CD: Old Dominion – Old Dominion

Old
Dominion
Old
Dominion
Shut
Me Up 2:52 Break Up With Him 3:28 Nowhere Fast 3:10 Beer Can in a
Truck 3:23 Wrong Turns 3:31
Dirt
on a Road 3:02
This review I’m
going to do a bit differently. Now, the last review I wrote gave a
bit of insight into how I pick the candidates that I’m going to
look over. This is no different except for a few minor issues; I
almost went to a university in Virginia named Old Dominion University
(ODU), I never looked at any other choices to review, I never
listened to a sample, and I have no idea what I’m about to get
myself into. The reason I chose this band was the song titles. I
think almost every single one I have a story of my own to tell.
Shut Me Up,
this title is a fairly boring story for me. I had brain surgery about
three years ago after a bad car accident. Between that and the nine
years I spent in Asia surrounded by Mandarin Chinese, I’ve become
rather comfortable talking out loud to myself. Sometimes, I’ll
catch myself, other times I just don’t seem to care. Now for the
song, let’s see if it’s even close to my story. First off, the
song itself is really a great way to begin an album. The guitar goes
into a great solo in one part, but also for the rest of the song it
is a driving force. When the refrain breaks away the singer almost
steals the melody but then the guitar and drum catch up to it as the
beat changes. The singer has a deep country voice with a pretty hard
southern twang, and yet the band carries more of a rock sound. That
combination on this song is beautifully displayed. The lyrics
themselves are really relatable to any loose-lip drinker. The girl
keeps his mouth busy so he is not off ranting and raving while drunk.
Next up, Break
up with Him,
is a song I’m sure everyone can relate to.
Seriously, who hasn’t been in this situation? I was in college
casually sleeping with this amazing girl. Yet, there was one problem,
she had a boyfriend; he was on the baseball team, and I wasn’t well
thought of by most of those guys. Anyway, she never broke up with
him, she changed schools and I wound up sleeping with most of her
friends. So, that never happened. Let’s see how close my story
relates. This song is much mellower and really driven by the lyrics
unlike the first song. The guitar adds a really nice solo. This story
and my own, at least in the beginning, completely equal each other.
I’m sure if you changed the sexes girls could relate just as much.
I’m constantly
going nowhere fast. And that is the third song’s title, Nowhere
Fast.
I’ve been sitting in my house in Florida for three years
now. Although I’ve published my own book, and two of an
international literary journal I put together it always seems like I
am just treading water. I love the way this song begins; acoustic,
poetic vocals. Even when the percussion comes in it is a soft tap,
tap, tap…. The story is a recollection of young love. I wonder if
this was written then as poetry in a journal and now turned into a
song. I like their story better than mine and it is much more poetic.
Now this is the
title I’ve been waiting for, Beer Can in a Truck. When I was
about 18 or 19 years old, we were in the back of a pickup truck
somewhere near my old house in Virginia. We went over a small hill
and about a hundred feet ahead of us there was a stoplight. We were
travelling at a good speed and as we got near the stoplight I jumped
up and threw a beer at the light. I hit the green light, cracking the
cover and lodging the beer can inside. It was there for a few days
before they took it out. The song opens with a nice jam. Everything
about these song lyrics are great; the story, the way they are sung,
the meaning behind them. Now this song and my story both have
somewhat the same feeling to me. I can just put myself back to those
days and smile from ear to ear while conjuring up those memories.
Wrong Turns, my
guess is this song is about making bad decisions in life. I
personally have probably made a few turns in my life that could be
construed by others as wrong, but I believe each and every one was
right. This song starts off with just one piano, or keyboard key just
tapping over and over, but breaks into a full force hard jam. I love
the part of this song where the singer says, “I’m making all the
right wrong turns tonight.” It’s about seducing a girl to put it
politely.
Dirt on a Road,
is the last song. I really don’t have any story for this one.
Sure I’ve been down a lot of dirt roads but I don’t think that’s
what this is about. This one opens with a recorded track from
somewhere saying, “What I need is a man.” This is another song
where the singer is almost rapping the lyrics. When the refrain comes
in, it changes into more song. This style they’ve developed is
unlike anything I’ve ever listened to that actually works. Other
bands have attempted and it comes out somewhat awkward, or at very
best “wanna be hip hop”, but not here. I actually went into this
one completely blind and still have not gone to their website to
check them out. They are definitely worth a listen. For me, this will
be an album I keep around especially for road trips. It’s just one
of those albums that you enjoy listening to the entire thing and have
a hard time turning it off. I can just picture myself back in that
convertible twenty years ago driving down I10 through the Florida pan
handle on the way to New Orleans which kicked off this crazy journey
through my life.
Jeremy Frost for
Country Music News International

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