All of It

I’m usually pretty disappointed by Modern Country, dissatisfied with easy hooks and easy notes, yet there is something about Cole Swindell that works for me, or rather – his Pop gets the job done and therefore I can totally understand his appeal with new generations of Country fans. I totally could raise a can of beer with the rest of the party to his music, and sometimes, that’s all that really matters. What is interesting about this album is that it opens with exactly the generic type of music I dislike, and I might have turned it off if it weren’t for track 2 making me stay. Cole Swindell wants “All of It” on the second tune and the album’s title track – where the vocals are tender, even if the lyrics are a little blunt. “I wanna see you in a pair of cut off jeans”, Swindell croons, as honorably as he can muster. The banjo syncopates softly and other acoustic guitars play in cyclical pattens, as the drum hits slam, creating a nice Soft Rock atmosphere. I don’t like how many words Swindell tries to dish out in the each stanza, where it would have been better to space things out for more emotional resonance and sexual tension. Still, already I was hearing progress.