LITTLE BIG TOWN
''PAIN KILLER''
OCTOBER 21 2014
46:19
1 Quit Breaking Up With Me 03:24
2 Day Drinking 02:57
3 Tumble And Fall 04:39
4 Pain Killer 03:08
5 Girl Crush 03:12
6 Faster Gun 04:10
7 Good People 03:39
8 Stay All Night 02:44
9 Save Your Sin 02:44
10 Live Forever 04:14
11 Things You Don't Think About 03:37
12 Turn The Lights On 04:08
13 Silver And Gold 03:28
Tracks By Little Big Town
Johnny Duke/Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Pedal Steel
Jedd Hughes/Banjo, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Jay Joyce/Banjo, Bass, Bells, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Keyboards, Mando, Pump Organ, Synthesizer
Seth Rausch/Drums
Giles Reaves/Drums, Keyboards, Percussion, Synthesizer Horn, Synthesizer Pads, Vibraphone, Vocoder
Phillip Sweet/Drums
John Thomasson/Bass
Ryan Tyndell/Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Acoustic)
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Little Big Town have long been compared to Fleetwood Mac, usually due to their lush harmonies and taste for sun-kissed melodic pop. If that analogy holds water -- and it does -- then Pain Killer is Little Big Town's Tusk, the record where the group bends, twists, and reshapes expectations of what the band can do. Coming after the sweet, shiny Tornado, the restless over-saturation in Killer is something of a shock. As pure description, the elements sound strictly mainstream: there are gnarled, distorted guitars, flirtations with electronics, thick walloping rhythms, everything that would seemingly amount to a full-fledged arena-country crossover. Instead of following a predictable pattern, the quartet embarks on a series of detours, seizing each individual track as an opportunity to veer a little further off course. While there's none of the frenzied madness that pulsates underneath Tusk, Little Big Town do slide into a bit of minor-key madness on "Faster Gun" and have to hold their tongue on "Quit Breaking Up with Me"; otherwise they'd spit out profanity. That mischievousness is intertwined with aural adventure on Pain Killer: there's a sense that the group members are goading each other on, daring their bandmates to dabble in a bit of reggae ("Pain Killer"), to add a whistle to a chorus ("Day Drinking"), to write a swaying slow dance about a "Girl Crush," or to turn a bit of back-porch picking into a funky stomp ("Stay All Night"). Even though this record settles into a finale of three successive folk-rock tunes -- all three softly gorgeous -- it's the previous series of left-hand tours that gives Pain Killer its kick: this is the rarest thing in contemporary country, a record with an expansive world-view delivered with a kinetic kick and infallible melodies, a record that gives no indication of where it's going upon first listen but remains compelling upon further spins, after all the dazzle dissipates and Little Big Town's craft shines through.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
The country vocal quartet Little Big Town began with Kimberly Roads and Karen Fairchild, two Georgia natives who began singing together in college. Arkansas-born and Alabama-raised Jimi Westbrook, a friend of Fairchild's husband, joined them to make a trio, and the group was completed by the addition of Arkansan Phil Sweet in 1998. From the outset, Little Big Town devoted their sound to harmony and multiple lead vocals, a combination that made the band a hard sell at first. They finally landed a deal at Mercury Records, but it fell through due to disagreements about musical direction. In the wake of the success of the Dixie Chicks, however, Little Big Town suddenly seemed a more likely commercial proposition, and they were taken up by the Dixie Chicks' label, Monument Records, in 2000.
Recording sessions lasted longer than usual for a country release, but Monument finally issued the band's debut single, "Don't Waste My Time," in the winter of 2002. The song was on its way up the charts when its accompanying album, Little Big Town, arrived in May. Although the debut produced several minor hits, Little Big Town didn't become a superstar act until 2005, when The Road to Here yielded four Top 20 singles (including the ballad "Bring It On Home") and earned the group its first platinum record. A Place to Land followed in 2007 and netted three singles, none of which made it into the Top 30, but the band's profile continued to grow due to incessant touring and supporting acts from Sugarland to Carrie Underwood. Fairchild also guested with John Mellencamp on his album Life Death Love and Freedom. In May of 2010 "Little White Church" appeared as a single that peaked at number 14 on the Billboard country chart; in August of that year, Little Big Town's fourth studio album, The Reason Why, was released by Capitol. The band returned in 2012 with the single "Pontoon," which wound up topping Billboard's country charts. The band's fifth full-length album, Tornado, followed in September 2012. It was their first release to be produced by the ex-In Pursuit member Jay Joyce, and it became their highest placed album on the Billboard 200 up to that point, reaching number two. Joyce was retained for their next album's sessions and the resulting record, Pain Killer, appeared in October 2014, preceded by the single "Day Drinking."
OFFICIAL SITE
''PAIN KILLER''
OCTOBER 21 2014
46:19
1 Quit Breaking Up With Me 03:24
2 Day Drinking 02:57
3 Tumble And Fall 04:39
4 Pain Killer 03:08
5 Girl Crush 03:12
6 Faster Gun 04:10
7 Good People 03:39
8 Stay All Night 02:44
9 Save Your Sin 02:44
10 Live Forever 04:14
11 Things You Don't Think About 03:37
12 Turn The Lights On 04:08
13 Silver And Gold 03:28
Tracks By Little Big Town
Johnny Duke/Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Pedal Steel
Jedd Hughes/Banjo, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Jay Joyce/Banjo, Bass, Bells, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Keyboards, Mando, Pump Organ, Synthesizer
Seth Rausch/Drums
Giles Reaves/Drums, Keyboards, Percussion, Synthesizer Horn, Synthesizer Pads, Vibraphone, Vocoder
Phillip Sweet/Drums
John Thomasson/Bass
Ryan Tyndell/Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Acoustic)
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Little Big Town have long been compared to Fleetwood Mac, usually due to their lush harmonies and taste for sun-kissed melodic pop. If that analogy holds water -- and it does -- then Pain Killer is Little Big Town's Tusk, the record where the group bends, twists, and reshapes expectations of what the band can do. Coming after the sweet, shiny Tornado, the restless over-saturation in Killer is something of a shock. As pure description, the elements sound strictly mainstream: there are gnarled, distorted guitars, flirtations with electronics, thick walloping rhythms, everything that would seemingly amount to a full-fledged arena-country crossover. Instead of following a predictable pattern, the quartet embarks on a series of detours, seizing each individual track as an opportunity to veer a little further off course. While there's none of the frenzied madness that pulsates underneath Tusk, Little Big Town do slide into a bit of minor-key madness on "Faster Gun" and have to hold their tongue on "Quit Breaking Up with Me"; otherwise they'd spit out profanity. That mischievousness is intertwined with aural adventure on Pain Killer: there's a sense that the group members are goading each other on, daring their bandmates to dabble in a bit of reggae ("Pain Killer"), to add a whistle to a chorus ("Day Drinking"), to write a swaying slow dance about a "Girl Crush," or to turn a bit of back-porch picking into a funky stomp ("Stay All Night"). Even though this record settles into a finale of three successive folk-rock tunes -- all three softly gorgeous -- it's the previous series of left-hand tours that gives Pain Killer its kick: this is the rarest thing in contemporary country, a record with an expansive world-view delivered with a kinetic kick and infallible melodies, a record that gives no indication of where it's going upon first listen but remains compelling upon further spins, after all the dazzle dissipates and Little Big Town's craft shines through.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
The country vocal quartet Little Big Town began with Kimberly Roads and Karen Fairchild, two Georgia natives who began singing together in college. Arkansas-born and Alabama-raised Jimi Westbrook, a friend of Fairchild's husband, joined them to make a trio, and the group was completed by the addition of Arkansan Phil Sweet in 1998. From the outset, Little Big Town devoted their sound to harmony and multiple lead vocals, a combination that made the band a hard sell at first. They finally landed a deal at Mercury Records, but it fell through due to disagreements about musical direction. In the wake of the success of the Dixie Chicks, however, Little Big Town suddenly seemed a more likely commercial proposition, and they were taken up by the Dixie Chicks' label, Monument Records, in 2000.
Recording sessions lasted longer than usual for a country release, but Monument finally issued the band's debut single, "Don't Waste My Time," in the winter of 2002. The song was on its way up the charts when its accompanying album, Little Big Town, arrived in May. Although the debut produced several minor hits, Little Big Town didn't become a superstar act until 2005, when The Road to Here yielded four Top 20 singles (including the ballad "Bring It On Home") and earned the group its first platinum record. A Place to Land followed in 2007 and netted three singles, none of which made it into the Top 30, but the band's profile continued to grow due to incessant touring and supporting acts from Sugarland to Carrie Underwood. Fairchild also guested with John Mellencamp on his album Life Death Love and Freedom. In May of 2010 "Little White Church" appeared as a single that peaked at number 14 on the Billboard country chart; in August of that year, Little Big Town's fourth studio album, The Reason Why, was released by Capitol. The band returned in 2012 with the single "Pontoon," which wound up topping Billboard's country charts. The band's fifth full-length album, Tornado, followed in September 2012. It was their first release to be produced by the ex-In Pursuit member Jay Joyce, and it became their highest placed album on the Billboard 200 up to that point, reaching number two. Joyce was retained for their next album's sessions and the resulting record, Pain Killer, appeared in October 2014, preceded by the single "Day Drinking."
OFFICIAL SITE
No comments :
Post a Comment