Zach Bryan has released a new album titled “The Great American Bar Scene.” Anyone who is not a fan of Zach Bryan probably only knows one song from this album, “Pink Skies.” This is because, simply put, the rest of the album is boring and uninspired. The lyrics, instrumentation, and especially the vocals give of a strong vibe of apathy. Bryan’s vocal range is thoroughly unimpressive, and most of the songs are repetitive, trite, and unclear. The songs in the album do not paint a clear picture of an event or feeling. However, despite the overwhelming negatives there are some positives to be found.
The aforementioned “Pink Skies” is certainly the high point of the album, being genuinely heartfelt and musically interesting, if a little repetitive. “Bass Boat” is similar in quality, also being a standout. The use of pool balls knocking together in the song “The Great American Bar Scene” is a novel and well-executed idea. Most of the featured artists in the album bring a musical talent to the songs that Bryan either does not or cannot. “28” is a musically good song, but the lyrics and vocals are as bland as is expected. The play on words of “Like Ida” sounding like “like I do” with a southern twang is a fun concept. The high point of any song with the piano included is the piano. However, these positives can’t save this album from the torrent of negatives.
The biggest negative was that the title of the last song in the album is “Bathwater”, meaning that I had to search “Zach Bryan Bathwater,” and I shudder to think what kinds of targeted ads I will be getting. To move on to more serious and specific negatives, the first song on the album, “Lucky Enough”, sounds like a slam poetry session with a guitar making noise in the background. However, there are no other songs on this album that stand out as particularly bad. Every song is the same as the one before it and will be the same as the one after it. The vocals are bland and monotone, the lyrics never convey a story of an event or person or even a clear emotion or feeling. The only emotion one could reasonably infer is apathy, however, this doesn’t appear to be intentional, as the fragmented and confusing lyrics are not expressing this feeling, it just comes across through the lack of expression in the vocals, lyrics and instrumentation. Strangely, there is one song on the album that does not fit neatly into the positive or negative category.
One of the most confusing songs in the album is “Better Days”, featuring John Mayer, which is identical to so many other underwhelming songs, but is carried to the status of one of the best in the album by ditching Bryan in favor of the more talented Mayer for almost all of the vocals.
All in all, there are a few high points, some novel ideas, some good featured artists and some great piano. This, sadly, can’t cover for the fact that the album is just bland, apathetic, repetitive and only a couple songs are actually worth the time it takes to listen to. Overall, it might be enjoyable for a Zach Bryan fan once, but for everyone else, it would be best to listen to something else.
