Monday, March 29, 2004
Thanks to a tip by Matt in a post over at The Freelance Mentalists, I checked out two current country singles by women recently, and boy am I glad I did.
The first is "Redneck Woman" by newcomer Gretchen Wilson, and it's everything you'd either hope (if you're so inclined) or fear (if you're not) based solely on its title. Put it this way: Tanya Tucker'd be proud (and one might assume she is, as she returns Wilson's favor of referencing her in the lyrics by appearing in the single's video, which you can watch here [registration required, but worth it]). "Redneck" is a proud shit-kickin' anthem sure to get a "Hell yeah!" from all the "redneck girls" across the U.S. Its instrumentation is pure country, full of roadhouse piano and hot guitar licks. This is a reaction record; you'll know what you think after one listen, much like, say, Tim McGraw's "Indian Outlaw" without the cheese factor. I know what I think: A-
To my ears, Sara Evans has always been one of those perfectly nice, perfectly bland female pop-country singers. Nothing offensive about her (hell, she even turned Edwin fucking McCain's "I Could Not Ask For More" into a halfway decent record), but nothing really to recommend; just there, very white bread. But - and I really didn't intend those puns in the previous sentence - her new single "Perfect" seems to have a bit of a spark to it, for once in her career. [Okay, twice, including "Born to Fly," which was fairly transcendent.] It won't change the world. It likely won't even change your world. But it's awfully nice, especially lyrically. B
The first is "Redneck Woman" by newcomer Gretchen Wilson, and it's everything you'd either hope (if you're so inclined) or fear (if you're not) based solely on its title. Put it this way: Tanya Tucker'd be proud (and one might assume she is, as she returns Wilson's favor of referencing her in the lyrics by appearing in the single's video, which you can watch here [registration required, but worth it]). "Redneck" is a proud shit-kickin' anthem sure to get a "Hell yeah!" from all the "redneck girls" across the U.S. Its instrumentation is pure country, full of roadhouse piano and hot guitar licks. This is a reaction record; you'll know what you think after one listen, much like, say, Tim McGraw's "Indian Outlaw" without the cheese factor. I know what I think: A-
To my ears, Sara Evans has always been one of those perfectly nice, perfectly bland female pop-country singers. Nothing offensive about her (hell, she even turned Edwin fucking McCain's "I Could Not Ask For More" into a halfway decent record), but nothing really to recommend; just there, very white bread. But - and I really didn't intend those puns in the previous sentence - her new single "Perfect" seems to have a bit of a spark to it, for once in her career. [Okay, twice, including "Born to Fly," which was fairly transcendent.] It won't change the world. It likely won't even change your world. But it's awfully nice, especially lyrically. B
# posted by Thomas : 5:47 PM
