Howdy. Please bear with me for a few moments. Some of you reading this are longtime subscribers, some found us only recently. And some probably stumbled across this piece and are wondering what's with the odd intro. It's not normally this way.
Short story, after a nearly four month hiatus from reviews, enough music has come out that it's time to get that back into gear.
Long story is…. The blog has always had a bit of a dual identity. Content in the past has been composed of two distinct sections. Long form pieces that delve into the world surrounding music and our relationship to it. And reviews.
Prior to starting this blog, I was not keyed in to the release cycle. I viewed the world of music as a whole and was equally excited to listen to a “new to me” record from 20 years ago, as I was a “new to everyone” record from a week ago. That was a fun way of relating to things. I have since joined the rat race of following weekly releases and tracking my favorites of the year. Something has been gained and something has been lost. Joining the scene with its ebbs and flows, provides rhythm and order to the year. There is something enjoyable about that. Conversely, the downside is I have not listened to as much old material as I used to. My discovery time is heavily weighted towards the here and now. That is, aside from when necessary for a piece on the blog, or in the rare moments that I am specifically looking for an old school vibe.
The thinkpiece longform material that is the backbone of this blog came into shape relatively early on the journey. However, the review portion has always been a little bit more murky. There was a period of time where there was another contributor who helped with reviews. For a while, I had a consistent once a month review post. Last year, I devoted about two months exclusively to reviews. Those reviews were slightly more lengthy, sometimes stretching to three or four paragraphs. Sometimes I struggled finding what to say. The trade off was clear. Cover less material with more depth, or more material with less depth.
Interestingly enough, I think I'm going to do the latter. This may surprise. Perhaps you would think that with the intense focus on long form in depth posts, that the same treatment would be done with album reviews. That's a fair thought. However, a distinction. The purpose of long form analysis is to dissect and engage with the art. The purpose of a review is to curate. Thousands of hours of music that is potentially relevant to my taste get released yearly. Most of us don't have that kind of time. We turn to trusted agents- friends, social media, bloggers, radio, playlists, algorithms etc.- to curate our time and consumption for us. Today I Heard aims to play a role in curation for its readership.
For that reason, I think that erring on the side of more material is a smart one. Additionally, when I find myself aiming for a larger review, usually it ends up not being a review of the material per se, but rather a bigger picture item that was evoked by the album. An Ernest review turns into a philosophical discussion about the merits of songwriters turning into singers etc. Shorter content provides a tighter lens of focus for curation.
This calculation was what led to last year's The Backlog project. Reviews were more concise. Originally I aimed for one paragraph, but that quickly grew longer. This year, I am striving for a more manageable approach to the reviews. One paragraph maximum. In order to maintain the focus on curation, I will also add some song picks from each project. Hopefully that will manage to strike the balance between coverage, curation, and balance.
You can expect these reviews to be more concise. I will not be giving a number ranking. The purpose isn't to tell the readership how “good” the albums are, instead the aim is to simply give a taste for what to expect. This way, you guys can make an informed decision about if you want to spend some chunk of your day engaging with this particular piece of music.
As part of this goal, I will be assigning sub-genre labels to the projects and listing the amount of tracks and minutes the album contains. All of this information is valuable for figuring out if a reader wants to invest time. I figure this would make my curation contribution more valuable.
The subgenre's will be listed in order of most influential to least. Additionally you will see numbers next to the named subgenre. This is a system I have devised for quickly conveying a records style.
In the tent of what commercially and colloquially qualifies as country music, there are five broad categories. Obviously many smaller subcategories exist within them.
Traditional Country- the most old school style. Includes neo-traditional, neo-vintage, bluegrass, and other roots musics.
Country Rock- Self explanatory. Outlaw country, Southern Rock, Roots Rock a la Eric Church etc
Modern Country- the most amorphous grouping. Usually the midpoint of the Country OvertonWindow. A year or two ago this was a mostly guitar focused style of subdued not really rock but kinda yeah sound. It didn't have much country adornement but it still fit well into country. In the past year or two, more country instrumentation is in here. Usually the blandest of Nashville music defines this best. Think Jameson Rodgers or large chunks of Morgan Wallen’s discography. Connor Smith has put out music that is mostly this category with a sprinkling of 1 in it.
Pop Country- Identifiable country elements mixed with a heavy dose of pop.
Southern Pop- Pop music just from the South. Sometimes there's cultural affiliations or very minimal token gestures towards country. Think the most extreme of Sam Hunt’s music. Hick Hop and other country rap fusions usually fall here.
Many albums will be a combination of these all. For example someone like a Parker Mccollum easily will be a 1, 2, and 3. Perhaps even a 4 also depending on how radio he aims his music for. Most Texas country falls into the Venn diagram overlap of 1, 2, and 3. The exact order of influence may vary. For example among prominent Texas artists, Cody Johnson is a 1, 3, 2 and Wade Bowen a 3, 2, 1. Early Pat Green a 1, 2, 3. Late Pat Green did a complete reversal within the bounds of Texas country and frames out as a 3, 2, 1.
Many popular country subgenres are inherently composed of two of these categories. Outlaw country is a 1 and a 2 for example. Americana is such a murky title that it can literally be any of the five, or all five at once.
Why is country folk not included? With the rise of Zach Bryan’s folk inflected style and the odd clamoring for Noah Kahan to be considered country, perhaps a sixth category should be there?
It is a fair question. First off, this system was devised for my own personal note taking a couple years ago, back when country folk wasn't quite the thing it is now. Secondly, the current crop of country folk mostly falls into sections 1, 3, and 4.
A rustic traditional folk, say a JP Harris type, best fits into category 1. A folksy twist on contemporary country, 3 fits best, and a Mumford and Sons inspired mix is a 4. Most of the folk stuff fits into those categories. Perhaps it's worth reassessing at a point down the road, but for the last while this has worked well.
Last point. There was a conscious choice to only do this series for albums and not singles. Many would say that is the wrong choice. It is generally accepted that the Album Era has passed. We now live in a world where singles are what matters to the discourse. There is some truth to that. However, at least for country, that isn't entirely true yet.
The three biggest songs in country last year obviously were big stories in and of themselves. However, they also were big drivers for consumption of their respective albums.
You couldn't tell the story of the summer without Fast Car, but it would also be amiss if Getting Old wasn't talked about as part of that story. Same with I Remember Everything and the massive numbers Zach Bryan did. Ditto for Wallen, Last Night, and One Thing At A Time.
Without further ado, I am proud to unveil the 2024 iteration of The Backlog!
Expect it to be (roughly) a fortnightly feature for the foreseeable future. Somewhere between 5-8 albums will be reviewed per post. (Re. foreseeable future, I have about two months worth of material at this moment, but that is sure to grow as more music is released).
The Castellows- A Little Goes A Long Way
Tracks: 7
Time: 22 min
Subgenre: Modern Country (3), Traditional Country (1)- Neotraditional
Angelic harmonies meet a mixed bag as a group struggles to strike the balance between the manufactured pop leaning material and organic trad-leaning material. More a taste of potential than a satisfying output.
Favorite:
No. 7 Road, Hurricane
Least Favorite:
The Part Where You Break My Heart
Addison Johnson- Dangerous Men
Tracks: 11
Time: 43 min
Subgenre: Traditional (1), Country Rock (2)- Modern Outlaw
Somewhere between dark and gritty reflection on the seedier side of life and outlaw cosplay, Johnson sticks to the bit all the way through and successfully creates a brooding atmosphere peppered with surprising amounts of detail and musical execution. It drags a bit, and maybe could have used some more cheerful moments to liven things up. Still an early stand out of 2024.
Favorite:
High Way, Out Of Control, End Of A Rope, I Did Nothing Wrong
Least Favorite:
The Busker
Randall King- Into The Neon
Tracks: 18
Time: 58 min
Subgenre: Traditional (1), Modern Country (3)
A noticeable step down in quality from his previous album. Overtures made towards more upbeat mainstream sounds, simultaneous with the organic shifts of mainstream leaves this not standing out from the masses. Some weird vocal production tics weaken King's biggest strength. Plenty of fine songs, but much feels left on the table. Still good, just disappointing for this long time fan.
Favorite:
Hang Of Hanging On, Coulda Been Love, Hard To Be Humble, Right Things Right, I Don't Whiskey Anymore
Least Favorite:
Burns Like Her, Honk Till I Die, I Could Be That Rain
Josh Abbott Band- Somewhere Down The Road
Tracks: 12
Time: 34 min.
Subgenre: Traditional Country (1), Country Rock (2) Modern Country (3), (basically the ingredients of Texas Country/Red Dirt)
Imaginative and rollicking in the best moments. Josh Abbott Band leans into red dirt and provides a fun and reflective listen. Aside from a couple lifestyle tracks, Abbott and co provide a sophisticated red dirt project chock full of perspective, songwriting and muscle.
Favorite:
Astronaut, Back To Normal, Brutus, Judas and You… honestly, the beginning of the album through Back To Normal is the best and tightest stretch of music I’ve heard all year.
Least Favorite:
Closer To You, Barstool Boys
Gabby Barrett- Chapter And Verse
Tracks: 12
Time: 44 min
Subgenre: Pop Country (4), Modern Country (3), Contemporary Christian
An expected left turn from the grandiose glam Goldmine persona, Barrett pivots to Christian Country crossover material that feels true to self, broadly well executed and coherent. Radio moments fit smoothly alongside faith first framing on significant swaths of the record. Still some awkwardness remains in the attempted synthesis of the “I Hope” singer and pastoral Pinterest Mama.
Favorite:
The Chapter, Growing Up Raising You, Dance Like No One's Watching, Jesus On The Train
Least Favorite:
Cowboy Back, Off The Highway
Kenny Chesney- Born
Tracks: 15
Time: 50 min
Subgenre: Modern Country (3), Pop Country (4)- Beach Country
Chesney covers the three main sub genres he is known for, chill country rock, reasonably up-to-date country pop, and some oceanic beach country. All done effectively but nothing not seen before. It’ll probably be enough to have him coast through this era, but not much stands out re. his historic discography.
Favorite:
Take Her Home, Thinkin Bout, Top Down, Come Here Go Away, Wherever You Are Tonight
Least Favorite:
This Too Shall Pass, Blame It On The Salt
Cody Jinks- Change The Game
Tracks: 12
Time: 49 min
Subgenre: Country Rock (2)- Modern Outlaw
A proper veteran album. Notable bounce back from Mercy. Jinks balances his newfound success and sobriety with his past. Tricky, but it mostly works. It doesn’t come to the heights of his peak, but that’s probably to be expected given how tightly his own personality and life situation is tied to his product.
Favorite:
Sober Thing, Outlaws And Mustangs, Take This Bottle, Deceivers Blues, Wasted
Least Favorite:
I Can't Complain
Hope you enjoyed!
Thanks for reading,
Joe