by Joe Buffaloe
Daily Lobo
You can say you don't like Kenny Chesney, John, but I know you're lying.
The man who brought you "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" drops another 11 tracks of seamless, top-notch pop-country with his second album of the year, The Road and the Radio.
Sure, it's formulaic - the album is split between radio-friendly power ballads, happy drinking songs and sad drinking songs - but formulas exist because they work. Chesney is treading a tried-and-true path, doing what he does best with comfort and ease.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
This album is all killer, no filler - Chesney knows his fans pay for an entire album of songs, not three singles and 30 minutes of crap. If you tap your foot on the first track, you'll be tapping your foot on the last one. And unlike a lot of pop-country these days, the songs are still the star here, not the production. When electric guitars, drums or even horn lines pop up, it's not to save a sinking rowboat, but to give it an outboard motor.
Whether he's crying into his beer on "Tequila Loves Me," strutting around the big city on "Living in Fast Forward" or pouring out his heart to his hometown on "In a Small Town," the ex-Mr. RenÇe Zellweger sounds like he's doing what he loves. With melodies that are catchy but not gimmicky and lyrics that consistently avoid idiocy, his optimism is contagious.
Of course, most people won't give country music a chance, because only hicks and rednecks listen to country, right? You know - people who'd marry their cousins if they weren't their sisters, too.
But if it's unhip to like a good melody when you hear it, then throw away my Diesel jeans and Chuck Taylors and give me some Wranglers and cowboy boots.
I won't deny that there's a culture war going on. Country is the music of George, Jeb and Marlon Bush - wait, that's one of the Wayans brothers - and the rest of reactionary America, nostalgic for the "good old days" when boys and girls just held hands and everybody knew America was the greatest country in the world.
But Chesney is a uniter, not a divider. Surprisingly, even the song "Freedom" is free of political dogma. I promise Chesney doesn't want to kidnap you in the middle of the night and ship you to Iraq. So don't let politics get in the way of music. Unless you're a fascist.
The Road and the Radio may not be anything special, but there's nothing to complain about either. That may not be cool or smugly liberal to say, but hey, I calls 'em like I sees 'em.
