And nobody mentioned the bit where this turns into Aerosmith. Pity…
[Video][Website]
[5.25]
Josh Langhoff: “Sip” is a precious word, especially if you prefer guitar rock about plain old unpoetic “drinking.” It works here, though, in an ode to stasis where the smoke rolls, the girl sways, the crops don’t grow fast enough, and Bentley fights to keep his eyes open. The band stretches out on two chords, throwing dobro and drums up against power chords and pulsing tremolo, time’s arrow vs. the eternal. It could almost be Spacemen 3, only without any organ or pretense that this moment will outlast a pop song.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Bentley’s problem is finding something to say and keeping track of his indentured guitar parts too, and here he beaches himself on yet another string of lame single entendres.
[4]
Anthony Easton: For a song that is so tight, the lurching, leaning sound is fairly close to the body after a few drinks. That he manages to do so without falling apart or getting sloppy is a neat trick. Also, the double entendres are subtle enough that I might be imagining them, which gives it a little frisson of ambiguity.
[8]
Iain Mew: Top marks for sounding like what it’s about, as juddering power chords crash into hard-won bliss for the chorus. I could do without the girl who turns up to have her world set on fire, sway, and disappear from the narrative again, but am more taken by the first verse where Bentley tries to bring it on himself to drink everyone’s problems away.
[6]
Ian Mathers: Most pop songs about partying (including but not limited to the country ones) tend to leave out the reasons one might need “the sweet release of a Friday night,” except implicitly. But when Bentley makes it explicit, especially on that first verse, and then decides to have the surprisingly effective video focus on that part of the song, it lends an otherwise fairly standard “lose yourself in the music and booze” song a surprising weight without ever weighing the chorus down.
[7]
Katherine St Asaph: If you’re mentioning miles of for-sale signs on Main Street (and considering Main Streets generally aren’t residential, don’t you mean empty storefronts?), a nonspecific big-tipsy-tent chorus about drinking away “whatever it is” is a cop-out. Anyway, I’m also too hungover for this shit. And so is Dierks’ voice.
[5]
Brad Shoup: Here’s my proposal: instead of spending 50 bucks on two Dierks Bentley tickets (plus beers, merch and parking), plow that cash into a local club’s cover charge. You’ll have money left over for a cab, should you — per Mr. Bentley’s suggestion — overindulge. Support your local economy of musicians, not this bloated national network of twangy millionaires trying to pat you on the back from a five-star tour bus. Hell, I’m sure any cover band in your town can do more to lift your spirits than this beer-and-circuses, Nashville bailout bullshit.
[0]
Jonathan Bogart: As the soundtrack to the Levi’s-commercial video the stateliness of the music makes sense; without the video, it’s too sloggy to be a drinking anthem and the recurrence of the title phrase has only the one meaning. One point extra for using small-town decline as the backdrop for the party, though.
[6]