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I have to lead with a flat out statement that I dislike this song, because if I don't, everything point I make is going to sound like praise in the wake of Rascal Flatts. I don't think “Smoke a Little” smoke is a good song, but it is so much less infuriating than “Why Wait” (the only other pop country tune so far) that it can't help but come up on top.
First, it begins with an acoustic guitar... it actually sounds like country when it starts. Of course, it's not country-- it's the same hybrid pop style (with synth flourishes and dance beats) as all the other generic stuff it'll be shuffled in with-- but at least when it starts, my first thought was “Country.”
Second, this song is not going to be endorsed by the Christian Coalition. If it's still light years from Charlie Daniels' “Long Haired Country Boy,” at least it's not Values Porn for them that think pro wrestling and Fox News are real. This is a Party Anthem, plenty proud to drink cheap beer and smoke weed... even though I have a hard time imagining a real good ole' boy drinking and smoking to an overproduced pop song like this.
It tips its hand that this won't be doing anything traditional when the song starts putting in the rhythmic, tempo-locked tremolo on the guitars that originally sounded country-- they start getting “Ana Ng” (or “How Soon Is Now?”) early on-- as the intro establishes itself with one guitar on the left, trading with a guitar on the right, and then a third guitar line in the center that sort of flies in for one little line at the end of each phrase... this thing was obviously just pasted together on a computer.
Through the first verse, until the big electric guitars and synths come in, I suppose this song could pass as the relatively-old-style pop country that Garth Brooks used to sell in the 90s (that's the most backhanded compliment I've ever given), but once all the massive pop production is rolling full speed, it sounds more Steve Winwood than Brooks.
...okay, how much of a descent was that? Didn't I start out with Charlie Daniels?
To back away from the hyperbole precipice, this is a considerably better written and produced song than “Why Wait;” they're both carefully studio-machined pop pieces that have only the remotest resemblance to Country Music, but “Smoke a Little Smoke” actually sounds like it was written by a person, as opposed to an ad agency, two marketing committees, and three months of focus groups.
Not to be shallow, but-- when did the country stars all start looking like hipster douchebags?And finally-- why is it so hard to find legitimate streaming links for these pop country tunes? There's a "media awareness" joke to be made here, but I want a few more country tunes to come up in my roster before I start poking fun. We'll see how the trends pan out...
Stay with the song, walk away, or run like hell:
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