This is one artist who perplexes me to no end. He professes to be a modern-day member of the outlaw movement - part of a distinctive class of artists who aren't afraid to buck the trends and break the rules. Yet, much of his output has been dominated by contrived, cliche-ridden country-rock fluff. But his current single, "Smoke a Little Smoke," manages to seperate itself from his more stereotypical songs. The production style is not country, but at least it doesn't annoy me by halfheartedly pretending to be country.The song's narrator is a man who, after a bad breakup, just aimlessly sits around abusing drugs and alcohol. Eric even hints at the use of illegal drugs ("Dig down deep, find my stash..."), so this song is definitely not squeaky clean. The song's lyrics are somewhat repetitive, and not particularly interesting. But what is interesting is the way the production mirrors the lyrics - the musicians sound like they're high on something! "Smoke a Little Smoke" is full of snaky guitar riffs that disinctly set it apart from any other song on the radio.
This may not be the best song to hit country radio this year, but hey, I have to give Eric a few creativity points.
ERIC'S SCORE: 6
(Scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10)