album review: 'see you tonight' by scotty mccreery

We return, yet again, to the ongoing split in country music.

Now, it's important to consider that despite the conflicts between established artists, one also needs to be aware of new blood entering the country music industry. These artists, providing they gain a foothold or some popularity, are the ones that will be responsible for propagating trends or drawing in the next generation. And arguably, those on the side of traditional and neotraditional country music should be concerned more than most, because it's not in the nature of people my age going into music to hold onto the past. They want to tread new ground, they're not always aware of the history, and since they likely grew up with country music with a pop twist, they'll be more inclined to drift towards crossover material.

At least, that was what I thought before I heard about Scotty McCreery. For those of you who don't own a TV and/or have no idea who this guy is, Scotty McCreery rose to prominence when he won American Idol's tenth season, which I didn't watch. What proved interesting, however, were his song choices throughout that season - a big chunk of them were neotraditional country music from guys like Travis Tritt and Alan Jackson. And when he dropped his debut album...

Well, it wasn't very good. But then again, that doesn't surprise me - the music was a little too sterile and saccharine and Scotty's naivete was probably not the element that should have been pushed front and center. And it also came courtesy of the American Idol songwriting factory, and even Kelly Clarkson got afflicted with that load of boring dross when she put out her first album. But after a Christmas album, Scotty McCreery started to have more writing credits on his songs and in such material appeared to express some distaste for the truck-driving, beer-drinking brand of bro-country that's currently popular now. But while this definitely intrigued me, it didn't entirely surprise - despite a surprisingly deep and mature sounding voice that threw me off-guard, McCreery seems like the last sort of guy who could credibly perform swaggering macho bro-country. So with that in mind, I took a look at his newest album See You Tonight - how did it turn out?


Well, it's a little difficult to say - mostly because Scotty McCreery is trying to play two hands at once with this album, with songs that cater explicitly to the bro-country vein and multiple songs that subsequently blast said material. It produces a fair amount of whiplash with this album, and while I'm inclined to feel a certain amount of dislike because of the disingenuousness of it all, I really can't - mostly because the majority of this album is pretty damn good. It's by no means great, let me clarify this, but for an album that's trying to have its cake and eat, Scotty McCreery actually proves to be surprisingly savvy working with both genres.

So let's start with the main common element: Scotty McCreery himself. I have to say, I do like his voice a fair bit: it's a rich, expressive baritone that can credibly convey emotion, and he uses it to the best of his ability here, and he's pretty damn believable in most of his material, especially along the neotraditional country lines. However, it's looking towards bro-country that we find our first problem with McCreery, and that's in his delivery - despite the deepness of his voice, he sounds somewhat out of his element here, just a little bit too 'wholesome' to believably perform songs in this vein. Oh, he tries, don't get me wrong, and I won't deny that his likability and charm are enough to elevate a few of the songs like with Billy Currington earlier this year, but it's not quite enough to save some of them from the groans of exasperation.

What did considerably more to elevate this material is the instrumentation, the guitarwork in particular. It's plucky, the melody lines are - for the most part - interesting, and it lends the songs a lot of pop energy reminiscent of Keith Urban's album earlier this year. And really, whenever McCreery goes towards a more traditional country song, it works like gangbusters, and songs like 'The Dash' and 'Carolina Moon' and 'Something More' have a lot of flavour and personality. And there are even points where I must admit the guitarwork and pleasant melodies made songs like 'Now' and 'Buzzin'' pretty damn listenable. My issue here comes in the inconsistent production, particularly in the percussion (which alternates between organic drums and drum machines and unfortunately doesn't always feel cohesive) and in the occasional bit of electronica that sounds very pop and doesn't help the atmosphere. On top of that, someone needs to tell country producers that bringing in a selection of tenors for background singers rarely sounds good behind a backing baritone, and in this case, it sounds more than a little chintzy.

But now let's come to the lyrics and themes. As I said, the album toes the line between bro-country and traditional country - but it's kind of surprising how well McCreery executes both. What's disappointing is that with the exception of 'Something More', McCreery's songwriting contributions are almost entirely in the bro-country vein, and as with most of those songs, you could almost tick off the elements with a checklist. Trucks and tailgates? Check. Girls in cut-offs? Check. Beer? Of course that's a check - although to be fair to McCreery, his better bro-country material tends to deemphasize getting wasted (although I can't be the only one who is missing country songs about whiskey, right?). Hell, 'Buzzin'' is entirely about how hanging out with his girl is the only buzz he needs, which might be corny but it does work as a good shift. Unfortunately, the bad songs on this album are entirely in the bro-country vein, from 'Feelin' It', a song not nearly as clever as it thinks it is, and 'I Don't Wanna Be Your Friend', which is a song about how he doesn't want to be her 'friend', he wants to screw her and can't use anything besides euphemisms. The worst song on the album, however, is 'Blue Jean Baby', which can be best described as a Levy's commercial used as an album track. The song is less about the girl and more about the goddamn pants!

Yet with all of that in mind, there are traditional country songs on this album that McCreery does a great job with, or songs that are on the borderline. The album closer is 'Something More', where McCreery wishes for country music to be about more than beer, trucks, and girls (I know, it's disingenuous as all hell, I'll come back to it), but there are tracks before it that do the job just as well. 'The Dash' tells the tale of a small-town soldier's funeral and actually doesn't get jingoistic about it, 'Forget To Forget You' is the story about a guy keeps trying to move on but he really can't (which is actually better executed than you might think), and 'Carolina Moon' (a duet with Allison Krauss) is a straight-up Appalachian song that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Alan Jackson's last album. For me, though, the best track is 'Feel Good Summer Song' - mostly because it's nothing of the sort, a surprisingly dark song about a guy who gets taken advantage of and now is sick of the summer songs because they remind him of her. It's courtesy of Shane McAnally, who was also responsible for co-writing most of Kacey Musgraves' brilliant Same Trailer, Different Park (and who also happens to be openly gay), and while he has written a few duds ('Downtown' by Lady Antebellum stands out here), he's probably one of the most talented mainstream country songwriters working today. And combined with McCreery's voice and the ominous energy of the song, 'Feel Good Summer Song' sounds a bit like a track in the vein of 'The Thunder Rolls' by Garth Brooks. In fact, I'll say it - this album feels very much like a Garth Brooks album, the kind that has a distinct pop appeal and perhaps even a few songs that jump into that vein, but there's a fair amount of solid country there as well, enough that you can't really hate it.

And really, that's where I end up coming down on See You Tonight by Scotty McCreery - I can't dislike this album. There are bad songs on this album, yes, but it's arguably better than those parts. And while I can't deny that it does bug me McCreery is trying to play both genres with this album, I can't really deny the fact that while he nails traditional country, he's pretty solid with bro-country as well because for the most part, he comes across as likable. Coupled with the strong instrumentation and surprisingly sharp technical songwriting at points - yeah, I'm giving this album a 7/10. If you're a fan of country music, traditional or bro-country, you'll find something to like on See You Tonight - and hell, you might even find something that surprises you.