The Singles Jukebox

Jasons Monday doesn’t leave us with many options…

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Josh Langhoff: Joe Diffie’s 1994 chart-toppers summed up their strain of the country zeitgeist pretty well: good natured blues-derived novelties with crossover line dance appeal, just like “I Like It, I Love It,” “Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident),” Alan Jackson’s two steps, and everybody’s lordly ruler “Achy Breaky Heart.” In those years before Shania Twain swept in with her lasers, even the non-country kids (hi!) could differentiate these songs at school dances, though we usually admired the FFA kids’ choreography from the sidelines. Aldean and his songwriters take the short walk from “Pickup Man” and company to today’s glut of country chunk rockers, just one step further from the blues. Their novelty elements — Diffie shoutouts, a loony guitar outro, and rapping that’s slower than John Michael Montgomery’s auctioneer — fall safely within the tradition. The non-country kids’ll still call this country, though with its torpid beat, I can’t imagine the FFA kids’ moves will look as impressive. (On the other hand, those earlier songs also land in my 6-7 range, and unlike them, “1994” reminds me of Prince’s 1995 banger “Now.” Come on come on, hicks on the floor.)
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Alfred Soto: Taking the title literally, I anticipated drum loops out of Beck and Hole guitar riffs. But no. We get a little “3rd Rock” in our hip-hop and shimmers in our atmosphere. Aldean has neither honky tonk nor attitude.
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Brad Shoup: Between this and “Boys ‘Round Here”, it seems hick-hop’s found its footing, striking the right balance between hip-hop and country signifying. (They both reference Cali Swag District, so we still have a ways to go.) But the most important thing is the track: Aldean deploys guitars masterfully, and the turnover of riffs ‘n’ whines is absurdly catchy. His voice is still thin as hell; he needs multiple tracks on the verses, and when they’re removed for the hook, he sounds like a twerp. Evoking a better time is a sucker’s move; paying tribute is nearly always awesome, and shooting shine to a mullet-sporting twanger from 20 years ago is so winning. And so is the line “hop in this truck… AKA time machine”.
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Patrick St. Michel: Buzzfeed articles take more care in getting the past right.
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Anthony Easton: Ten questions about this: 1) Why 1994? 2) Why Joe Diffie? 3) Grey Goose isn’t really honky-tonk, is it? 4) “Pick Up Man” comes from Muddy Waters, right? (I mean, it was Diffie, but can it be traced to that origin?) 5) Is teaching someone to Diffie like doing the dougie? 6) Can you get Goose in fifths? 7) What purpose does the coda serve? 8) Is “country” still a meaningful genre signifier? 9) Do the rock guitars of “Pick Up Man” mean something different than this? 10) What would Aldean trade his pickup truck for, if not a Coupe de Ville?
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Katherine St Asaph: Jason exclaims “atmosphere” like this is Bring It On and he’s the newest, burliest member of the Toros. Bring It On, of course, is partly about wanton appropriation, which is fitting; Aldean’s got his nostalgia going not only for Joe Diffie but hip-hop, or at least hip-hop as circumscribed by “Teach Me How to Dougie,” “Jump” (the “Joe! Joe! Joe!” part) and “The Real Slim Shady.” Country’s often gone here before, both historically and this goddamn year; if this is the best of the recent offerings, it’s because why Aldean may embarrass himself, he’s not drawing lines like Blake Shelton, nor does the embarrassment go much beyond “C-O-U-N-T-R-Y.” He’s also got a crunchier hook.
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Jonathan Bogart: I mean, Joe Diffie is no Springsteen.
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