A reality TV star who counts his music streams in the millions, Drake Milligan looks like he’s stepped straight out of the 1970s. He’s every inch the star in waiting, the future of country by mining its past so well.
And the opening of these four songs, “What I Couldn’t Forget” is not the post-modern country we’ve reviewed recently. This is classic sounding. The music (hell, there’s even a fiddle solo), Milligan’s wonderful voice – deep and rich – and there’s that old school vibe in the lyrics too. Here, there’s a lost soul and bar stool and a girl to take his mind off it.
That continues – pretty much all of it – on the superb “I Got A Problem”. His problem is a woman, what else? But this is so classic sounding that it’s pretty much impossible to resist.
So, given what we know about Drake Milligan, do you really need me to tell you what “Don’t Leave Me Lovin’ You” sounds like? If you do, then you’re on the wrong review. But here’s the thing, just because you know what’s coming doesn’t mean it’s not a lot of fun.
The last one is the best one. “Jukebox Songs And Barstool Beers” has a love for both in abundance and it knows its history. It knows what real country is – where real music matters, as Absolute Country tells you about 50 times a day. This would fit right in.
I’ve written before on these pages about loving country because of a compilation tape I bought as a kid of Elvis’ country songs; from there to the journey to Billy Ray Cyrus and Garth Brooks wasn’t far, and this belongs in the same lineage.
When I saw the title “Jukebox Songs” I thought this would be a covers EP It’s not, but it’s one of those records where you’re Googling because you’re convinced you’ve heard it before. And in a way, you have. Twang doesn’t get much better.
Meet the new sounds, proud to be same as the old sounds, you might say.
Rating 8.5/0
