California Sunrise opens with a statement, the aggressively traditional "Out of Style," a five minute romp about how the themes and tropes of classic country music are still alive in real life and in the good country music of today. At this point, you know what Jon Pardi represents and what he sets out to do with his music. The second song is the undeniably catchy "Cowboy Hat," the song that this listener hopes is the next single from the album. After the success of "Head Over Boots," I think Pardi has a chance to further his cause with "Cowboy Hat," a fiddle heavy ode to his lover dancing around in his cowboy hat and nothing else. Even with the obvious nods to sex, the song has an innocent charm to it that should warm even the hearts of snobby radio listeners who get their drawers in a bunch over any little inconsequential thing. With other, lesser artists releasing much more blatant sex songs that aren't nearly as well written, I think Pardi has the potential to score a fast-rising #1 with "Cowboy Hat."
The third song on the album is already the biggest hit of Jon Pardi's career. "Head Over Boots" may not be the deepest song in the world, but what it stands for in regard to mainstream country radio makes it the most important single on radio right now, in my opinion. "Head Over Boots" is layered in fiddle and steel, with a recognizable dance hall melody and a tangible message of a long-standing relationship. It's a song suited for the dance floor, and I mean real dancing, not the spastic drunken nonsense that you see from people trying to dance to something created by a computer.
After 3 songs, California Sunrise endears itself to its listeners and creates a loyalty that'll hold tight through the album's few missteps. The fourth track is "Night Shift," another ode from a man to his lover about their late night bedroom activities. The lyric is nothing special, and perhaps the song is saved somewhat by a tasteful guitar solo in the outro, but "Night Shift" is the first song on the album that might not become a concert standard for Pardi. "Can't Turn You Down" follows but breaks no new ground. It's a solid song with a nice chorus and great use of fiddle and steel but it isn't a definite favorite of mine. At this point we reach track six, which is the low point of California Sunrise. "Dirt on My Boots" is probably a song that Pardi had to record to even have the album released, something we've seen on recent albums by Nashville's better artists like David Nail and with the most recent release from Brady Clark, where one song clashes with the rest of the album but might fit on radio. "Dirt on My Boots" isn't over-the-top bad, but it was written by the clown car of Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, and Ashley Gorley, songwriters who have tagged their names to some great songs over the years but most recently are responsible for much of the drivel on the radio. "Dirt on My Boots" is mildly irritating but Pardi found a way to make it tasteful and tolerable. Nevertheless, I still skip it when I listen to the album.
After that disappointment, the album redeems itself with perhaps its most traditional song--"She Ain't In It." It's the classic "I'll do it as long as she ain't involved" conversation between a man and his friend. This song has what I would call a staunchly traditional arrangement, even more so than "Out of Style." I can hear George Strait singing this song in my head, and that's good thing.
The next two songs are up to par, if not overly enthralling. "All Time High" and "Heartache on the Dance Floor" will get stuck in listeners' heads, particularly the tangible subject covered in the latter. Pardi sings about meeting a girl at a bar one night but never getting her name or number, returning to the same bar regularly hoping she comes back. Who hasn't experienced something like that?
"Paycheck" comes next and would fit into any era of country. It's the classic "I got paid and I'm worn down by my job so I'm going to hit the bars and enjoy myself" song. "Lucky Tonight" comes next and is also a classic story told many times through country music history, that of a man going out hoping to find somebody who will distract him form the pain caused by a breakup. These two songs obviously don't break new ground but they are refreshing to hear on a mainstream country album instead of some clumsy hip hop beat and auto-tune.
Last but not least is the wonderful title track, a tribute to the beauty of, you a guessed it, a California sunrise, and of course there's a comparison to the narrator's love interest. Imagery is a big part of this song, with plenty of great lines like "Everything about her felt like home." It's one of the best tracks on the album and closes it out nicely.
Overall, the best part of California Sunrise is the positive impact it could have on country radio if Jon Pardi and his label play their cards right with the songs they release as singles. There are plenty of standouts to choose form between "Cowboy Hat," "She Ain't in It," and "California Sunrise." I suspect none of these to be the next single but I wouldn't put it past Pardi's camp to pull off a surprise.
Once this disc ends you'll find yourself wanting to hear it again. And again after that.
8/10
You call the writers of one song a "clown car"--do you feel like the writers of new country songs are to blame for this downturn? Or are these corporate-sponsored writers with specific catch-phrases they need to include in their songs to get listeners?
ReplyDeleteI don't blame them entirely because they need to put food on their tables, but they're overlooking how much damage they're doing to mainstream music. The artists are mostly to blame, in my opinion--they don't have to record this kind of stuff to succeed. Guys like Luke Bryan and Tim McGraw (until recently) could have released solid traditional music to radio and still succeeded. At the same time, guys like Jon Pardi are second to third tier country artists who just hope that their labels won't stonewall their releases if they don't cater to the label's requests a little bit. MCA Nashville was doing this over the past couple of years. David Nail had a new album announced for almost an entire year before he finally got to release it, and he had to cut a very poppy tune and have it get radio play in order to have it happen. Josh Turner, who I think you are familiar with, is also on MCA Nashville and hasn't had an album released in over 4 years because he won't cater to the label.
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