The Singles Jukebox

Presenting Rascall Troughs: The Tribute Act.

[Video][Website]
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Katie Gill: What sounds like a play by numbers love song is instantly complicated by a beautiful music video: “How Not To” goes from a song about dealing with a failed relationship to a crippling examination about alcoholism. The lyrics are what introduce complexity to this otherwise play by numbers production — this is a sound that’s more Rascall Flatts than Rascall Flatts’ latest album.
[6]

Alfred Soto: Anonymous craftsmanship like “How Not To” piles up by the hundreds of thousands in Nashville, awaiting the right treatment. Dan + Shay didn’t write it, but they sing the negative-as-affirmative as if they did. I don’t want to oversell its virtues; they don’t either. Tough romantic yearning in which no one breaks a sweat.
[7]

Thomas Inskeep: These cutesy-poo country boys just notched their third consecutive Country Airplay #1 with this, and I think I’ve figured out the secret to their success: they’re the new Rascal Flatts. Their songs are songs of bullshit uplift, scrubbed so squeaky clean that there’s no grit or anything real to them whatsoever, much like Dan and Shay themselves. 
[2]

Stephen Eisermann: I don’t like Rascall Flatts because of the nasally delivery that is found in everyone of their songs, and Dan + Shay are just as bad. I legitimately thought I played the wrong song because of the similarity in their voices. Middle of the road, country-pop, mid-tempos are barely listenable when delivered by great vocalists (see Keith, Brad, or Carrie), so when they sound this bad I literally cannot. 
[3]

Edward Okulicz: I’m a sucker for the way the chorus feels like it’s going to come around again for another go, but then just repeats the title. Great trick, one that’s devastating on an actually good chorus. Here, not so much, but lots of effort went in to the production and I was almost fooled.
[5]

Katherine St Asaph: Well, you certainly have no problem not thinking about your material.
[4]

Ashley John: When I used to choreograph, one of my dance teachers told me she started her brainstorming by closing her eyes, listening to the song on repeat with a pen and paper and sketching out the hills and valleys of the track. I frequently stole her technique when I was stuck on my own solos. Starting with my pencil in the middle of a piece of paper, I’d draw a horizontal line, stretching it up and down as the song directed. I come back to this process sometimes when I review songs on here. If I close my eyes and try to map this song out, it’s a steady, flat line. 
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