CRITICAL DARLING THROWDOWN THURSDAY! Three Jukebox high-rollers go into battle – who emerges victorious?…
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[7.30]
Jonathan Bradley: Because she’s just so gosh darn genteel, Lambert gets away with singing songs in which she’s a heinous bitch. This one is about getting away with being a heinous bitch by being so gosh darn genteel. Clever! “Only Prettier” is suitably mannered, with its old school country guitar licks and easy pace, and the grinding electric guitar simmers away beneath the track like a Southern belle holding on to her temper. Lambert’s performance is wickedly funny as well, adding just the right measure of insincerity to lines like “Bless your heart” and “let’s agree to just disagree.” The best songs on Revolution are the wistful ones, but “Only Prettier” proves Lambert still has some venom in her, even if she’s put away the kerosene and set down the shotgun.
[8]
Frank Kogan: Miranda puts her kisser into a smile and speaks with a barbed tongue, riling up liberal milquetoasts like me. The instruments pull a similar fake-out, promising an intricate two-step but then socking us with rock beats and sloshing guitars.
[8]
Jonathan Bogart: Give her credit for playing so coy with her cultural signifiers that either side of the aisle can (and will) chant this at the other, but the end result is still an artifact of culture-warmongering less interesting in itself than its implications. Or at least it would be if the production weren’t quite so overwhelmingly full and the 70s country-rock guitar licks weren’t quite so lizard-brain effective. I expect to see my Georgia-peach boss blasting this with the top down by next week.
[7]
Mallory O’Donnell: How long do you think it’ll be before country lyricists realize that no one who actually lives in cities spends much time contemplating hypothetical bar out-tartings with rowdy crews from the sticks? Or really, any potentially awkward encounter with corn-fed denizens? That, perhaps, the point of cities is to provide us with something better to do with our time?
[3]
Iain Mew: I’m not sure whether the fact that I only understand about two words in three is helping or hindering this song. It’s all rollicking good fun though, starting with its unexpected wobbly scuzziness and continuing infectiously to its lyrical kicker, where Miranda dares you not to be charmed enough to let her get away with insulting you to your face. I think she knows she’s going to win that one.
[8]
Alfred Soto: As one of the handful of prickly cow-punk tunes in Revolution‘s middle stretch that almost convinced me she’d matched Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the wit and energy of this one remains undimmed, building on “Kerosene” and then some (“let’s shake hands and reach across the party lines” is at once generous, snarky, and loving). The only minus: the guitars are mixed too high, forcing Lambert to shout over the din (which is not without its charms).
[8]
Martin Skidmore: A country rocker at which they have rather thrown the kitchen sink. It’s a bit of a bludgeoning approach, which is a shame given the light and nimble song, and Miranda’s wryly ironic performance. The things I like are rather swamped by the noise, sadly.
[6]
Edward Okulicz: The verses are a bit of a Xerox of her previous record’s “Dry Town”, and when the heavy guitars blast in you get the feeling that Miranda could have left well enough alone. But her trademark wit endures even as she struggles to be heard above the din, and good-natured feminine rivalry is a sufficiently unusual topic for a pop song for her take on it to seem quite fresh. Even if it is, let’s be honest, about one single too many off Revolution.
[8]
Anthony Easton: This is really fun, her voice is strong, the lap steel is prominent, and it’s sort of like Keith’s “I Love This Bar”, but with an edge of tolerance as opposed to acceptance.
[8]
David Raposa: As Ms. Lambert ably demonstrates, the best part about taking the high road is that it’s easier to get your shots in. And as much as some of the This Is Country accoutrements annoy me (fuck one banjo quota), those chord changes in the chorus make it all better.
[9]