Post by StevePulaski on Sept 3, 2014 21:16:03 GMT -5
Original Good Ol' Boys (2013)
By: JJ Lawhorn
By: JJ Lawhorn
Rating: ★★½
Johnathan "JJ" Lawhorn was just seventeen when he was picked up by the Colt Ford-owned record label of Average Joes Entertainment, the immensely successful country music label, boasting a whirlwind of artists ready to take the subsector of country-rap (also known as "hick-hop") outside of the mud-bog niche and into the more mainstream demographic. Lawhorn is now nineteen at the 2013 release of his debut album Original Good Ol' Boys, after working as a featured artist on songs with Ford and Bubba Sparxxx, two commendable artists boasting their own unique styles, and shows a great deal of maturity and difference from his young Nashville archetypes that, as Hank Williams III so elegantly but it, are "just too damn busy kissing ass on Music Row."
Lawhorn clearly doesn't believe in kissing ass for personal gain, as he blatantly tells you how he's feeling and what he believes is right in the song "You Don't Know Me Very Well." The song is a response to those who have likely judged him and his personality over the years, but don't even begin to know the half of it. Right off the bat, Lawhorn gets credit for breaking from the mainstream, pop-country demographic, which is already worthy of high praise, seeing as that route would offer more exposure, more opportunities, and more lucrative business, which one would wrongly assume Lawhorn is chasing working in the music business. But even if Original Good Ol' Boys is only an average debut album, there's serious integrity and honor to commend in Lawhorn's character.
Lawhorn hits home-runs with tracks like "Stomping Grounds," which state his love for his homeland and how he'll proudly live here and die here as far as he's concerned, "It's Too Late Now," where he describes how the country life has consumed him and it's far too late to turn over a new leaf, and "She Kissed Me Anyway," about Lawhorn returning home, filthy and sweaty from work, to a lovely country girl who kisses him despite his unattractive attributes. Lawhorn gives a fierce display of lyrical competence on these tracks, as well as assembling a pleasantly raucous sound that inspires its own blend of rugged rock and roll, while alluding to some country-rap overtones.
O.G.O.B.'s only drawback is it's a tad overstuffed, and occasionally, songs begin to fall together and it's difficult to distinguish one from another, again establishing Lawhorn as a brazen soul but one lacking in subject diversity. Songs like "Tan Lines," "When She Puts on Them Jeans," and "Call Me Country" bear a solid sound, as most songs do on the album, but lack in the department of carrying their own lyrical flair. However, the fact that Lawhorn, at nineteen when this album was released, dares look away from the archetypal pop-country brand and pursue his own personal style deserves a great deal of support and enthusiasm.
Recommended tracks (in order): "Stomping Grounds," "It's Too Late Now," "You Don't Know Me Very Well," and "Last of a Dying Breed."