Put A Record On: It's all country music when you think about it
Put A Record On: It's all country music when you think about it
Songs and albums by Grupo Frontera, Peter One and Diplo, reviewed.
Welcome back to Don’t Rock the Inbox! Natalie here — I’ll be taking you through the first of our music recommendation posts, which will be for paying subscribers only starting in June! At the bottom is a little sampler playlist to give you a taste of what subscriber perks will look like. If u like what u see, subscribe here. Let me know what you think, and happy listening!
The Good
Grupo Frontera ft. Bad Bunny, “un x100to”: Fairly certain you don’t need us to tell you about one of the biggest songs in the world right now (it’s currently No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot 100, and we can only hope that it will topple a certain country artist who is currently on vocal rest) — but, given the general dearth of coverage of Spanish-language music stateside, maybe you do! It’s technically cumbia, not capital-C country. But 1) they started in Texas, 2) I can totally hear a country spin-off version and I’m trying to speak it into existence and 3) they’re wearing cowboy hats. I kid, kind of — the hat is all it takes to sell most of what’s traded in Nashville as Country after all (also it’s our newsletter and we do what we want!). I’d guess that the guys in this band are into some country music, and I’m certain many of their Texas fans are. Check out Suzy Exposito’s interview with the band over at the Los Angeles Times for more. — NW
Erin Viancourt, “Should’ve Known Better”: Definitely a post-Lainey Wilson vibe happening here, but she’s selling it well — I’m a sucker for a bit of an off-kilter riff and the loose, arena-rock-tinged thing that’s trendy in country now. — NW
Peter One ft. Allison Russell, “Birds Go Die Out Of Sight (Don’t Go Home”: Breezy back porch music that offers a striking twist on country’s hometown fixation. Listen, and exhale. (Learn more about Peter here.) — NW
Carter Sampson, “Drunk Text”: This song made me smile, plain and simple. — NW
Jeff Parker & Matthew Stevens, “Alberta”: I perennially get weird looks when I say I write about country and jazz, and so having two of the best jazz guitarists out on a really, really pretty tribute album to Doc Watson just vindicates a healthy number of my life choices. — NW
Meghan Patrick, “Red Roses & Red Flags”: Like Erin, we’re gonna file this one under “designed for country radio and I would be pretty pleased if it made it there.” Freeway driving on a nice day music, which is a very important subgenre. — NW
Jess Williamson, “Hunter”: Hopping into Natalie’s post to add a few favorites…this one is here because Jess’ band with Katie Crutchfield, Plains, was definitely country and definitely had one of my favorite albums of 2022, I Walked With You A Ways. This song has an underlying layer of twang, using it for atmosphere in a way that doesn’t sound like Mazzy Star, but reminds me of it - country as texture and bones and not a roadmap for genre rigidity. It feels like dusty, Texas heartbreak with one of the best lines about a relationship to ever make a song: “I want a mirror, not a piece of glass.” — MM
Cody Belew, “Charlene,”: It’s Freddie Mercury meets Freddy Fender in this song fighting back against religious trauma and political bigotry. — MM
Kip Moore ft. Ashley McBryde, “One Heartbeat”: Look, everyone knows how I feel about Kip Moore, and in places like South Africa, he’s playing stadiums, so I am clearly not alone. This is a gem of a duet with eternal favorite Ashley McBryde, in Kip’s sweet spot of heartland rock, AAA radio and modern country. — MM
Sunny Sweeney, Miko Marks, Rissi Palmer and Tami Neilson, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”: Four of the best country singers claiming Dylan as their own is, what can I say, so extremely my shit. This is gold. — MM
The Mid
Justin Moore, “Get Rich Or Get Drunk Tryin’”: Gonna give Moore bonus points for originality — not every day you hear a country song about finding a sugar mama whose refrain is a play on a 50 Cent album title. It doesn’t totally come together (and for your own sake, don’t go near “Everybody Get Along” unless you want to hear two white cis men wonder, “Why can’t everybody get along like you and me?”), but I like the production. — NW
The Bad
Chris Janson ft. Dolly Parton & Slash, “21 Forever”: Why are Dolly Parton and Slash on this song, which is as cliché a country song about growing up that riffs on the name of a fast fashion chain can be? Why does it exist? Someone deeper inside Music Row than I must know the dirt on what sparked this head-scratching collaboration. — NW (Marissa jumping in to second this - an honest what the fuck, really).
Trey Lewis, “Up Yours”: Yes, the guy behind “Dicked Down In Dallas” is back. This song is actually like two degrees away from something I’d enjoy hearing in the background of a state fair-type setting — but I can’t shake the feeling that the whole thing is ineffective parody. — NW
The Ugly
Diplo, Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley: Chapter 2 — Swamp Savant
The roster of talent on this album is impressive: Paul Cauthen (s/o Dallas), Sierra Ferrell, Sturgill Simpson, Morgan Wade and Parker McCollum are among the singers Diplo recruited to bless his overly somber, TikTok-bait faux disco-country. Once again, I’m wondering why. Diplo is even worse at making fake country music than fake dancehall (which is, of course, the appropriative mode in which he found success). All six songs are slogs — humorless, dull music designed for an early set at Stagecoach.
Diplo’s first country set at least had “So Long,” Cam’s quite listenable contribution; “Do Si Do,” Blanco Brown’s goofy but fun country take on “The Whisper Song”; and Thomas Rhett and Young Thug on a song that might get played at Ibiza’s most American-friendly club (what can I say, Thomas Rhett and Young Thug on a song is a legitimately intriguing combo). The sequel is all the more disappointing for the strength of the artists appearing on it, plus the fact that they were down to be on the album of a guy with, at a minimum, questionable character and alongside Kodak Black — who pled guilty to first-degree assault of a woman who accused him of rape in 2016. Hopefully they were paid well, I guess. — NW
Playlist #1: Natalie’s Texas Country
Here’s some music that I might never had listened to if I hadn’t moved to Texas in 2021 — it’s not all the Texas country music I like (obviously about a million more famous people are missing), but if you talk to me long enough I’ll probably ramble about at least one of these artists to you. Here it is on Spotify, and on Apple Music.