 |
|
Home > Archives > Reviews >
|
Jared "Pete" Gile :: Modern Day Mountain Man
(ind, 2003)
If you dig the kind of mainstream country they play on radio stations that sport Tim McGraw and Brooks & Dunn liners, you'll probably be able to rock out with Jared "Pete" Gile.
"Modern Day Mountain Man," is that hyper-masculine pseudo-twang country music that ends up on beer commercials and loudspeakers at sporting events. But Gile certainly does it justice. Gile's nasally tenor twang takes on subjects like heartbreak, getting drunk and getting laid. Nothing new here.
At best, Gile's songs are ultra-catchy, hook-laden and irreverent, such as "Just How Drunk," where he tries to get a chick drunk so she'll sleep with him. No, really, it's a funny song, albeit a little chauvinistic.
 |
Friday, Dec. 5
Jared "Pete" Gile / Aaron Traffas @ The Brass Rail in Hays :: 9 p
|
|
 |
Gile shows his abilities to change things up on the sweet and sentimental "Runnin' Low on Angels," where producer Steve Palousek shows off with an excellent arrangement of keys, low-key drums and strings. It's a slow ballad where Gile sings "God must've been runnin' low on angels / 'Cause he went and took the only one I knew."
On the other hand, the songs seem to run together with little distinction, broken up into sections by certain highlight songs. And at times, Gile's voice sounds a little too thin and tinny for the robust arrangements.
That's why at times, the album sounds more like an audition with Gile trying to sell his songs to more recognized artists. Gile obviously has an excellent feel for writing songs in this genre. He seems to intrinsically know how to write a catchy pop-country song, but his voice, at times, doesn't quite live up to the style.
The low-point of the album, at least for me, was the title track. Any song that starts "My horse has Harley Davidson branded on the side," is enough to make me want to have Kid Rock shot.
But the stronger tracks more than make up for those shortcomings if a slick radio-ready country is what you're looking for.
|
|
|
