Little Big Town’s “Day Drinking” (Review & Semi-Rant)
You know, for years people have been telling me how great Little Big Town is, berating me to give them a deeper listen. But I may never experience their album cuts are because their singles ward me off more than staring down a battery of AIDS cannons. First it was the motorbotin’ “Pontoon”, and now this.
I have been saying for years that country music singles are simply devolving into veiled commercials for major corporations that are underwriting music amidst eroding profits. You can’t make money selling music anymore, so hop into bed with America’s alcohol and automobile industry and make music that is de facto advertisements. They’ll back your tours if your artists back their products, and everyone can get naked and roll around in a big pile of money. Next thing you know, 90% of country music is about alcohol and trucks. There may not be a better example of an overt, gratuitous homage to consumer culture as this latest Little Big Town single entitled “Day Drinking”.
What the hell is day drinking anyway? Was this a commonly-used term a few years ago? I sure don’t remember it, but now it seems like every time I turn on the radio, some spokesperson won’t shut up about how fabulous it is while making their sales pitch, and to make sure I do it responsibly. Screw that, I got shit to do, and responsibility becomes fleeting when you’re slamming back infused vodka before the banks close. The alcohol industry has been attempting to incorporate this recently-adopted “day drinking” buzzword into society, cramming it down our throats to create a socially-acceptable environment to start consuming adult beverages before the socially-appointed time because that’s the only way Americans can pour enough adult beverages down their gullets to keep profits rising every quarter.
Tell ’em Ralphie.
That’s right, Little Big Town’s “Day Drinking” is pretty much a crummy commercial; at least that’s what’s ringing in my ears—a day drinking advertising jingle. And if you don’t believe me, just pause the video at the 00.38 and 1:59 mark and ask yourself, “Why exactly is there a tightly cropped and prolonged shot of a Beats Pill audio player featured in this video, and twice no less?” That’s exactly what I thought the first time I saw the Miley Cyrus video for “We Can’t Stop”. It starts off with the same Beats Pill cameo. This is a pretty bold leap from mere product placement. Am I watching a music video, or QVC?
“Day Drinking” is all about being 40, and being fabulous, just like Little Big Town. And hey, in some respects, I can respect that, and don’t want to belittle that sentiment. But this is country music, not a commercial for Target’s signature line of tote bags and accessories. And act your age for crying out loud. I love how in the video the band is surrounded by a bunch of young people all happy and having fun, doing young people things, while Little Big Town is relegated to guarding the coolers. It’s like they’re trying to look young and hip by proxy, because get them out on the sand volleyball court themselves and there will be more pulled hamstrings than the NFL disabled list. All they can do is look at the ocean because the salt water would inflame their psoriasis. Little Big Town is the country music equivalent to that 90’s drama show Felicity that tanked after the main girl cut her hair. Buzz off the fake blonde girl’s frizzy do and it’s doubtful this act couldn’t make it on the club circuit. As Unknown Hinson would say, feed those girls some cheeseburgers.
The song itself isn’t offensive necessarily, but there’s really nothing of value here either. The lyrics in the verses are delivered in that monotone, nearly rapping and non-melodic style that is the norm these days, and the stupid whistling and the drum line that comes in later is so Lumineers getting run over by Imagine Dragons, it screams of stretching to find a relevant sound. It is catchy enough though to become a hit, but with all the smiles and fancy free attitudes (let’s just leave are cherry red convertible parked in the middle of the highway and start getting sloshed on the beach at 10:30 AM) it makes me wonder, do these people bleed? Do they ever experience pain, or moments of doubt? Life can’t be all fluff. Where’s the yin to this yang?
“Day Drinking” brings out the Jello Biafra in me, where I want to hate all the pretty people just for having fun, and dammit, I don’t want to be that guy; I don’t want to ruin anyone’s good time. But this vapid, fun-loving, soul-less, shallow, frappity shit sure is ruining mine.
You want to make cheesy party songs? Fine. But leave the commercials for between the songs, not during them.
1 3/4 of 2 guns down.
June 30, 2014 @ 8:58 am
I always thought day drinking was when you wake up Sunday morning, still a little drunk, and you just spend the day getting soused all over again. I was using that term years ago. I didn’t realize it was a new term.
I’d rather watch dogs screw than listen to these assholes. Besides that, Dave Dudley’s “Day Drinkin” is good enough for me.
June 30, 2014 @ 8:58 am
You know what really makes me hate this song? The stupid, incessant whistling. I couldn’t get it out of my head after listening to it. And as you said, the lyrics are just so vanilla and boring. Little Big Town is capable of making better music than “Day Drinking,” but this is what happens when you become irrelevant and are desperate to regain popularity. Just ask Rascal Flatts.
June 30, 2014 @ 2:56 pm
They have better writers than this too. “Better Dig Two” was written by Brandy Clark. Did Brandy stop giving them songs? Their Early stuff was good. I have their first album with “Boondocks” They were a nice alternative to Sugarland for a while.
June 30, 2014 @ 3:15 pm
“Better Dig Two” was sung by The Band Perry.
June 30, 2014 @ 9:07 am
Little Big Town is capable of much better material. This is just background summer music like Chesney’s American Kids ”“ Nothing really exciting but nothing super offensive either.
June 30, 2014 @ 9:26 am
Trigger!
You bust me up man!
I’ve always admired LBT for their tight harmonies, but little more (didn’t they back up Jamey Johson on “Macon” if not for just a live performance?)
I couldn’t agree with many of your sentiments more. Frankly, I do have a soft spot for pop country, but it’s gotten stupid silly lately.
A couple non musical points to address in your post:
I’m 40. I don’t know how to act my age. I’ve never been this old before. However, responsibility and wear and tear do weigh on my decisions more than they used to 🙂
Salt water was actually really helpful for my psoriasis. Especially the warm Atlantic water. The NorCal water is just too damned cold.
Love the blog. Love the work you do man!
June 30, 2014 @ 9:32 am
We’re all getting older, so there’s no fun in making fun of it. But you should embrace it, not shield yourself from it by still acting like you’re 24 and surrounding yourself with beach going youngins.
June 30, 2014 @ 3:39 pm
Well Trigger, that’s half the problem with modern country, most of these performers are closer to 40 than 30. Listening to them though, you’d think they didn’t know it. Things like full time jobs, bills, failed relationships, and like you said, the other side of life seems to be a foreign concept.
June 30, 2014 @ 1:38 pm
I”™ve always admired LBT for their tight harmonies, but little more
Yeah, exactly. I saw them open up for George Strait a few years back and those harmonies were KILLER, but very little of the music itself resonated with me. And it’s only gotten worse as the years have gone on.
June 30, 2014 @ 10:13 am
The opening paragraph sums up exactly how I feel about this band. So many people talk about how they are one of the “few good country groups left”, but man, the songs I end up hearing are just crap, and most definitely do not inspire me to check out any of their album cuts. Heck, that motorboatin’ song was pretty much enough to put me off this band for the rest of their existence. And I know exactly what you mean when you say it makes you want to hate people just for being pretty and having fun, that was exactly how I felt when I heard “Pontoon”.
If they really are a good band, then this is akin to a good restaurant giving out free samples of rancid food in an attempt to get people in the door.
June 30, 2014 @ 10:27 am
Little Big Town lost me when their best vocalist, Phillip Sweet, was no longer getting lead vocal duties after he put forth a masterful performance on their best single to date, “Bring it on Home.” Even if it is a cover, they haven’t touched that song, since, and I haven’t heard a single song with him singing lead vocals, since.
At least he isn’t on their singles, anyway, but most of their singles are so bad, why would I listen to their albums?
And you know why he doesn’t get lead vocals? Because he’s by far the least attractive individual in the group. It’s the wrong reason, but it’s true, and it’s too bad that people care more about someone being pretty than talented.
June 30, 2014 @ 10:30 am
Ugh. Country’s Eternal Spring Break / Summer / Beach Party continues…
Not a big fan of these guys, but I still can’t believe they’re the same group that did “Boondocks” and “Little White Church”. :p
June 30, 2014 @ 7:36 pm
Amen… “Boondocks” was like “Hicktown” by Jason Aldean, yeah, it’s a laundry-list song, but it’s not over-done, it’s good, and it’s lyrics describe exactly how I grew up out in the sticks, not some bastardized MTV version of it… and it was country… Then came “PORN-TUNE” which was nothing more than entendre and a Coors beer commercial set to some weird music… and they’ve never recovered.
June 30, 2014 @ 7:52 pm
As I mentioned below, it’s the self-righteous tone, most notably in the bridge, that renders “Boondocks” a much less enjoyable listen than it really should be.
All in all, there’s no harm with stereotypical laundry-list country songs if they’re at least coming from someplace real. The Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson are living proof of that. I just don’t like it when an air of self-righteousness is imposed or pressed on what would otherwise be another simple, laid-back laundry list country anthem. At that point, it just isn’t enjoyable.
June 30, 2014 @ 10:50 am
They started out so promising with Boondocks and Good as Gone. :/ The only thing I’ll say about this is, it’s better than the unlistenable Pontoon. And if that’s the nicest thing I can say… yeah, I think I’m over LBT. What a waste.
June 30, 2014 @ 7:17 pm
It’s funny, because I have the exact opposite take on two of your three song claims.
I enjoy “Pontoon” and still do despite being WAY overplayed………….but could never stand “Boondocks”. I mean, I’ll give them credit for the strong Fleetwood Mac-esque harmonies and stripped production, but it is among the most egregious offenders when it comes to laundry-list country lyricism and that was the deal-breaker to my ears. The self-righteousness was a bit off-putting, also.
June 30, 2014 @ 7:20 pm
But the thing is ‘Boondocks’ hit the charts the first week of June in 2005. That song is over 9 years old and came before the whole laundry list trend. Plus it wasn’t that big of a hit (#9) so I think people are retroactively judging it by all the dreck that has followed.
June 30, 2014 @ 7:46 pm
As true as its timing is, it still sounded lyrically lackadaisical and forced.
You can swap the timing of the releases of “Boondocks” with “The Only Way I Know”, and my same general points would stand. I don’t like the self-righteousness permeating both these songs; which in “Boondocks” is most glaring in the bridge:
*
“It’s where I learned about livin’
Its where I learned about love
Its where I learned about working hard,
And having a little was just enough
It’s where I learned about Jesus
And knowin’ where I stand
You can take it or leave it
This is me
This is who I am…”
*
How is that any different than, say, implying in “The Only Way I Know” that those who don’t live or come from a small town don’t value hard work, perseverance and conviction?
The verses, on their own, sound pleasant in comparison (though wrought with cliches and stereotypical imagery). It’s the bridge that makes “Pontoon” sound more arrogant than it should.
June 30, 2014 @ 7:47 pm
“Boondocks”, rather! =P
June 30, 2014 @ 11:49 am
At 2:45, looks like Lipton iced tea, too.
June 30, 2014 @ 12:17 pm
Tom T. Hall and Dave Dudley already covered this subject…
http://youtu.be/yH2uUPdlzlQ
June 30, 2014 @ 2:02 pm
Little Big Town is a country band like Josh Groban is a Bluegrass singer . Safe, lightweight, musical wallpaper throwing itself at radio and praying it sticks . BTW , so would wallpaper with enough backing . Lady Antebellum (plus one for good measure and symmetry) with the same kind of soul-less , pointless material dressed up with the latest trendy FDA-approved productions and spoon-fed to the masses with no concern for nutritional content or mental health hazards. I’m pretty certain you could swap out all four of these singers for four different ones , give them the same repertoire and no one would hear or see the difference . At least the Mamas and the Papas had funky hats and GREAT material .
And by the way ….shouldn’t it be BIG LITTLE TOWN ?
June 30, 2014 @ 2:34 pm
In my opinion, the most witty country song about aging, combining humor, nostalgia, and a whiff of leftover optimism was done by Toby Keith, of all people:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldQrapQ4d0Y
June 30, 2014 @ 4:09 pm
That’s a good one. Toby’s done a lot of good material over the years. I also really like Montgomery Gentry’s “While You’re Still Young.”
June 30, 2014 @ 3:32 pm
From what I’ve learned over the years, day drinking is usually a sign of alcoholism.
June 30, 2014 @ 3:46 pm
They are capable of much better. I personally thought “Your side of the bed” was a great song.
June 30, 2014 @ 6:51 pm
I agree. And it struggled mightily at radio peaking around #30 if I remember right. They’ve had a couple of more substantive singles that have not done that well and being a second tier act they can’t keep releasing songs that don’t do well.
The market, whether radio or sales, is just not there for more serious stuff right now and that is why so many acts keep going to the well for the party stuff over and over and over…
June 30, 2014 @ 7:13 pm
Both “Your Side Of The Bed” and “Sober” were solid single choices. I also immensely enjoyed the deeper cut “Night Owl”.
*
Trigger, as much as I agree with your frustration regarding a few select single releases and how label executives seem obsessed with marketing the group as Karen Fairchild being the lead vocalist as opposed to a group that democratically divides lead vocals and harmonies among its four members………………and may feel tempted to dismiss them based off of clumsy, cliched releases like this and “Boondocks”……………I implore you to please give their back catalog a fair listen if you haven’t already. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what you’ll find, even if you deem nothing groundbreaking or revolutionary.
June 30, 2014 @ 5:17 pm
I, too, thought “Your Side of the Bed” was a really good song – very grown up and 40s-ish – a song you probably have to have a little age on you to understand. Maybe they’re just trying to balance that out with this one. (Being in your 40s is so confusing! Are you still young? No! Are you “old”? Maybe? It’s like being a “tween”!)
June 30, 2014 @ 7:05 pm
My main contention with this song to begin with is how inorganic it sounds when sizing it up with the rest of their back catalogue.
To this day, I’m not ashamed to defend the much-maligned “Pontoon”. I stand by my initial opinion that “Pontoon”, as insubstantial as it is, just sounds like a great lazy summer song. The undulating bass and breezy guitar fits the gently-rocking feeling of ebbing on the waves of a tranquil lake, Jay Joyce’s production choices just work, to my ears anyway, and Fairchild’s vocals ooze with charisma and personality. It just sounds like it plays to the group’s strengths in that there’s an organic quality to it. I personally have never quite understood the magnitude of derision “Pontoon” received, and proudly dissent from the consensus on that particular offering.
The same can’t be said about “Day Drinking”, in my view. Little Big Town have lost me here. Your rightful contentions aside in that this is blatant advertising masquerading as music…………..where’s the heart here? Even for something that may have been intended as nothing more than a mindless summer drinking song…………it sounds synthetic. It sounds too polished. There’s no chemistry, or any real feeling underpinning the performance or its production………..other than the hard-on corporate lawyers must be feeling after having facilitated the songwriting through committee and inevitably reaping the financial returns.
With “Pontoon”, at the very least we should be able to agree that they still sounded like a group with a chemistry tying them together. Here, “Day Drinking” sounds like a soulless vanity project.
July 1, 2014 @ 4:11 am
By mid-2012 country music standards, “Pontoon” was pretty bad. However, by current standards, it is just fine.
July 1, 2014 @ 11:58 am
Unfortunately , I agree with your comment and that is a VERY scary thing , in my opinion, Eric .
July 1, 2014 @ 6:51 am
I think Pontoon is tolerable in that if I found myself having to listen to a pop country station and it came on, I could get through it without rolling my eyes and shaking my head much. That’s better than I can say for anything by the douchebilly set. But it’s the video, which is pretty much in the same spirit as this one, that gets on my nerves.
July 1, 2014 @ 11:06 am
Little Big Town was not relevant before “Pontoon.” Sure, they had some success with “Boondocks” and “Little White Church”, but they were always overshadowed by the likes of Lady Antebellum and Rascal Flatts, both of whom are, to me, obviously and totally inferior, and it’s not really even close. When Little Big Town try to release a song of substance to radio (“Kiss Goodbye,” Shut Up Train,” “Your Side of the Bed,” “Sober,” etc) or something that sounds a little different for radio (“Fine Line”) it gets shunned, making the fact that the radio game is rigged all the more obvious.
Their albums are generally always pretty good. “The Road To Here” and “A Place to Land” are about as good as mainstream country albums get in my opinion. I listened to “Tornado” again a few months ago and it was better than I initially remembered. I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t blame them for releasing songs like this that pander to the market. It’s the only thing they can get played. They’ve realized they have (and want) to play the game at least a little bit. But there is real, genuine artistry on their albums, “pop country” though they may be.
July 1, 2014 @ 11:15 am
Aside from wanting to make the point that Little Big Town haven’t really been popular enough throughout their career to warrant the distinction of trying to “remain relevant” or become “popular again” (in response to a comment above), this was directed at no one in particular. Just throwing in my 2 cents.
July 1, 2014 @ 11:40 am
I’m just glad you referenced the King of Country Western Troubadours, Unknown Hinson, in the article. Long live the King!
July 2, 2014 @ 1:19 pm
Day drinking is the best! When you’re from Wisconsin, day drinking is always a favorite. It is bar hopping and getting drunk in the middle of the day.
July 4, 2014 @ 6:48 am
Note to self : Do NOT drive in Wisconsin in the middle of the day
July 4, 2014 @ 8:51 am
The fact that after 15 years of being a band you guys can only find 2 songs to hate from them is a testament to their talent and quality of work. So what they put out a couple of “easy” songs to get some airplay. Let them have their moment in the spotlight. They’ve worked really hard and put out quality music and harmonies for a lot longer than most of the people on the radio now. I have every one of their albums and I cannot foresee a time where I will stop buying them. I promise you Pontoon was the only bad song on the Tornado album.