New Country Releases Rankdown Thread

[.indulgecountry]

Nate Smith may be one of the hottest new male acts on the country scene, but his appeal seems to be lost on Pulse so far as his latest single "Bulletproof" comes in as our last place for the February set. Only one other song realistically battled it for the bottom slot, but in the end this song suffered too many low ranks, landing in half of the participant pool's bottom 5, including a pair of #25s from myself and castleoblivion26. A mere two top 10s were given to this one by zaclord 🌈 and nuggie99.

[.indulgecountry]

24. "Holy Smokes" - Bailey Zimmerman

Total: 265

🌺CountryLineDancer : 8
zaclord 🌈 : 11
zack97 : 13
LBTrocks : 14
nuggie99 : 16
SHOOTER : 17
castleoblivion26 : 18
.indulgecountry : 18
bboat11 : 19
kw9461 : 19
tim : 20
wavey. : 20
George Strait Junkie : 23
Darkest Hour : 24
taylor is terrified : 25

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
16 Carriages
American Girl
As You Are
Bless Your Heart
Blue Over You
Country's Cool Again
Deeper Well
God & Country
Had It All
Hard to Read
Heaven, Are You Listening?
Hits Home
A Little Goes a Long Way
Matchmaker
Next Best Thing
Out Here in It
Perfectly Lonely
Purple Irises
Texas Hold 'Em
This Truck Still Misses You
Two Night Stands
Use Me
What I Couldn't Forget

[.indulgecountry]

Speaking of male country stars who are on fire right now, over the past year, Bailey Zimmerman has emerged as one of the hottest new stars in the genre. His latest standalone, "Holy Smokes," contended for last place, however in the end it was able to usurp Nate's song by a 10-point margin. Only one top 10 rank this time (sorry 🌺CountryLineDancer), though OTOH, it received far less bottom 5s and instead landed mostly in the upper teens for most participants, allowing it to stave off the dreaded last place and settled into the penultimate spot instead.

[Darkest Hour]

Bulletproof has a somewhat interesting intro riff in Tom Petty's style, but the production is so overblown that it's quite difficult to listen to the actual music. It does sound like a multi-week #1 on country radio though so we'll see.

Bored by the lazy religious reference in a lot of Bailey Zimmerman's music, including Holy Smokes.

[LBTrocks]

"Bulletproof" literally just exists for me. I continue to be unimpressed with Nate Smith. However; this month was SO awful, that last place for this is crazy to me lol.

"Holy Smokes" is meh af. I adore Bailey Zimmerman, so was able to rank it at 14 in a bad month like this, but I would never purposely revisit it and it is a song i'd likely skip when it comes on. Again tho, bottom 2 is crazy given how much dreck is here.

I have no interest in much outside of my top 10, honestly. I love how we went from one of the absolute best months we ever ranked in January to one of the absolute worst this one lol

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Nate Smith is amazing (personally as well, he was one of the nicest artists that I talked to when I saw him outside of the concert venue), and I love his EP, but Bulletproof was not his strongest output.

"Holy Smokes" has been on Canadian radio chart for a few weeks now, so I'm guessing that it will be the next single.

[zack97]

I just realized I didn't comment on the few remaining songs for the January rankdown.

(But I'm pleased with the results and want to thank indulge for doing a fantastic job as host! :) )

Any-hoo... this month is going to be a weird one for me. I find it ironic that I have some of the higher ranks for the first two songs out, because compared to January - where I loved or liked nearly everything the month had to offer - February is a LOT weaker for me. Like, I'm pretty sure I could take or leave anything not in my top five or so (thankfully, this will all remedied by another really strong month in March).

So yeah, not sad to see Nate or Bailey go. I actually like the latter artist quite a bit despite him not really branching out much sonically or lyrically. But this isn't one of his stronger efforts.

[.indulgecountry]

23. "Purple Irises" - Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton

Total: 238

taylor is terrified : 6
wavey. : 6
.indulgecountry : 10
SHOOTER : 11
zaclord 🌈 : 14
bboat11 : 15
🌺CountryLineDancer : 16
George Strait Junkie : 16
LBTrocks : 18
zack97 : 18
tim : 19
castleoblivion26 : 19
kw9461 : 21
nuggie99 : 24
Darkest Hour : 25

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
16 Carriages
American Girl
As You Are
Bless Your Heart
Blue Over You
Country's Cool Again
Deeper Well
God & Country
Had It All
Hard to Read
Heaven, Are You Listening?
Hits Home
A Little Goes a Long Way
Matchmaker
Next Best Thing
Out Here in It
Perfectly Lonely
Texas Hold 'Em
This Truck Still Misses You
Two Night Stands
Use Me
What I Couldn't Forget

[.indulgecountry]

Gwen Stefani + Blake Shelton have become quite a couplet, releasing duet after duet over the past 5 years or so. This time around, Gwen takes the lead role. "Purple Irises" managed to land only 4 top-half ranks, including a pair of #6s from taylor is terrified and wavey., though it ended up in the upper teens for most. A trio of bottom 5s anchored by Darkest Hour's last place sunk its top 20 chances.

[.indulgecountry]

22. "Heaven, Are You Listening?" - Kalsey Kulyk

Total: 231

zack97 : 4
bboat11 : 7
George Strait Junkie : 7
LBTrocks : 8
🌺CountryLineDancer : 13
castleoblivion26 : 13
.indulgecountry : 14
kw9461 : 16
tim : 18
zaclord 🌈 : 19
SHOOTER : 21
taylor is terrified : 22
nuggie99 : 23
wavey. : 23
Darkest Hour : 23

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
16 Carriages
American Girl
As You Are
Bless Your Heart
Blue Over You
Country's Cool Again
Deeper Well
God & Country
Had It All
Hard to Read
Hits Home
A Little Goes a Long Way
Matchmaker
Next Best Thing
Out Here in It
Perfectly Lonely
Texas Hold 'Em
This Truck Still Misses You
Two Night Stands
Use Me
What I Couldn't Forget

[.indulgecountry]

Canadian country artist Kalsey Kulyk dropped her album Outlaw Poetry in February, and "Heaven, Are You Listening?" struck a chord with me as did her sweet nasal twang. Four participants slotted it in their top 10s, including a top 5 from zack97. It wound up in the bottom 5 for five posters, however, making it an uphill battle to move higher in the placements (though she only missed the top 20 by about 10 points).

[.indulgecountry]

21. "Out Here in It" - Tracy Lawrence

Total: 224

George Strait Junkie : 1
kw9461 : 3
castleoblivion26 : 3
zack97 : 7
nuggie99 : 10
bboat11 : 14
tim : 15
Darkest Hour : 15
LBTrocks : 17
taylor is terrified : 21
🌺CountryLineDancer : 22
.indulgecountry : 23
zaclord 🌈 : 23
SHOOTER : 25
wavey. : 25

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
16 Carriages
American Girl
As You Are
Bless Your Heart
Blue Over You
Country's Cool Again
Deeper Well
God & Country
Had It All
Hard to Read
Hits Home
A Little Goes a Long Way
Matchmaker
Next Best Thing
Perfectly Lonely
Texas Hold 'Em
This Truck Still Misses You
Two Night Stands
Use Me
What I Couldn't Forget

[.indulgecountry]

90s country veteran Tracy Lawrence dropped "Out Here in It," his first new taste of music in awhile. This wound up being one of the most divisive tracks in the set as we see our first #1 loss courtesy of George Strait Junkie as well as a pair of #3s and two other top 10s, but SIX people lose a bottom 5, including last places from SHOOTER and wavey..

[tim]

I initially wasn't too keen on "Purple Irises," but after giving it a few spins, I must admit it grew on me as it's undeniably catchy. However, I still couldn't justify placing it any higher than I did.

[LBTrocks]

"Purple Irises" did nothing for me. I love Gwen Stefani so was hoping to like this, but nope.

How on earth is a pretty song like "Heaven, Are You Listening?" out in a month so dreadful? Very confusing lol.

Never have been a Tracy Lawrence fan and "Out Here In It" did nothing to change that.

My #1 is on borrowed time. As a matter of fact, I'm shocked it isn't out already. Watch it be next lol.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

"Heaven, Are You Listening?" does not deserve to be in the bottom 5 in this list. Kalsey's album is a solid listen overall. 

[.indulgecountry]

20. "Perfectly Lonely" - Parker McCollum

Total: 222

zaclord 🌈 : 2
nuggie99 : 5
kw9461 : 7
🌺CountryLineDancer : 11
SHOOTER : 13
George Strait Junkie : 14
castleoblivion26 : 15
Darkest Hour : 16
wavey. : 16
taylor is terrified : 17
bboat11 : 17
zack97 : 21
tim : 22
LBTrocks : 22
.indulgecountry : 24

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
16 Carriages
American Girl
As You Are
Bless Your Heart
Blue Over You
Country's Cool Again
Deeper Well
God & Country
Had It All
Hard to Read
Hits Home
A Little Goes a Long Way
Matchmaker
Next Best Thing
Perfectly Lonely
Texas Hold 'Em
This Truck Still Misses You
Two Night Stands
Use Me
What I Couldn't Forget

[.indulgecountry]

This and our next reveal were tied in points, both coming in just 2 points ahead of Tracy Lawrence's tune that just missed top 20. Parker McCollum's a hot and cold artist on Pulse. When he's on, he's on, but "Perfectly Lonely" is a misfire as few people had this one high on their lists. A #2 rank from zaclord 🌈 is the highest lost, though a quartet of bottom 5s is ousted with it.

[.indulgecountry]

19. "As You Are" - Tenille Townes

Total: 222

Darkest Hour : 2
zack97 : 3
taylor is terrified : 3
.indulgecountry : 13
tim : 14
🌺CountryLineDancer : 14
zaclord 🌈 : 15
bboat11 : 16
George Strait Junkie : 17
nuggie99 : 18
wavey. : 19
LBTrocks : 19
castleoblivion26 : 23
SHOOTER : 23
kw9461 : 23

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
16 Carriages
American Girl
Bless Your Heart
Blue Over You
Country's Cool Again
Deeper Well
God & Country
Had It All
Hard to Read
Hits Home
A Little Goes a Long Way
Matchmaker
Next Best Thing
Texas Hold 'Em
This Truck Still Misses You
Two Night Stands
Use Me
What I Couldn't Forget

[.indulgecountry]

Breaking the tie by having a pair of #3s as the next-highest rank following another lone #2 (this time courtesy of Darkest Hour), is Tenille Townes with "As You Are." If you were taking bets on which Tenille would bow out first, if you guessed Townes you would've been right! Another divisive artist on Pulse, aside from a trio of top 5s and a trio of bottom 5s, she mostly ran up a healthy spread in the teens for the remaining ranks.

[.indulgecountry]

18. "Matchmaker" - Erin Kinsey

Total: 217

LBTrocks : 1
taylor is terrified : 5
wavey. : 10
George Strait Junkie : 11
.indulgecountry : 12
zaclord 🌈 : 12
castleoblivion26 : 12
nuggie99 : 14
zack97 : 16
SHOOTER : 16
🌺CountryLineDancer : 18
kw9461 : 20
Darkest Hour : 21
tim : 24
bboat11 : 25

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
16 Carriages
American Girl
Bless Your Heart
Blue Over You
Country's Cool Again
Deeper Well
God & Country
Had It All
Hard to Read
Hits Home
A Little Goes a Long Way
Next Best Thing
Texas Hold 'Em
This Truck Still Misses You
Two Night Stands
Use Me
What I Couldn't Forget

[.indulgecountry]

LBTrocks is the second person to lose their #1 rank as Erin Kinsey's funky "Matchmaker" meets its maker in this RD. taylor is terrified and wavey. also slotted this one top 10 and she had a little patch of near-misses with four ranks in the 11-12 range. OTOH, bboat11 loses their last place here, plus two others lose a bottom 5.

[Darkest Hour]

23. Sounds like a boring Hot AC song more than country.
22. Unfortunately the nasal twang is the biggest problem for me. It sounds too distracting especially during the bridge.
21. Quite a bit lazy "In Between" like lyrics, and the neo-trad country instrumental doesn't really stand out here.
20. His vocals aren't fit to cover John Mayer at all.
19. Kinda expected this to be somewhat tanked because #ballad but I thought it would be closer to top 10. The building alternative rock melody really works with her great vocal performance imo.
18. The somewhat quirky lines like telephone number quote in the chorus just doesn't work with me at all.

[.indulgecountry]

17. "This Truck Still Misses You" - Scoot Teasley

Total: 213

🌺CountryLineDancer : 2
nuggie99 : 6
castleoblivion26 : 7
zack97 : 11
kw9461 : 11
Darkest Hour : 12
SHOOTER : 12
wavey. : 12
George Strait Junkie : 15
LBTrocks : 16
tim : 21
bboat11 : 21
.indulgecountry : 21
zaclord 🌈 : 22
taylor is terrified : 24

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
16 Carriages
American Girl
Bless Your Heart
Blue Over You
Country's Cool Again
Deeper Well
God & Country
Had It All
Hard to Read
Hits Home
A Little Goes a Long Way
Next Best Thing
Texas Hold 'Em
Two Night Stands
Use Me
What I Couldn't Forget

[.indulgecountry]

In his first appearance in the series, Scoot Teasley puts up a decent showing for "This Truck Still Misses You." The point values from the stretch of songs that placed #14-21 are only separated by a total of about 15 points, but this falls right in the middle of that spread. Five posters slotted this one bottom 5, but it does pick up a lofty #2 rank from 🌺CountryLineDancer and a pair of additional top 10s from nuggie99 and castleoblivion26.

[.indulgecountry]

16. "American Girl" - Dierks Bentley

Total: 212

🌺CountryLineDancer : 3
kw9461 : 4
castleoblivion26 : 8
Darkest Hour : 8
bboat11 : 9
nuggie99 : 9
zaclord 🌈 : 10
zack97 : 14
SHOOTER : 18
George Strait Junkie : 18
taylor is terrified : 19
LBTrocks : 21
.indulgecountry : 22
wavey. : 24
tim : 25

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
16 Carriages
American Girl
Bless Your Heart
Blue Over You
Country's Cool Again
Deeper Well
God & Country
Had It All
Hard to Read
Hits Home
A Little Goes a Long Way
Next Best Thing
Texas Hold 'Em
Two Night Stands
Use Me
What I Couldn't Forget

[.indulgecountry]

A Tom Petty tribute album is due out at the end of this month, featuring prominent country singers putting their spin on his songs. "American Girl," done by Dierks Bentley, was chosen as the radio single in support of the project. An artist who is normally fairly popular on Pulse, Dierks struggled a bit here as he lands one point shy of a top 15 finish. tim slotted this one last on his list, and a trio of other participants also had this one bottom 5. OTOH, while it received a decent string of top 10 ranks, including a #3 from 🌺CountryLineDancer (who just lost his #2 in the prior reveal #oop), few people stuck this one in the middle, indicating a very hot/cold response to this.

[.indulgecountry]

15. "Blue Over You" - Mason Ramsey

Total: 210

nuggie99 : 2
castleoblivion26 : 4
Darkest Hour : 4
zack97 : 5
tim : 5
taylor is terrified : 10
bboat11 : 13
wavey. : 14
.indulgecountry : 15
🌺CountryLineDancer : 20
George Strait Junkie : 21
zaclord 🌈 : 24
SHOOTER : 24
kw9461 : 24
LBTrocks : 25

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
16 Carriages
American Girl
Bless Your Heart
Country's Cool Again
Deeper Well
God & Country
Had It All
Hard to Read
Hits Home
A Little Goes a Long Way
Next Best Thing
Texas Hold 'Em
Two Night Stands
Use Me
What I Couldn't Forget

[.indulgecountry]

Mason Ramsey, aka the Walmart Yodel Boy, had a bit of a viral moment this spring with "Blue Over You" picking up some love on social media/streaming apps. The yodel-esque performance of it helped it to stand out, and also offered a bit of an old school throwback sound while harkening back to what made him become famous as a kid in the first place. It did not go over well for everyone, however, as this was another wildly polarizing track, perhaps the most of anything included this month. Mason received top 5 ranks from five posters, as well as bottom 5 ranks from five posters, including LBTrocks' last place. Definitely some strong opinions on this one way or the other.

[.indulgecountry]

14. "Next Best Thing" - Tenille Arts

Total: 209

bboat11 : 2
🌺CountryLineDancer : 5
wavey. : 7
George Strait Junkie : 9
LBTrocks : 12
taylor is terrified : 13
SHOOTER : 15
.indulgecountry : 16
tim : 16
zaclord 🌈 : 17
kw9461 : 17
Darkest Hour : 18
zack97 : 20
nuggie99 : 21
castleoblivion26 : 21

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
16 Carriages
American Girl
Bless Your Heart
Country's Cool Again
Deeper Well
God & Country
Had It All
Hard to Read
Hits Home
A Little Goes a Long Way
Texas Hold 'Em
Two Night Stands
Use Me
What I Couldn't Forget