The Outsiders

Is Eric Church the new Springsteen?

After singing about him, has he become him?

Like the Boss, Church is hungry, and it's more than his heart, but he hasn't had his victory lap yet, maybe the time is now.

Every successful act controls a gang. Known as its fanbase. Which is why classic rock artists can still tour today and Top Forty acts come and go. The acts with longevity stand for something. They play first and foremost to themselves, and then worry about their listeners. As for the label, the radio and the Fortune 500...they come last, if at all. It's best if they can survive giving the establishment the middle finger.

They say we live in a hip-hop nation.

But that was a decade ago.

Conventional wisdom is we're in the midst of a Top Forty juggernaut, that pop rules.

But is rock and roll still the sound of America?

Listening to Erich Church's new album, I'm thinking so.

Life is frustrating. You need release. And it's fun to bump butts at the club, but it gets old with all the aspirational music, you know, people who keep telling you how much better they are than you. People you can pay more money to, but will never get to talk to, never mind screw.

And then we've got "The Outsiders."

Church described the title track as a mix of Waylon Jennings and Metallica. And I wouldn't go quite that far, but it's close. And not made for the mainstream, but for Church and his audience.

Not everybody listens with a group. Not everybody puts on their makeup and finery to appear their best. In other words, you wouldn't catch Kim Kardashian at an Eric Church show. Because there's an element of danger. And one thing the exalted are not are regular people, members of the public, their whole self-image is based on being better, superior to the rest of us, throw them in the pit and they'll get pulled apart.

And although there may be drugs, Paris Hilton won't go either. Because this isn't about spinning records, but playing. Making that sound come out of the speakers that crowds out all the bad feelings, that makes you thrust your arms in the air and feel good.

Come on, have you ever played air guitar in the bathroom, practicing your moves in front of the mirror?

Rocked on the porch with a beer, nodding your head to the beat?

That's what "The Outsiders" sounds like.

And this is truly the sound of America.

It's the black underbelly revealed on both "The Sopranos" and "Breaking Bad."

It's an extended number that is not made for radio, just for you.

"Give Me Back My Hometown" is made for radio. And it's got the haunting quality of the Springsteen track with the similar title. There's heartfelt emotion. Sure, there's a bit of paint by numbers, but it's not as calculated as the country tsunami.

And that's the truth, most of us live in our own hometown, with a bit of sex, a bit of drink, a bit of drugs, a bit of fun amidst the boredom and the drudgery, and what we're all looking for is something to believe in.

And right now, the leading male exponent of believability is Eric Church.

He played the game a bit, always with some attitude, and now that he's got some headway he's going his own way, and the establishment has to follow him, because of his audience.

Once you've got an audience, you can go anywhere.

Kenny Chesney's lost the plot. He's too busy sunning himself in the Caribbean and plotting his next stadium trek.

But really, it comes down to music, and performance. No stage set, no dancing, no shenanigans are necessary if you've got the material to entrance your audience and make them close their eyes and sing along.

We want to belong.

We just can't find anything to believe in anymore.

But just maybe, Eric Church is it.

Because when you listen to these tracks you remember the way it used to be, when AC/DC shook us all night long and we saw that wreck on the highway and got home and shivered, put on a record, and felt at ease.

P.S. I'm still pissed the entire album is not on Spotify. I get it, they want to drive first week sales so the antiquated press will trumpet Church's success, and I'll admit, you don't want to jump into the new world too soon, timing is everything, but the truth is "Springsteen" has been streamed on Spotify 16,489,917 times, yes, even country kids have computers, and the amount of money made by selling recordings is bupkes compared to the money to be made on the road. Still, check out these two tracks, they're not revolutionary but they contain the essence of what you used to know, that used to turn you on way back when...

Spotify playlist: http://spoti.fi/1fZPdMi


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