It turns out we HAVE covered them before, when “bro-country” was merely a drop in a blogger’s meme-spout…
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[3.56]
Jonathan Bogart: Expertly constructed, faultlessly performed, and utterly generic, this is a really good Gin Blossoms song.
[5]
Patrick St. Michel: The only thing worthy of praise about “Look at You” is Big & Rich’s decision not to cash in on contemporary country trends despite having more than enough reasons to do just that. “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” came out ten years ago and probably did more to pave the way for Florida Georgia Line being able to namedrop Drake than any other song — there was that Nelly/Tim McGraw song, but that one wasn’t getting heavy rotation at the campus frat parties of yesteryear. Really, these two should take advantage of anniversary-mania to celebrate a great song. Instead, they released a really boring song that seems more interested in going backward.
[2]
Anthony Easton: I miss the anger and the sex and the fun and the weird politics and the charisma and the sense they didn’t really like each other but were giving it a shot for the career. This sounds like everything, and so it sounds like nothing.
[2]
Alfred Soto: Obviously this song chronicles the John Rich-Big Kenny partnership the same way the Beatles’ “Two of Us” was about the band’s two songwriters — I can hear it in the wonderful harmonies and the grace with which the bridge flows into lovely chorus. A model of professionalism, then, but if like me you pine for another “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” energized by John Rich’s right-wing rhetoric, this won’t do.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: The first time I heard this, blind, I thought it sounded like Rascal Flatts. Even knowing who it is, it still sounds like Rascal Flatts. This has no discernible personality whatsoever. Downgraded two notches because I expect much better from Big & Rich.
[2]
Juana Giaimo: “Look at You” is confusing: joyful melody, but nostalgic lyrics. However, its main problem is that the verses are completely empty, simple transitions to the chorus, and no matter how enjoyable and catchy that chorus is, it’s not enough to support a whole song.
[5]
Brad Shoup: From different angles, this could be celebratory or mournful. They’re canny, I’ll grant, but they’ve still made a stuffed adult-contempo ballad, one where the guitars punch into the refrain and the banjo just ticks away. At least being obnoxious was an ethos.
[3]
Katherine St Asaph: Apparently I’ve got enough secondhand hype still lingering in my system to expect a Big & Rich song to be, if crass, then exciting. Believe nothing.
[3]
Josh Langhoff: I like the idea of them churning out anonymous hackwork, as thought it could shed new light on Horse of a Different Color. The problem is, they just sound like anonymous hacks.
[4]