Steve Azar - "Slide on Over Here"

[StevePulaski]

Slide on Over Here (2009)
By: Steve Azar

Rating: ★★★½

Steve Azar was the very definition of a country singer/songwriter who left the mainstream just as soon as he entered in the early 2000's when his songs "I Don't Have to Be Me ('Til Monday)" and "Waitin' on Joe" found their way into radio circulation. Since then, any efforts by Azar have been more low-key than anything, leaving the fans and the curious parties to go searching for his music rather than having it be spoonfed to them on country music stations.

With that being said, most who seek out Azar's 2009 release Slide on Over Here, will find an album more than worthy of a listen. Rather than using the album as an opportunity for glitz and glamor in production, or giving us tired retreads of rehashed material or cover songs, Azar sticks to tried and true songwriting, giving us a variety of his talents in songs bearing faster tempos, slower tempos, or medium-paced ballads all capturing the Mississippi "Delta soul" vibe he has been looking to achieve since he began singing.

Azar wisely released "Moo La Moo" as the album's first single, an inanely catchy song about how, no matter how hard he works, Azar always ends up with "more month at the end of the money" than vice-versa. Such humor is sporadic on this release, but Azar makes up for it with brutally honest songs about heartbreak, such as "Apart at the Seams" and "Sinkin' or Swimmin' (With You)," providing for some keen variety on the album in terms of mood.

On occasion, we see Azar in a more optimistic mood, claiming he'll put down his cigarettes and his vices in "Startin' Today" and "I'll Find Me," about Azar coming to terms with himself and expressing hope that he'll find his future self at one point in the near future and embrace it accordingly. Finally, the nostalgia-infused anthems are spliced in as well, as he encourages listeners to head "Back to Memphis" if they ever feel the weather or other circumstances in their own state getting them down, and reminding us of his appetite for a fish fry and Thunderbird Wine is when he visits his own homeland on the infectious "Sweet Delta Chains." During all this, however, remember to "Take Your Time," as we got plenty of time to rush in our later days.

Azar's singing/songwriting is far from profound, but it captures an honest, homey truth, and his success on Slide on Over Here, while coming up short on mirroring the simplicity and soundness of his 2002 album Waitin' on Joe, succeeds overwhelmingly because of the variety and how wonderfully written most songs on the album are. Even at times when Azar appears to be taking the easy, more cliche route, he deviates in a direction that either shows off his specific sound or some kind of unique lyricism that he'll provide to avoid being a faceless singer/songwriter. Slide on Over Here doesn't change the game, but it plays along in the most pleasant and commendable sense.

Recommended tracks (in order): "Apart at the Seams," "Sweet Delta Chains," "Sinkin' or Swimmin' (With You)," "Moo La Moo," and "Startin' Today."