This week in Yes, But Does Our Esteemed Panel of Critics Believe Country Boy Is Really Gonna Start Doing Right?…
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[6.43]
Alfred Soto: He called his last song “Buzzkill,” and to his credit it sounded like it. His dark peaty nasal voice lends itself to catastrophe. So deep is his obsession that he can’t enjoy a show without looking out and seeing her damn face on his phone. When the voice huffs to a halt — believe me, it keeps pushing — the pianos and guitars keep going.
[6]
Anthony Easton: This is soppy as hell, and the piano makes it even more sodden. But it’s effective, and what do we listen to Luke Bryan for, except for sentimental romance ballads in party boy drag?
[6]
Patrick St. Michel: Dude is being a little bit of a jerk (probably could have thought of a better line than “you can wreck my plans/that’s all right”) but ultimately the sentiment here is really sweet. It’s a rejection of typical masculine bullshit in favor of affection — the bar can wait, hell can be raised tomorrow with the bros — and Bryan sells it just right (aided by the music, which swells up with strings by the end).
[8]
John Seroff: Bryan’s maudlin and adenoidal charms have consistently evaded both mine and the Jukebox’s appreciation; I can’t say I’m hearing anything new or noteworthy in the current single that gives cause for reevaluation.
[5]
Iain Mew: So even when he’s sleeping, it’s party time? That is some commitment to partying! Are the lights really still on because he’s passed out drunk? Either way, the way Bryan sings “this is a drop everything kind of thing” like he’s already considered everything that could involve goes a good way to convincing of the generosity. The melodic openness, the call and response, and the spare sprinkles of piano go the rest of the way.
[7]
Brad Shoup: One day, country will write a joyful booty-call song for the hell of it. I do love when Bryan wonders what state her hair is in, and the subtext of this single seems to be that raising hell with the guyz is losing its caloric content. But all these cascading guitars are flowing towards a proposal, I just know it. So basically: this song bums me out in about three different ways, and that’s worth keeping it around.
[6]
Edward Okulicz: The “call me, call me” has just the right amount of desperation in it. Jake Owen would have conveyed the need better, and maybe Josh Turner the devotion, and few country vocalists code “party” (actual or figurative) less than Luke Bryan, but his voice is just about right for this mid-point. Whatever the meaning, it’s a mid-paced mid-volume country rock ballad, so I’m programmed to like it whatever its faults.
[7]