Randy Houser Returns to Form in “What Whiskey Does”
Last time we caught up with Randy Houser, he was doing his best to keep up with the Florida Georgia Line’s of the world with a song called “We Went.” It was a ridiculous action movie of a Bro-Country ode, complete with accounts of jumping ditches in cars while running from the cops, and had us pondering the chemistry of how one could “throw a little dust up” while simultaneously being “in the mud,” and other incongruent and unrealistic anomalies that materialized as they tried to squeeze an absurd amount of cliches into one song like the salted fillets in a sardines can. The fact this was coming from a 40-something performer made the whole thing feel even more embarrassing.
Purists would tell you though, this was no fall from grace for Randy Houser, lest we forget he was one of the notorious three who once ascribed his John Hancock onto the songwriting credits of “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” But in truth Randy was a pretty substantial and reliable songwriter for years, and possessed one hell of a powerful voice when he chose to apply it in a positive direction.
In fact when word first came down that a single with “whiskey” in the title had been issued from Randy, a little excitement welled in the cold, stone heart of this jaded music reviewer. The song “Yesterday’s Whiskey” from Houser’s last record is a pretty rousing, and a pretty damn country-sounding tune, at least compared to “We Went” and others that have gone on to characterize Randy’s career in the near term. But this turned out to be a newer whiskey song, and just about as welcomed.
“What Whiskey Does” is a return of Randy Houser to his more original form, and for the better. This is the Randy Houser who had built a fan base who would back bite you when you mentioned Randy’s participation in “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” or other offenses, and assure you he was true country. But isn’t it the way of Music Row to sway a performer from his established sound when he starts to age a little, and they’re looking for radio singles?
And yes, it does make a difference that Randy Houser is a mainstream artist, and that “What Whiskey Does” is a lead single being sent to radio as you undress it with the harsh eye of scrutiny. Sure, if it was coming from Whitey Morgan or Cody Jinks, it may even be considered sub-par. Even for mainstream measurements, it’s not something to consider as excellent. But the song is Randy Houser, and all you can ask from any artist is they be true to themselves to the best of their abilities, as Houser is on “What Whiskey Does.”
Undoubtedly this is country, despite the unnecessary hands claps, or the watery, wah-ish guitar pedal effect, which is usually reserved for more sexy and funky modes, not heartbreaking drinking songs. The acclaimed Hillary Lindsey, who also co-wrote the song, contributes harmony vocals to the cause. The usually-reliable Keith Gattis is also given a songwriting credit. But it’s also the songwriting of “What Whiskey Does” that wilts the worst in the face of criticism. There may be nothing wrong with any line of the song, but there’s also not a lot that is right either.
While Randy Houser fans who were hoping for a return to form and receive it from “What Whiskey Does,” we need another whiskey song in country music like we need another politically polarizing current event. It doesn’t mean a good whiskey song still can’t work. This is country music after all. But as Emily Yahr of the Washington Post pointed out recently, country music’s obsession with alcohol has become overdone, and “What Whiskey Does” doesn’t do enough to separate itself from the pack. In fact what we get along with the whiskey is a bunch of beer and barroom references as well. “What Whiskey Does” is as alcohol soaked as a Molotov rag.
That shouldn’t remove us from recognizing the righting of the ship Randy Houser swings with the song, it just tempers it. Because after all, any song like this heading to radio is one less song screeching about kicking up dust, or getting stuck in the mud, or both at the same time, inexplicably. And we shouldn’t forget that music is there to be enjoyed. Sometimes you just want to drown yourself in a song, and that’s “What Whiskey Does.”
July 2, 2018 @ 7:58 am
Loved his first two albums!
July 2, 2018 @ 8:00 am
“Anything Goes” was a great song. He could’ve taken the Jamey Johnson route with his music, (minus the hiatus), but he went mainstream. Maybe he will stay himself now.
July 3, 2018 @ 12:09 am
Yes, “Anything Goes” is an excellent track!
July 2, 2018 @ 8:15 am
Not the greatest song he’s ever released, but it’s a good comeback after We Went. I hope this is a good sign for his next album. When I listened to it Friday I mentioned on Twitter that Randy Houser is so much better when he’s more like Kendell Marvell and less like FGL.
July 2, 2018 @ 8:30 am
I suppose It’s a step in the right direction.
July 2, 2018 @ 8:50 am
Saw him the other day when he was opening for alan jackson. He performed this song very well and had me looking forward to the release along with another song he performed that will be on the upcoming album. Great vocalist!
July 2, 2018 @ 9:04 am
I’ve always been really confused by Randy Houser. I want to really like him because I feel he could make a great country artist and has a great voice, but it seems he always conforms to what is just popular at the time. I wouldn’t necessarily call him a sell out but I’m not sure he even knows who or what he is or if he just gives in all the time to what his label wants him to do. He went from They Call Me Cadillac in the outlaw path including beard in all with some awesome songs like Lowdown and Lonesome, Whistlin Dixie, and Somewhere south of Memphis when Jamey Johnson was getting popular to clean cut bro-country music with his last two albums. Now that the bro-country thing is sorta losing it’s appeal, is he changing again??
July 2, 2018 @ 9:07 am
This has a Stapleton feel, so is he just conforming to what is popular again?
July 2, 2018 @ 10:19 am
Is the Stapleton sound really that popular? I mean, obviously Stapleton is, but I would hardly say his sound has spread like wildfire at Country radio. The vast majority of songs at Country radio are much more in line with Luke Bryan, FGL, and Jason Aldean. Maybe Houser is jumping on that fad, but if Country radio is a copy-cat business (which it is), I for one welcome more Stapleton copycats if it means we get more songs like this.
July 2, 2018 @ 10:41 am
You may be right in that the Stapleton sound hasn’t really exploded really but Stapleton himself has become popular among music in general. I would welcome more stapleton copycats too.
July 2, 2018 @ 2:26 pm
Stapleton isn’t an original. Just another reclassification of blues to Country.
July 3, 2018 @ 9:16 am
Agree. To me he is doing the same thing Travis Tritt did in the 90’s
July 2, 2018 @ 9:14 am
We’ve hit the limit on “Whiskey” songs,enough!!
July 2, 2018 @ 9:43 am
I’ve got a song about how I can not stand the stuff
July 2, 2018 @ 2:27 pm
You can play it at Maren’s wedding.
July 2, 2018 @ 2:50 pm
????
July 2, 2018 @ 11:56 am
*We’ve hit the limit on poorly-written “whiskey” songs.
There is hardly anything more “country” than a whiskey song, most are just unimaginative/lazy/pandering (and no, this is not just a criticism of the newer artists). An important distinction.
July 2, 2018 @ 9:46 am
Saw Randy Houser open for Dierks once. He was awful. I can’t stand his voice.
July 2, 2018 @ 8:40 pm
I would agree with you bugman that his voice is annoying.
July 2, 2018 @ 9:51 am
This is terrible writing. It’s basically an “alcohol for all occasions” ad. It takes no risks and tells no story.
The sound is way too sterile and frankly is just a different take on the “token banjo” thing, but with guitar. It is perhaps more palatable to a radio listener who leans country, as compared to the more ridiculous stuff out there, but it’s still throwaway music, IMO.
Waiting impatiently for the real deal (upcoming CJ/WM albums).
July 2, 2018 @ 4:56 pm
I get your point Benny ….its not a GREAT write . BUT its country and its not over-produced , not slicked-up . It has an organic feel like the way Willie approaches recording . It feels more like a bunch of guys sitting around musing aloud about whiskey than about 9 songwriters , autotune , a buncha engineers , label guys and an over-priced mastering job trying to turn an FGL molehill of a lyric into a mountain of money .
It may be an average song , but everything else we get is so below average with NO attempt to be COUNTRY that I want to just go ahead and applaud appreciate this effort for a little bit .
July 2, 2018 @ 8:14 pm
I agree with you if the comparison is to current mainstream radio. I also realize that you (and many others here) know a lot more about music and recording than I do.
But today, in addition to this song, I listened to Sturgill, Tyler Childers, Whitey, Lindi Ortega, and Mike and the Moonpies. Compared to any of that, it does sound fairly inorganic and only token country at best, and just not worth my time.
July 2, 2018 @ 9:54 am
I’d guess the label is testing the waters to see if they can have succes with a Stapleton knockoff. I’m hearing a lot of Tennessee Whisey in this.
July 2, 2018 @ 2:28 pm
Then you mean a DAC ripoff.
July 2, 2018 @ 12:30 pm
It’s not Tyler “Love By The Moon” Farr bad. But it’s far away from being good.
A new Shane Owens EP was released last week. Much better music. (It’s A Southern Thing – 06/29) & an album by W.D. Miller called Burnt Bridges & Broken Hearts (06/29).
Not sure country music needs more songs with “Whiskey This” or “Summer That” in the title but the folks in Texas need more tracks with the name “Texas” on the charts:
Jon Wolfe – “Any Night In Texas” (#6)
Case Hardin – “Texas Rain” (#7)
Josh Abbott Band – “Girl Down In Texas” (#11)
Bubba T – “Texting Texas” (#33)
Cowboy Troy – “As Long As It’s In Texas” (#66)
Cody Bryan Band – “Texas Highway” (#77)
Bubbling Under: Pat Waters – “You Ain’t Never Been To Texas” (#113) & Robert Stowell “Texas Hold Her” (#115)
The current Sarah Hobbs EP is called Texas Made & i’m pretty sure i forgot a couple of “Texas This” & “Texas That” stuff…
July 2, 2018 @ 1:00 pm
In Texas, they love to sing about Texas and how great Texas is.
July 2, 2018 @ 1:06 pm
And trust me, most of the listeners in Texas are kind of tired of it.
lol, Cowboy Troy.
July 2, 2018 @ 3:05 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-cFtSPIF4Q
July 9, 2018 @ 6:03 pm
OlaR – you only scratch the surface. I’m from Texas and proud of it but it is over used in songs. I have a playlist with (wait for it ……) 259 songs with Texas in the title! And growing all the time – you even mention a couple I don’t have. I wonder if any other state even comes close to that?
July 2, 2018 @ 1:01 pm
Randy Houser has always been awesome. I think it could be game over for him though after he released that terrible “Song Number 7” to radio, that one flopped big time and then the next single did not chart at all. Could be another Jerrod Neimann situation unfortunately..
July 2, 2018 @ 1:37 pm
Points for starting with the chorus, you don’t hear that much anymore. Not a great song, but I root for this guy. Wish I could write for that voice.
July 2, 2018 @ 2:31 pm
No way…another song about whiskey??? I cant believe it …..smh
July 2, 2018 @ 3:06 pm
Maybe I’m just getting old- unimpressed
July 2, 2018 @ 4:03 pm
Not a bad song. It sounds country and that’s whats been missing from his music over the last few years. I doubt this gets lots of radio time, but hopefully the album is good. I usually like most of his music until the last album Fired Up came out. It was all down hill from their, but maybe this is a change of direction for Randy. 7.5/10 seems fair to me.
July 2, 2018 @ 4:08 pm
Not playlist material but if this makes its way up the charts it would be a good sign. Really wish the guys like Randy Houser, Dierks, Gary Allan etc. never chased the bro country game and stayed their course. I think we could have had a more diverse sound in Country Radio right now.
July 2, 2018 @ 4:50 pm
Ok …I can get behind this effort . This is undeniably country in sentiment , sound , arrangement vocal performance and in its respect to the hallmarks and traditions of a solid country write . I’m fine with another Whiskey song ….bring a on a dozen more if they sound country and aren’t sung by anyone named Hunt . I’d like to see this get some traction if only to educate radio listeners who’ve , perhaps , never listened to real country music or are just tired of the generic fluff peddled so relentlessly.
This works for Houser’s voice , I think . Reminiscent of ANYTHING GOES ( perhaps one of the best songs in the past years )….
July 2, 2018 @ 5:03 pm
Enough whiskey, unless it’s Pikesville Rye.
July 2, 2018 @ 6:11 pm
Who’s singing back vox? Man, that grabbed me. Nothing against Mr. Houser whatsoever. Fine song. Fine job. (Which sounds off-putting but, no, it “doesn’t separate itself from the pack.”) I bet he could though.
July 2, 2018 @ 7:14 pm
I like it. Honestly the background vocals make the song. Nothing against Houser. He’s never sounded better, but the harmony is tremendous.
July 2, 2018 @ 7:19 pm
Yeah, no.
Are they growing songs in petri dishes now? This guy is playing at music, not making it. Zero believability.
He sounds like a guy who’s been too long around people who never call him on his s**t.
July 3, 2018 @ 6:50 am
well……yeah …hear ya there cornman …..for the mostpart RH has always been a great voice looking for a great song …..and this isn’t it . nor are most of his recordings .
like so , so many folks trying to get played on radio , he doesn’t seem to know how to or care about finding and recording a GREAT song . why ? the songs are out there ….buckets of ’em . I think this is because the artist and / or label seems to think the artists can write their own and the fact is that not many can . this song, surprisingly , has an impressive pedigree in terms of writers of ‘hits’ but the weak link may just be Houser himself .
July 3, 2018 @ 7:09 am
Oh, the man can sing. His voice just isn’t distinctive. I get that commercial music, for commercial reasons, wants voices that are the opposite of distinctive. That’s why they love Maren Morris (heh). Like Houser, she just sounds generic. Go to any Southern Baptist mega church and you’ll hear scores of young women who sound just like her and Carrie Underwood. Hell, Taylor Swift has a more distinctive voice than any of them.
I also get that singers aren’t writers. It’s rare to get people who are really great at both, so I don’t fault Houser on that score. Plus, he’s trying to make a living like everyone else. No problem there. I don’t really expect much from these folks, is all. They can only really deliver, as a singer, when the song itself gives them the material to work magic. Silk purses, sow’s ears. These are fine musicians.
This is just run of the mill material in my opinion. If a guy like Houser (or his A&R people, if those people even exist anymore) starts looking in the right places for great songs, he has a chance to record something great. Or hell, try writing something honest himself.
July 4, 2018 @ 6:51 pm
”I don’t really expect much from these folks, is all. They can only really deliver, as a singer, when the song itself gives them the material to work magic. ‘
And THAT seems to be the missing ingredient for all these artists MOST of the time .Marry the right material to the right artist and bingo . I think that the reason for a this mediocre hit and miss kinda stuff is that no one ( producer ) knows how to marry the material to the artist anymore. Look how many people seem to struggle to be everything they aren’t …..Ballerini…Ashely Monroe , Easton Coribin’s last cuts , Rucker ,,,and on and on . The producers work for labels and radio ..NOT for the artists . The RIGHT producer , the honest artistic producer works to DEFINE the artist by buiding on the strengths that set that artist apart( Musgraves , Maren Morris , ) ….not by helping them to chase the same crap the next 20 artists are chasing ( Cobb ).
The right material needs to be ferreted out , not slapped together by the artist and 6 people with a radio track record . It needs to be material that speaks to the artist ( if the artist isn’t capable of writing it ) but it also need to sound honest and authentic from THAT particular artist and not something a dozen singers could record a take on .
July 2, 2018 @ 8:48 pm
Wow this does not suck. Way better than the last album. I appreciate the vocals a lot. Great singing and the ending is good.
July 3, 2018 @ 1:59 am
He’s always stood out to me as one of the better mainstream options, even with the last two efforts which were pretty subpar compared to the first few. I’m glad he’s seemingly returning to what made him stand out in the first place. I’ve seen him live and he puts on a great show, and Somewhere South of Memphis will always be one of my mainstream favorites.
July 3, 2018 @ 4:54 am
More Whiskey: the new Morgan Wallen single will be “Whiskey Glasses” (Source: Billboard Country Update – 07/02).
July 3, 2018 @ 6:06 am
Listenable.
July 3, 2018 @ 6:25 am
This is rock-and-soul with a bro-type singer and steel guitar.
The greater the distance from folk fiddle and honky tonk, the further you are from country music.
This is suburban country.
July 3, 2018 @ 9:31 am
Maybe we should start calling this radio stuff “suburbantry”
July 3, 2018 @ 7:14 pm
I call it “mediocre arena rock with a twang and a token banjo.”
July 4, 2018 @ 7:21 am
I’m a cognac man, but I don’t expect country songs about French brandy any time soon!
Yes, this is Houser returning to form, but I cant’ get into this song. It has the slight r&b vibe that I’m rather tired of hearing, and the lyrics are of course forgettable. Yet, it’s a good sign (perhaps) of things to come from Randy. He surely knows that he can’t compete with the younger guys doing urban music. He tried. It’s a fool’s errand.
July 5, 2018 @ 1:59 pm
RANDY HOUSER ???? What happened to him ??? Perhaps he’s more,ummmm,SALEABLE since he’s cleaned up somewhat ,and since he’s about Blake Shelton’s age,we’ll hear some more good work from him .
July 28, 2018 @ 9:00 am
Hard for me to be critical of any song about whiskey, but this one’s actually worthy of praise. A catchy, solid track.
August 10, 2018 @ 12:23 pm
I’ve seen Randy many times once in a local bar with maybe 75 people. He has one of the best voices I have ever heard live and Ive seen them all. Cody Jinks, Whitey Morgan, Paul Cauthen, Jamey Johnson, Willy, Merle, I could keep going but u get the point. He has one of the most powerful voices I have ever seen live. Paul Cauthen is a close second. Anyone here saying his voice sucks or the dude cant sing is f’ing tone def! Youtube him doing “Somewhere South of Memphis.” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8TaHVId0VpE Enough said. While I have been disappointed in all he has released since the album “They Call Me Cadillac”, you cant knock the dudes voice, thats just retarded. I hope he gets back to the good $hit and when he does I will start listening to him again.