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[5.57]
Katherine St Asaph: That’s a drum sound you don’t hear enough in country, but you know where you do hear it? A little more pep, a little less guitar, and this could be Katy Perry and all over pop radio; a little more grit and about 18 years into the past, and this could be Sheryl Crow and also all over pop radio. Either way, it could do with a little more tempo.
[6]
David Sheffieck: It’d be stronger if the tempo was just a bit less laid-back and the production didn’t include such a non-sequitur backing vocal, but I can’t deny that after a single listen Moskaluke’s voice and the hook were stuck deep in my head just like, well.
[7]
Alfred Soto: While I know plenty of people who love wine and cigarettes but have no choice about paying for cheap ones, I know nobody who loves their taste, and certainly nobody enthusiastic about loving their taste, which is how Moskaluke comes off jumping straight to the chorus. The drum thwack is cheap wine and cigarettes too.
[4]
Patrick St. Michel: But those two things are really forgettable!
[4]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: It goes down smooth, like bargain alcohol, and it swiftly leaves the mind, like bargain alcohol.
[5]
Anthony Easton: Talking to other critics about this, there’s been some coded back-and-forth about it being too produced and too slick, unlike Kacey and Miranda. It’s slick, the production is really smart, and if this wasn’t Canadian, it would be doing well across the border. I love her voice, but I really love how processed it is, and how that processing is just on the right edge of modern rock — proving that country/rock genre sliding isn’t just a boys game.
[8]
Brad Shoup: I think the phrasing is too slow, or perhaps it’s the track. The chorus is like an anthem; it’s easy to whine along, but “that kind of taste that you don’t forget” will turn to laughter in your lungs. VH1 c. 1997 would have heard the buttressing chimes and willed this into hitdom.
[5]