Florida Georgia Line - "Anything Goes"

[StevePulaski]

Anything Goes (2014)
By: Florida Georgia Line

Rating: ★★½

Florida Georgia Line has achieved monstrous success for a country/rock duo that likely would've been happy to make a blip on the radar when they first started. Their 2012 smash-hit "Cruise" lasted twenty-four weeks on the Billboard 200, slowly climbing week-after-week to the point where it achieved consistent airplay and went on to be one of the most recognized songs of the year. I remember weightlifting with a friend and hearing the song for the first time, marveling at its sound and lyricism as some of the most country I had ever heard. Not long after, I indulged in most of their debut album Here's to the Good Times and regarded many songs on the album, specifically "Round Here" and "Tip it Back," as nicely orchestrated blends of country and what seemed to be pop-rock, making the music hard to classify in just one particular genre.

Florida Georgia Line's sophomore album, however, is instantly disappointing because despite being called Anything Goes, very little risks are taken, as the duo of Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard clearly plan to keep their demeanor unchanged since their debut album. This results in a sound that's pleasantly familiar for a few tracks, but overall, incredibly repetitive and, at times, insincere. This is music for the fratboys at big city schools who like to think their roots lie in the country, when really, the only countryside they've seen is when they've driven long distances.

For the rest of us, this is pleasantly catchy, beer-drinking music for a crowd that demands catchy hooks and infectious instrumentation. The album kicks off with its titular track, which is one the album's strongest offerings, rekindling us with the sound of this duo in a bold, uncompromising way that the album's lead single, "Dirt," fails to do, being a thoroughly boring track in terms of sound and lyricism. It's followed by a pleasant, reggae-infused "Sun Daze," "Smile," which has fantastic production that is unfortunately used for a subpar topic, the romantic "Like You Ain't Even Gone," which puts a great amount of emphasis on the abilities of Kelley and Hubbard and the ways they make their music flow, before concluding with "Every Night," a solid end song reminding audiences that the parties the two men have aren't reserved for the weekends but "every night."

The problem with Anything Goes isn't only its repetitive nature but the fact that so much of the album's clean, all-American country status is revoked by Kelley and Hubbard's excessive use of autotuning, sound-mixing, and synthesizers, which disrupt any simplistic, natural qualities brought forth by the songs' topics. On top of the fact this album is a bit delayed, arriving in October when it could've kicked off June or July more fittingly, the glossy production and aesthetic sleekness of the songs are distracting and rob the music of any credible, natural feelings that could've been achieved.

Anything Goes is a pleasant offering, boasting a handful of solid tunes, but I challenge Florida Georgia Line their next album lack any references to Miller High Life, forty-ounce malt liquors, Fireball Whiskey, Bacardi Rum, or any other alcoholic drink of any kind.

Recommended tracks (in order): "Anything Goes," "Like You Ain't Even Gone," "Every Night," and "Smile."