I’d kind of let Jake Owen pass me by up until now. I’d heard the odd song but wasn’t overly enamored, but there was something about the title track to this album that intrigued me. It was different, and creative, and so I dutifully delved into the dozen tracks on the standard version this week, in the hope that my ignorance of his music was a silly mistake that I was about to rectify.
Well, yes and no. The trouble is his general sonic interpretation of country music (a kind of pop/rock full production sound) is one that falls sourly on my ears. That’s the problem with opinion and subjectivity, sometimes you want to like something but you just can’t. And that’s okay, because I didn’t find all of ‘Days of Gold’ a bad listening experience.
The title track was the lead single for a reason. It is altogether the most creative production-wise, the most sonically interesting, the most original and “different” track on there. It’s a true cacophony of a southern rock-infused country jam, like bluegrass but on speed and with dirty guitars. Fast-paced isn’t the word, and the banjo gets some real air time and hasn’t been turned into that horrendously compressed pop version. The subject matter and lyrical content aren’t as innovative, and simply draw on the romanticized paradisiac nature of bro-country that Jake has come out against, but baby steps. The same is true for ‘Beachin’’ which follows ‘Days of Gold’, picking up on the Kenny Chesney school of beachy, Carribean fantasy life in country, and turning it into a summery folk/pop singalong. It comes complete with catchy chorus, interesting intro riff (helped by electronic sounds) and a laid-back, Jason Mraz sensibility, although the rapping/speak-singing in the verses is a bit disconcerting. However, it’s actually not that bad, and kind of works within the song’s quirky nature.
Continuing further along the lines of fun summer tunes that this album has appeared to be based around, ‘1972’ is a clever little tribute to the early 1970s, more specifically the music culture. It channels a summery southern rock vibe that is reminiscent of bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, and is lyrically stronger than many of the songs on this record, looking back at the strangely primitive nature of 40 years ago with fondness. It then switches things round to talk about emulating those times, although I think this cheapens it a little because of it being about getting a girl into bed, and Jake’s vocals are a little low in the mix sometimes to be able to make out the many lyrics. However, it has a catchy chorus and is a little bit of fun, something a bit different to much of what is being released right now.
Unfortunately, this is where the album begins to lose its appeal for me. At this point it seems to settle into a fairly standard pop/rock full production sound for a good few songs, with little in the lyrics to really differentiate themselves from the many other artists out there doing something similar. ‘Ghost Town’ speaks of the image of his ex-lover appearing everywhere due to his own heartbreak, with a slightly haunting rocky feel on the chorus. ‘Good Timing’ also dips into this commercial rock sound, this time ladling the reverb on Jake’s vocals as if a brand new toy. There are also more pop leanings, such as ‘One Little Kiss (Never Killed Nobody)’, an electronically messed with recognition of the feelings arisen from a casual re-connection of lovers, and the heartbreak that then re-arises from that. ‘Life of The Party’, too, builds from a pop/R&B basis with guitars, and reminds me of quite a lot of Thomas Rhett’s debut record.
‘Tipsy’ and ‘Tall Glass of Something’ both reference alcohol; the former in the age-old metaphor of a love simulating the feeling of being intoxicated, and the latter simply in, well, a celebration of alcohol. Cocktails and the such. Definitely graduated from the Kenny Chesney school. Musically the latter is kind of interesting in its muted plucking of guitar in a rhythmic fashion and semi-rapping, and the former has a little more of a summery folk/pop sound with some well-placed repetition that makes it catchier than most of the rest of the album, but largely these songs fall in with the others. I could kind of take them or leave them, just as with ‘Drivin’ All Night’, a slightly strange commercial rock song, one that shows promise but then falls flat on a very poor chorus, its lyrics essentially amounting to semi-stalking.
The remaining two songs left to discuss, ‘Sure Feels Right’ and ‘What We Ain’t Got’ luckily are much better. ‘Sure Feels Right’ is the only true story song on the standard version of ‘Days of Gold’, and is paired up with a pre-chorus and chorus melody/instrumentation that just kicks ass, simple as. Sometimes you just can’t explain why something works, but you know that it does, and as a result this closer song (strange one to close on, feels a little unfinished) sets a better tone for an album that felt kind of filler to me. ‘What We Ain’t Got’ is probably my favorite song on here, however. It is the one track that is actually kept simple production-wise, mainly led by piano, and has the most heartfelt sentiment and delivery from Jake. Musing upon the human condition of always wanting what we don’t have, it uses the more specific example of a heartbreak to narrow down its relatability, but is just a lovely, meaningful song.
The unfortunate thing about this album is that on the one hand it embraces the same romanticizing that bro-country does, yet elsewhere is determined to run deeper than that. It also has moments of creativity but then descends into the same old pop/rock in-your-face sound that is fine for the pop charts, but not for country music. It just grates on me, and fails to show the complexities within the instrumentation, or allow proper airing of the lyrics. Although perhaps they weren’t as confident about the lyrics as they should have been (some of them are suspiciously bro-country like, of course).
I find it bizarre that Jake obviously wanted to experiment (the title track and the endless odd electronic intros are evidence of this) but then allowed so much of it to adhere to pop convention. That’s another striking thing about this record. True, I am not familiar with much of Jake’s previous work, but there’s little of an identifiable “country” sound (I’m sorry, that standard modern country sound just doesn’t stick as country for me), and where there are bits of twang, they’re hidden. I find myself wanting to download just the couple of tracks that really stood out, and ignoring the rest, which is a sad state of affairs and a sign of why people are buying albums less and less.
I shall of course delve into Jake’s back catalogue in due time, but I am decidedly put off by this, and also knowing I will be one of few who uncovers these issues. When did country become so undeniably pop/rock?
