” Godwin paints a bittersweet picture of the land in “Coal Country,” a land he calls broken and describes as lying “in its grave of Appalachian stone.” His love for West Virginia pours out in every line, as well as his grief for the hardships its people have endured.

But there’s beauty and hope in this place too. “Hardwood Floors” provides a nice bit of levity, with plenty of fiddle and steel to accompany a nice ode to dancing and living in the moment and just sharing a night with the one you love. “Strawberry Queen” is one of the best songs on a stellar record; it’s a simple, charming little love song, but it illustrates the beauty in the simple things, and how any struggle is easier to make it through with the right one by your side. “Shrinks and Pills,” though it’s one of the few places on the record where the production isn’t fantastic, provides a rueful, humorous way of looking at everything, saying that Godwin sings because “these songs save a fortune on shrinks and pills.” These lighter moments are exactly what a dark, intense album like this needs to keep from being depressing and make the deeper stuff stand out all the more.

As mentioned, “Shrinks and Pills” is one of a couple instances where the production doesn’t enhance the material, or perhaps it would be fairer to say it’s one moment where Charles Wesley Godwin’s enunciation issues affect the song, as the production here drowns him out a little. His enunciation will probably get better with time, but it’s a consistent problem throughout the album. This is a record you must listen to quite closely to hear everything, both because of the rich details and Godwin’s enunciation. but by the same token, Seneca is the kind of record that is certainly worth this level of attention; it’s an album where you’ll want to listen time and time again to catch every detail, or study a vinyl for every last lyric so that you don’t miss a word of this magical story.

Ladies and gentlemen, Charles Wesley Godwin has arrived, and this is one of the best debut albums I’ve ever had the privilege of reviewing. It’s well-written and excellently produced, a perfect picture of the land and culture from which it originated. The year is young, but this is easily the best album so far in 2019, and hopefully, it will be the first of many for Charles Wesley Godwin.

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Album Review: Flatland Cavalry–Homeland Insecurity

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Rating: 6/10

While Americana is out there struggling to define itself and make itself viable as a format, Texas country and Red dirt remain oblivious, churning out new talent as frequently as Nashville and boasting their own charts and festivals, all while placing greater value on songwriting and giving more freedom to the artists. The result is that even the commercial side of the format is often smarter lyrically than the majority of what Nashville has to offer, and the more substantive songwriters find greater reception of and appreciation for their music as well. The other side to this is that the Texas scene often falls into a trap in which it doesn’t receive criticism because even if it’s not fantastic, the music is consistently better than in Nashville. But if Texas is to be considered a true alternative to Nashville, then its artists must be subject to the same criticism given to the mainstream. Indeed, the scene should welcome it as a form of validation, but we rarely see this with critics and reviewers in Texas and Red Dirt music because it’s hard to criticize something that was delivered with heart and sincerity and is the music the artist wanted to make.

Flatland Cavalry’s latest record perfectly represents this duplicity in the Texas scene, finding itself in a place where it’s miles ahead of much of Nashville but rather average in the place from which it originated. Its writing is strong, excellent in some places, offering smart lyrics and accessible melodies. It is an intelligently written album that will still be quite catchy live. But live is where it will have to shine because the production on so much of this is frankly a mess. The end result is a good album that is somewhat ruined by production, making it better than the mainstream but quite mediocre in the grand scheme of things.

But there are some truly great moments on this record. “Back to me,” though it is a little hampered by the previously mentioned production, is a lovely song about the ups and downs of long-distance relationships. It’s followed by “Living by Moonlight,” anchored by a healthy does of fiddle and speaking of spending the days in darkness, living in bars and trying to ignore the rest of the world. “Come Back Down,” the album opener, is another strong moment, as the narrator sings about finally coming back home after spending time away and taking his home and family for granted. “Pretty Women” is a well-written look at the way women try to hide their problems with fancy clothes and makeup, and this one also features a ton of fiddle. “Honeywine” is a catchy, infectious love song that stands out as well, helped along by the harmonies of Kaitlin Butts which appear frequently throughout the record and add some nice color.

But too often, the writing is overshadowed by bad production choices. This is by far the most obvious in “Other side Of Lonesome,” which would have been a fine song if it didn’t sound like Cleto Cordero was singing from inside the bottom of a barrel. It’s nothing short of terrible, and I really question how anyone in the band thought it actually sounded ready for distribution. I’ve seen it offered that Flatland Cavalry were attempting to go for a lonesome sound similar to that on Red Shahan’s and Marty Stuart’s latest albums, but if so, this was a lazy attempt, as none of the instruments were produced like this at all, only the vocals. So it was either a very poor attempt at pulling off that sound or the more likely instance of just plain awful production.

This is the worst instance, but production issues cloud much of the record. The drums are buried in the mix throughout most of the album, a notable exception being on “Pretty Women,” and Cordero’s vocals, though never as badly produced as on “Other Side of lonesome,” echo the same issues in various places throughout the album. He also sounds completely bored on “ashes,” rendering that song quite forgettable. The whole thing sounds very unfinished, and if they’d just taken the time to clean up this record some, it would have improved significantly. As it is, too much of it sounds like a well-written but badly produced demo, a first draft waiting to be mastered and perfected. It will probably be fantastic live because these songs are strong lyrically and melodically, but in album form, too many of these just didn’t work.

Fundamentally, this is a good album. It could have been and should have been a much better one. There are some truly standout moments, where the writing really shines. The lyrics and melodies are strong, and when the production doesn’t get in the way, these songs really stand out and show the potential of this record and of Flatland Cavalry. But so much of this album is a mess in terms of production, and unfortunately, it renders a good record very average and completely ruins a couple songs. Flatland cavalry are better than the album they’ve released, and overall, it’s a pretty disappointing effort given the level of talent they possess.

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Album Review: Alice Wallace–Into the Blue

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Rating: 8/10

Too often, the “western” in “country and western” gets overlooked. We seek to keep the traditions of the South alive and well, desperately searching for artists who can carry the torch for country music into the future while still embracing the roots of the genre and the rich Southern culture that is so much a part of this music. But we forget that the West had as much influence on the genre as the South, and that California country music should be preserved and carried forward just like the more traditional styles. Enter Alice Wallace, who delivers a rootsy album that is as much California as Tyler Childers’ record is Kentucky, and makes a case for herself as a vocalist as well as for the importance of the West to country music.

Sonically, this record is quite varied; in fact, it seems to be a rather common criticism that this album is a little scattershot, and that Alice Wallace might not yet know who she is. It can be argued, however, that Wallace knows exactly who she is and brings that California spirit to life on this record. “When She cries” and “Echo canyon,” placed beside each other on the album, are about as sonically different as the city of Los Angeles and the rugged landscape not far from the city’s limits, but both of these represent California correctly. It’s Los Angeles, the city where the sun always shines and whose residents curse the sky but still race along the freeway at 80 miles per hour on the rare occasions when it rains, like in the soulful “When She cries.” But California is just as much the lonely deserts and forgotten canyons outside L.A., and it’s this aspect that’s brought to life by “Echo canyon,” the most country offering on the record. “Santa Ana Winds” goes for more of an Americana/rock feel, but this works perfectly with the sinister nature of the song, which addresses the wildfires so common to the region. And the Mexican influence is also a part of California’s heritage, represented here by the Latin-flavored “Desert Rose.”

It’s these distinctly Californian textures and references to things like I10 and mountain roads which tie this record together despite the sonic variety. Even “Elephants,” which sticks out the most sonically, fits in with the narrative of this album. at first glance, it’s a quiet, singer/songwriter moment that doesn’t really go with the rest of the record, but the song does a great job painting a picture of the fears and dangers women face on a daily basis. Considering that Hollywood has been at the center of all of this, it’s fair to say that this track certainly earns its place on a California album.

It’s also a testament to Alice Wallace’s vocal skill that she succeeds so well at all of these styles. She sounds just as natural belting “When She Cries” and the other soulful number, “The Same Old song,” as she does yodeling on “Echo Canyon.” It’s versatility which marks this album rather than indecision, and in the world of Americana, it’s always good to have a competent vocalist.

If there is one weakness here, it would be some of the songwriting on the back half of the record. The first seven songs are excellent, including the aforementioned “When She Cries,” “Echo Canyon,” and “desert Rose.” Another standout both melodically and lyrically is “The Blue,” also one of Wallace’s best vocal performances on the album. But for the last four tracks, the lyrical quality drops off a bit. “Motorcycle Ride” is the exception here, with its soaring melody and message of taking risks and opportunities when they come. There’s no filler on this album, but the front half is definitely stronger, and this is where you’ll find the songs that hook you on Alice Wallace as both a vocalist and a songwriter.

Overall, this is a strong album from Alice Wallace, as well as a cool showcase of the western influence and California spirit so important to country music. The sounds and styles are quite varied, but that just means there’s something here for everyone. It works because it’s all united by the California thread running through it, and it’s great to see the “western” in our beloved country music living on and marching proudly into the future.

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Album Review: Cody Johnson–Ain’t Nothin’ to It

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Rating: 8/10

When it comes to the world of Texas country and Red dirt, Cody Johnson won’t be the first name you turn to when recommending worthy artists in the scene. The first band many will point to is Turnpike Troubadours. The best live show might again be the Troubadours, or perhaps Koe Wetzel, or, on the more commercial side of Texas country, Aaron Watson. Even the first Cody many are likely to name-check is Jinks, though it can be argued Cody Jinks is quite independent from any scene and just out there doing his own thing. Still, it’s Jinks that many independent fans would like to see given an opportunity in Nashville, although Jinks himself might refuse that particular distinction. Cody Johnson is not the best artist in the Texas scene, but he’s solid, and country, and an excellent choice to walk through the door of a major record label and come out winning. That’s what this cover symbolizes–Cody Johnson has walked through the door separating Texas and Nashville and lived to tell the tale. He’s done it without compromise because he has the fan base to back him up, a voice that would sound ridiculous singing anything but country songs, and enough polish to appeal to some of the more traditionally and lyrically minded mainstream listeners.

That’s the cool thing about this album; this is now the record you can recommend to your friends when they ask why you don’t listen to the mainstream and why you enjoy traditional country. It’s a record for the country radio listeners who aren’t out there seeking the depth or sound of someone like Jason Isbell but who miss the sound of a fiddle and good country storytelling. It’s the album for George Strait and Alan Jackson fans who crave that traditional flavor in their music while also enjoying pragmatic lyrics and some modern sensibilities. It’s not the staunch throwback sound of Joshua Hedley or the typical outlaw country fare offered by so many these days, but a true example of how traditional-sounding country can still exist in the modern context. And perhaps most important of all, it’s a door through which other similar artists might be able to walk and find success now that Johnson has made a way for them.

As for the songs themselves, they’re solid and steady like Johnson himself. Cody hasn’t compromised his sound and style, and that’s one of the best attributes of the whole album, that every note and lyric still represent the Johnson his fans have come to know and love. There’s no running theme tying this record together, but most of these songs are good selections and earn their place on the album. “Dear Rodeo” is the highlight, with its heartfelt lyrics about his love/hate relationship with the rodeo and how much he misses it. The title track is another standout moment, as a father gives advice to his son on how to make love and marriage work. On the other side of the spectrum, there’s “Understand Why,” a clever breakup song detailing all the places he’d like to go to avoid his ex. Also, as a lover of the original and a skeptic about this version, I must say that the cover of “Long Haired Country boy” was a pleasant surprise. Johnson really pulls this off and makes it his own without taking anything away from the original. And if you can keep from singing along to “Honky Tonk Mood,” I really question your ability to have fun.

Even the lighter material is delivered with an infectious passion and energy. This element is so often lost in independent music, and it’s great to see this brought to the mainstream as proof that traditional country isn’t always dull or unhappy. The aforementioned “Honky Tonk Mood” is anchored by a healthy does of fiddle, a sound nearly forsaken by the majority of mainstream country artists. “Doubt Me Now” is admittedly cringe-worthy in some places lyrically, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy this song. It’s because of the heart, passion, and personality Cody Johnson brings to each track, breathing life and vitality into every word. This will be very cool in a live setting. “Y’all People,” dedicated to Johnson’s fans, feels like a pandering misstep and could have been left off a fifteen-track record, but again, it will probably be great live, and it’s these kinds of songs that make Johnson the right person to bridge the gap between Texas and Nashville, mainstream and independent. Although the album does feel a bit long, this is the only track that really comes across as needless, and it’s harmless filler rather than a truly bad offering.

Cody Johnson is having success with this record for good reason. It’s traditional in sound and style while still offering modern textures and pragmatic songwriting. It’s the perfect balance between Texas and Nashville, offering enough substance and country instrumentation for independent fans while still being accessible and a fun listen. The lyrics are smart, and the melodies are engaging. Most importantly, this record is a significant step for independent artists, and hopefully, Cody Johnson’s success will pave the way for other artists to be given opportunities by major labels. Time will tell on that front, but for now, this is a great record and a solid bridge between the two worlds.

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