bboat Reviews Modern Country Radio

[bboat11]

"I Like Big Trucks" - Alli Walker

This song actually makes me really sad. Of course it is a play on the classic "I Like Big Butts" song. "I like big trucks and I cannot lie, all y'all rednecks can't deny...." Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeecccccchhhhh. The trend of calling back to popular songs is definitely in full swing right now, so this is just par for the course alongside stuff like "On the Boat Again", "She Had Me at Heads Carolina", etc.

The biggest problem I have with this trend is that some of these artists have absolutely nothing of value to add to these songs. A lot of them are using Bro Country Stereotypes to blatantly chase an easy hit by using a familiar stereotype with a familiar melody. That's how you get songs like "Chevrolet" by Dustin Lynch, and now this one by Alli Walker.

Of course "I Like Big Butts" is a song that is so popular simply because of its over-the-top campiness, so to copy that song so blatantly automatically means the campiness will transfer over to this one as well. Meaning it is intended to be a joke. And yet, you take this song that is so clearly supposed to be a joke, and you make it about....big trucks??!? It's such a common stereotype that it undermines its own humor and goes right back to being real. It is literally just trying to use a bro country stereotype to cash in on easy money.

The reason I am sad about this is because Alli Walker shouts this message from the rooftops and buys into it 100%. It feels very authentically "her". And that is really sad for me because this personality is based on nothing but stereotypes. This is an artist who has been brought up in an environment where it is perfectly normal for the main character in a song to be nothing but a caricature. And for her to be embracing this message with her full throat like this means that she has bought into the flawed idea that characters who are so one-dimensional are at all relatable or compelling for modern audiences.

Compare this with a female main character from before the bro country movement, such as the narrator of Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman". She obviously also likes trucks, but she has an entire fiery personality as well that makes her incredibly compelling and relatable. She has agency, and she chooses to use it to be like one of the guys, but still has a sneaky feminine side as well that keeps them all on their toes and makes her interesting to listen to. The narrator in Alli's song on the other hand is so painfully one-dimensional that she is worth nothing but the attention of all the men who want to climb up in her truck every time she pulls up. And that she can put out a song like this thinking that it is "fun" means that she is just another victim of the bro country movement.

But the saddest thing of all is definitely that she goes so far out of her way to simp for Ram throughout the song?! Which is objectively the worst of the big pickup brands.... Like, ew!

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castleoblivion26   taylor is terrified   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97

[bboat11]

"Hey Mom I Made It" - Sacha

🌺CountryLineDancer Did I see something saying that "Hey Mom I Made It" was Sacha's major label debut?? I know that she has had a little bit of minor success up in Canada with "We Did" and "Confident", but if she officially has some promotional muscle behind her now that's super exciting!

As you can probably guess from the title, this is a song dedicated to the mom of the narrator. Mom has been put through hell, worried about her daughter, staying up late praying that she would make good choices and grow up to be a good person. It's a pretty universal theme among moms, no matter how good their children are, lmao. But the chorus for this one launches into a catchy exclamation of success, "Hey mom, I made it!"

She clarifies that she may not be talking about fame, but she is indeed talking about living an all-around successful, well-rounded life. She has learned to love herself, and she is in love with a good man, and she is happy. Also, she mentions that she has been through hell and she has made it through, which to me implies she has also been picking up some more resilience along the way, which is always a good thing.

Overall the melody is pretty catchy, and Sacha's vocal here is incredible as per her usual. I could see it being a hit! It gets a solid B+.

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castleoblivion26   taylor is terrified   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

I also had never heard of Melissa Livingstone until this song. She seems to be from Ucluelet (close to Tofino) on Vancouver Island, which is like a popular destination from Vancouverites, but even still, she did not make it to the local radio until this one. But she was apparently nominated to a few awards on BCCMA (local country music awards). 

I would definitely consider Brett Kissel to be one of the iconic male country singers in Canada, along with Dean and Dallas. He definitely had more success a few years back, but seems like radio is into Let Your Horses Run so far. I'm not warmed up to the song yet, I think Two Of US was a jam, but that also grew on me so this may do the same. 

I actually like Alli Walker, and I included her like 4 times in my YE RDs even without charting, so I am very happy that she finally put her name on the radio chart for the first time! The problem is that she did that with one of her worst songs, and her recent release after signing with a major label have been meh to me. 

I'm not entirely sure with Sacha's label situation. She was briefly with Starseed (Dean Brody, Jade Eagleson etc), but many of her songs were also credited to Sony Music Canada, including Hey Mom I Made It and her previous 2 singles. So yeah, maybe it is the first single that is fully supported by Sony, but not entirely sure why they say it's the major label debut. 

[kluen]

IMO there are some similarities of Megan Moroney and Miranda Lambert

One thing is when they sing ballads,there is a kind of slothness that makes them sound so genuine

[.indulgecountry]

Jun 2, 2024 4:20:41 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

"I Like Big Trucks" - Alli Walker

Joe Nichols did it better:

[bboat11]

Jun 7, 2024 4:06:20 GMT -5 🌺CountryLineDancer said:

SPOILER: Click to show

{6/5/2024}

lw	TW	Artist	Title	TW	lw	Move	Aud
1	1	BAILEY ZIMMERMAN	Where It Ends	1954	1975	-21	2.951
3	2	JORDAN DAVIS	Tucson Too Late	1726	1616	110	2.423
4	3	JELLY ROLL	Halfway To Hell	1702	1545	157	2.377
11	4	POST MALONE	I Had Some Help f/M. Wallen	1652	1315	337	2.688
2	5	SAM HUNT	Outskirts	1599	1803	-204	2.345
5	6	PARKER MCCOLLUM	Burn It Down	1518	1503	15	2.234
10	7	NATE SMITH	Bulletproof	1426	1370	56	2.122
6	8	REKLAWS	I Grew Up On A Farm	1387	1412	-25	1.862
8	9	HIGH VALLEY	Not Yet	1364	1381	-17	1.878
7	10	OWEN RIEGLING	Old Dirt Roads	1353	1395	-42	1.964
15	11	KENNY CHESNEY	Take Her Home	1309	1261	48	1.914
14	12	TYLER JOE MILLER	Broken Man	1283	1269	14	1.721
17	13	JADE EAGLESON	Telluride	1147	1187	-40	1.665
19	14	JASON ALDEAN	Let Your Boys Be Country	1124	1031	93	1.512
18	15	ASHLEY COOKE	your place	1091	1066	25	1.487
25	16	LUKE COMBS	Ain't No Love In Oklahoma	1069	791	278	1.549
12	17	MACKENZIE PORTER	Bet You Break My Heart	1030	1304	-274	1.447
16	18	MORGAN WALLEN	Man Made A Bar f/Eric Church	1003	1197	-194	1.403
20	19	DALLAS SMITH	Use Me	961	865	96	1.363
22	20	TONY STEVENS	Whiskey In Colorado	918	834	84	1.188
23	21	TENILLE TOWNES	Thing That Brought Me Here...	879	827	52	1.087
28	22	BRETT KISSEL	Let Your Horses Run	838	735	103	1.109
36	23	SHABOOZEY	A Bar Song (Tipsy)	771	595	176	1.053
33	24	CODY JOHNSON	Dirt Cheap	770	621	149	1.058
31	25	KEITH URBAN	Messed Up As Me	726	704	22	0.818
26	26	JESS MOSKALUKE	Go Get Er	690	756	-66	1.021
35	27	DEAN BRODY	Your Mama Would Hate Me f/JBB	672	598	74	0.903
29	28	MATT LANG	All Night Longer	653	734	-81	0.933
37	29	MORGAN WALLEN	Cowgirls f/ERNEST	609	531	78	0.912
34	30	DUSTIN LYNCH	Chevrolet f/Jelly Roll	587	617	-30	0.722
38	31	CARLY PEARCE	We Don't Fight...f/C.Stapleton	552	526	26	0.749
39	32	CHRIS YOUNG	Young Love & Saturday Nights	528	401	127	0.667
32	33	JACKSON DEAN	Fearless	493	642	-149	0.63
40	34	STEVEN LEE OLSEN	Bigger Than This Town	486	397	89	0.624
41	35	LAINEY WILSON	Hang Tight Honey	470	396	74	0.462
46	36	MEGAN MORONEY	I'm Not Pretty	422	329	93	0.637
48	37	JOJO MASON	Bottom Shelf	413	264	149	0.418
44	38	BRYAN MARTIN	We Ride	411	370	41	0.461
42	39	DASHA	Austin	397	385	12	0.419
45	40	KANE BROWN & MARSHMELLO	Miles On It	396	336	60	0.415
43	41	TEBEY	Blinding Lights	391	376	15	0.449
49	42	LUKE BRYAN	Love You, Miss You, Mean It	262	246	16	0.259
53	43	SACHA	Hey Mom I Made It	222	132	90	0.218
51	44	TIM MCGRAW	One Bad Habit	208	163	45	0.172
50	45	THOMAS RHETT	Beautiful As You	181	179	2	0.098
57	46	RODNEY SLADE	The Lazy & The Good For ...	130	85	45	0.084
52	47	DIERKS BENTLEY	American Girl	119	141	-22	0.102
55	48	TENILLE ARTS	Last Time Last f/Maddie & Tae	114	114	0	0.018
58	49	WASHBOARD UNION	Band On Her T-Shirt	96	85	11	0.034
59	50	AARON GOODVIN	Written All Over It	90	79	11	0.112

Lol was this intended for somewhere else?

[bboat11]

"Beautiful As You" - Thomas Rhett

May 25th saw three HUGE new entries to the country airplay chart, the highest of which being Thomas Rhett's new one. (The other two are "Hang Tight Honey" and Luke Combs' song from the Twisters soundtrack lol).

So, overall "Beautiful As You" is a solid listen. Good but not great. The melody is really catchy, so I think it has quite a bit of hit potential. The piano in the arrangement is really tasteful and well done as well. Those are the only real strengths though. And the weaknesses are numerous.

Thematically, this is yet another "boyfriend country" song from Thomas Rhett. For anyone who is not familiar with that trend, think of it as a counterfoil to the bro country movement, where women were treated as objects and their only value was to look good in your truck and complete a checklist of stereotypes. "Boyfriend Country" is what came next, where women are praised for their beauty and value, and the men talk about how lucky they are to have them.

On the surface the trend appears to be an improvement (after all, nothing could possibly be worse than bro country's portrayal of women, right?) But at the end of the day, these women are still being treated as objects.... The improvement is that they are objects worthy of respect. But, they are not REAL women. They are still two-dimensional caricatures. And to raise them up on a pedestal and say "you are so amazing, and I am not even worthy to be in your presence" is maaaaajor simp energy.

I don't have a problem with that every once in awhile, but Thomas Rhett has built an entire career off of these songs. I love the love that he has for his wife and his family! But at this point it feels like his well of inspiration appears to only be about a foot deep.

This song will do well off of its catchy melody and Thomas' star power, but it adds nothing to his career or the overall music industry at large. And can we get back to writing REAL women in country music, please?? People who have agency and personality outside of their perfection??

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castleoblivion26   taylor is terrified   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97

[.indulgecountry]

This song getting a higher mark from you than "Wranglers" just don't sit right. 🥴

To each their own, but "Beautiful as You" is just straight ass imo.

[taylor is terrified]

Boyfriend country is something that I first described on Pulse as something I’d take over bro country any day of the week and twice on Sundays, lol. That was when it first came around. Now, it’s become about as stale and bland as almost any other song in most of these men’s discographies. It’s become the same thing over and over. We get it, you love her. That’s all well and good, now can you sing/write about literally anything else?

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

I end up liking "Beautiful As You" fine, I just want Country Again side B as I really love side A, so a little disappointed that TR is going to the opposite direction. Not sure Side B is ever happening at this point. 

[bboat11]

Jun 18, 2024 16:57:02 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

This song getting a higher mark from you than "Wranglers" just don't sit right. 🥴

To each their own, but "Beautiful as You" is just straight ass imo.

It's the piano! Thomas' song makes me feel like I'm at a Baptist Revival!!! ;)

[bboat11]

"Hang Tight Honey" - Lainey Wilson

Y'all probably saw this A coming! "Hang Tight Honey" is EASILY my favorite song Lainey has ever sent to country radio. She has been somewhat hit-or-miss for me so far. I LOVE her personality, and think she is such a breath of fresh air in this genre. But I also feel like her songs either sink or float for me based on how they are produced. The fact that I felt no energy or connection whatsoever from her vocal of "Watermelon Moonshine" is the main reason that song was hella boring to me and only got like a B- or something when I ranked it. There was something about the way the last album was produced, where her voice just didn't sound as good on any song as it had before. I LOVED her sound on "Things A Man Oughta Know", "WWDD", "Rolling Stone", etc.

Who knows how good this new album will be, but let it be known that "Hang Tight Honey" is a major step in the right direction!!!! Anything that lets Lainey's personality shine front and center is going to be a good move, as that is one of the most compelling things about her as an artist. Her whole Hippie Lee Ann Womack vibe is quite hilarious and endearing, lol.

"Hang Tight Honey" is also meta, as here we have a musician singing about life on the road! She sings about missing home, the breakneck pace of being on tour, going from town to town, being in different time zones from loved ones, etc. Coming from Lainey, with her sudden explosion of popularity in the last couple years, this song feels ultra believable. I think that is the biggest reason why it feels like such a hit to me. This is coming at exactly the right moment in her career for this to feel like an autobiographical moment between her and her fans in the live shows. It's hard to describe exactly what I mean, but I think it feels almost like a shared wink and a nod between her and her fans; the sort of thing that makes Taylor Swift so popular and beloved (see something like "Long Live"). That the frenetic energy of this song perfectly matches the craziness of her touring life just makes it all the more convincing.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why this has had such a muted reception on Pulse so far, because the first time I heard this I thought, "Here it is! The song that is going to become her signature hit!"

The only thing missing is some country instrumentation...

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castleoblivion26   taylor is terrified   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97

[bboat11]

"Ain't No Love In Oklahoma" - Luke Combs

Concluding the entries from the week of May 25th, we have the first single released from the upcoming Twisters soundtrack. Boy am I pumped for that movie! The original is still so iconic, and such a great watch. Imo the cgi holds up so well. It centers around a group of storm chasers who are setting out to use their new technology to try to gather data from the inside of an F5 tornado for the first time. I am sure you can imagine the stakes!! Just like the original, the new one is going to be centered around storm-chasers trying to gather data about tornadoes. I can't wait to see how it looks in the modern day!

For "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma", Luke Combs was the voice of choice to bring the song to life. And overall this is a hell of a song. All of the lyrics are about adversity and struggle, and Oklahoma serves as both a literal location and as a metaphorically desolate and unforgiving backdrop that enhances the hardships experienced by the narrator. The lines about chasing a devil down a dead end highway, a long black train coming for you through the wind and rain, standing your ground while the whole world falls around you, etc. are brilliant songwriting, because they are just ambiguous enough to represent regular old resilience and determination, while also evoking powerful imagery of tornadoes if you want to think about this song in the specific context of the movie.

There are also lines that emphasize the duality between thrills and danger. For example, the Red River both tries to save and tries to drown the narrator at various points in his life, which emphasizes how the storm-chasing profession (or a thrill-seeking existence in general) can be both life-affirming and life-threatening.

On top of the lyrics, this song has a similar Southern Gothic vibe to stuff like Blake Shelton's "God's Country" and Michael Ray's "Holy Water", which is a sound I have really come to love over time. It is a sound filled with tension and just a hint of danger, which is imo a perfect vibe to set for a soundtrack of this subject matter! Luke sings the hell out of it as well. Lastly, there is some truly excellent guitar work that helps to enhance the dangerous vibe of the song as well.

Similar to Lainey, my biggest complaint about this one is the lack of country instrumentation, but unfortunately for Luke that absence holds him down in the B+ range rather than getting that elusive A. Still, a pretty good grade overall!

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castleoblivion26   taylor is terrified   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97

[.indulgecountry]

Both of these songs are exceptional. 😍

[bboat11]

"This Heart" - Corey Kent

We kicked off the month of June with one new addition to the June 1 Airplay chart, this coming in the form of Corey Kent's new single! "This Heart" is a melancholy song about a man who is trying desperately to move on after a breakup, but his broken heart just will not allow it. The way it is written, the heart almost takes on the role of being a character in the song. Just when he feels himself moving on, there is imagery about how his heart is beating him black and blue, dragging him through hell and back, etc. No matter how badly he wants to move on, there is nothing he can tell his heart that will make it cooperate.

Clever characterization of the heart aside, this is a relatively straightforward and predictable heartbreak song. It checks off all the boxes that you would expect. The melody is fine, Corey's performance is fine. There aren't any standout instrumentation moments. I can't really see anyone outright hating this though! It feels like a song that will have some lovers, and inspire ambivalence at the worst. I'd say a C+ rank feels fair. The melody is good enough that I wouldn't mind sneaking it up to the B range, but the lack of country instrumentation holds it back.

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castleoblivion26   taylor is terrified   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97

[bboat11]

"Bottom Shelf" - Jojo Mason

The June 1 chart also saw only one new entry to the Canadian chart, from Canadian artist Jojo Mason.

Yikes, this song is actively bad. "Bottom Shelf" is another heartbreak song about a man who is trying to move on from a failed relationship. This time there are allusions that seem to suggest the ex is a bit on the classy side, as it opens right up with the line "It's been a couple months since I had the good stuff," and talks about how red wine reminds him of loving her, gin and tonics and champagne just don't do what he needs them to do, etc. So here he is, getting drunk on bottom shelf liquor. For those who are not familiar with the reference, the "bottom shelf" is typically where the cheaper stuff can be found. It burns more, numbs the pain faster, and is also frankly more in line with what he feels like he deserves.

So thematically it fits right in with the country genre! But everything else.......it's just.....

This is not even really trying to be country. There is a little banjo buried in the chorus, but the way this is produced and mixed just feels like a straight-up pop song. And not even in a catchy way. There will be extremely random production things that are not matched anywhere else in the song, like for example when he goes higher briefly in the chorus and there is so much autotune that it doesn't even sound human anymore, when the rest of his vocals aren't autotuned that heavily. So it's like why did you bother to do it for that one line??

Some people will find it catchy, but tbh this really shouldn't have even made it out of the writing room. I suspect it will flop for Jojo Mason. Fingers crossed!

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castleoblivion26   taylor is terrified   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97

[bboat11]

Just letting everyone know, I started a new thread for the album reviews. I figured that would be better, because I know when you asked to be tagged in this thread it was for reviews of songs that are on the modern country charts, and the album reviews are a totally different animal. Especially as I do more of them, I don't necessarily want to be restricted to just the modern era, or artists who are charting!

So check it out if you want to, and if you are interested in being tagged in future album reviews let me know!

castleoblivion26   taylor is terrified   🌺CountryLineDancer   g8erboi   nuggie99   .indulgecountry    zaclord 🌈   schnetzka   countryfan43 kluen zack97