Review: Country by Medium Build released via Island
I took these notes so long ago but I’m gonna try to just write without starting over.
When I listen to country music I more or less expect each song to have its own subject matter, as opposed to a theme in the full length. Or a letter to an individual, as opposed to something I am necessarily supposed to relate to. I, of course, realize there is an enterprise of country where songs are more bought and sold but even from the opening song of this Medium Build project, I can tell it’s a deeply personal record. Before we even get into the meat of it, Nicholas Carpenter is musing about why a label hasn’t picked him up yet, so I know I’m in for something of substance. Be this as it may, “Beach Chair” is also a bit mean spirited and this good grace sort of backfires when the hook is saying things like “you ain’t shit” and “you need work,” even if he also calls them the best.
“In My Room” is a bit more tuned to the masses while also serving as a journal entry about the past. This one is a fun and catchy rock song about being at home and makes it sort of hard to pin down the tone Carpenter presents about his own childhood. He talks a lot about being isolated while at home and not being able to do certain things around the house in an inconsistent way. On one line, for instance, he makes it sound as if his parents prevent him from seeing his friends at all but then also talks about his mom inviting them over. Maybe I’m thinking a bit too much into it but a lot of the record sort of has these moments where Medium Build is an unreliable narrator. What I will give him though is when he’s honest, wow, is he honest. On “Knowing U Exist” he spends most of the song calling his girlfriend a bitch but also admitting to being a scary drunk.
Something I do like about Country and its themes is the introspection of fame and what it means to be known. “Known by None” talks about the truth of said fame; everyone knows you, your name, maybe some basics but no one truly knows you at your core and it’s a deeply lonely thing.
My biggest criticism of the album is when a track isn’t interesting it’s very much so. A major factor in this being all of these songs sort of boil down to one sonic point; he makes a sad point, there’s a blues riff, it gets old fast. Songs like “Cutting Through the Country” are somewhere between compelling and boring as they’re about how the love a fan, or even thousands of fans can have for you is intoxicating but ultimately temporary and true love trumps above all of it, but he sings it to a melody I could hear in just about any male fronted arena band. He does come through with some genuinely good musicianship especially on songs like “Known by None” but it's definitely not the entire album.
I have, for the first time, two choices for best song on the record in spite of all my misgivings. The first of these, “Hey Sandra,” is a stripped-down image of a man via a letter to his lover. Here he’s very candid about his tough exterior and playing everything off as no big deal by using masculinity and strength. In truth though he just wants to do right by someone and impress them. I’m torn between this or “Can’t be Cool Forever.” This, to me at least sonically, is the most punk cut on the album and looks into what being the guy he admits to being on the former actually means and comes to terms with it having an eventual end. All of this alongside a message of being cool is far less important than being alive.
While I’m not a massive fan of the genre attempted here and less a fan of high masculinity, I did find a lot to like on Country. I was drawn here because this artist featured on the latest Mini Trees EP, which I was quite fond of, and I’m glad I checked this one out at all. I can, at the very least say, this artist puts it all on the table and I can appreciate the honesty.
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