The Singles Jukebox

She’s champagne, he’s a dive bar, and I’m drinking vodka at home by myself :(((

[Video][Website]
[3.71]

Edward Okulicz: Tempting to dock this points because the video doesn’t feature Bamford dancing with a cartoon cat through a series of drinking locales of various levels of plushness. Ah, but it wouldn’t have a lot left, would it? Its combination of chunky guitars and organ is pleasant enough and the cliches go down easily, but this is shopworn and delivered without any particular charm. It can’t even bring itself to fully steal the Conway Twitty/city rhyme from Trace Adkins.
[5]

Alfred Soto: I’d think that a week’s worth of living would have made clear to this hack that men like champagne, women wear cowboy boots, and speakeasies are trendy. Even Toby Keith gets it.
[1]

Thomas Inskeep: I don’t know why I’m such a sucker for these male-sung “she’s champagne/I’m beer” country songs, but I am, usually — and especially in this case. I think it’s down to a simple couplet in the second verse: “But if it makes her happy I’ll dress up and get my swank on/And she knows I go country crazy when she gets her Hank on.” The song’s narrator isn’t just saying that opposites attract,  he’s saying they attract and that he and his ladyfriend make compromises for each other, and I find that refreshing. Also: tough, engine-revving Aldean-esque guitars, and a line in the bridge where you expect “city” will get rhymed with “Twitty,” since he mentions Conway in the verse, but instead it’s “city”/”P. Diddy” — that’s writing that makes me smile. Bamford’s not much of a vocalist, but a song like this just needs a vessel, and he provides that. This recent Canadian country airplay #1 deserves a shot here in the U.S., too.
[8]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: She’s a solid [10], and me I’m a 
[0]

Iain Mew: A definitive answer at last to the question of whether one can, in fact, make it any more obvious. It’s preposterous but carried by something approaching the synthetic adrenaline rush of the original question. 
[6]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: It sounds like the couple at the heart of “Dive Bar” have a very much loving relationship based around mutual respect and acknowledgement of their differences. However, I would not like to hear about it anymore.
[3]

Anthony Easton: Bamford has been singing this exact song for 24 years. The production is a bit new, but it strikes me as dated, his voice off, and without much imagination. The problem with Canadian country, it will love you forever, and it won’t require you to grow. 
[3]