His finger lingers over the Top 11 of ’11. “Oh HO,” he thinks, “so they like country with horns…”

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Alfred Soto: Eric Church, Luke Bryan, and Dierks Bentley get the fratboy tag, but Niemann’s closer to the stereotype and talented enough to, like, write a concept album about it. Confident about his increasing confidence to talk-sing over organ and horn chart, glancing right off the “ain’t sweatin’ the little things” trope, strumming a guitar alongside a pretty good solo, luxuriating in his thick phlegmy voice, Niemann deserves the primo product placement at Target.
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Jonathan Bogart: I really like the turn towards New Orleans R&B as a signifier of (authentically Southern) good-time cheer.
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Iain Mew: Possibly the ultimate lazy summer’s day song. I mostly mean that as a compliment for its laidback brassy groove, but on the other hand, I can feel the energy sapping away from me as it goes on.
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Anthony Easton: There is a thin line between accurately reflecting the theme of the music and not really trying. This leans toward not really trying.
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Brad Shoup: Niemann’s one of the few people on the country charts who’s able to summon a groove. His flatness on the refrain, his navigation of the syllabic filagrees, is totally winning. Boosted, the horns could have taken some of the edge off his tone, but I’ll take summer wherever it comes.
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Katherine St Asaph: “Ain’t sweatin’ the little things,” Jerrod drawls amid the musical opposite of a drawl; close harmonies, horns and organs arranged just so. This guy probably spent hours the day before landscaping his porch and figuring out which angle’d give her the most breeze and moonlight. He probably accidentally-on-purpose leaves books out, too. Trying too hard? Possibly. But charming!
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