The joke behind
The Straight Hits! -- an album consisting of ten songs with some conjugation of "straight" in their title -- is that
Josh T. Pearson isn't quite playing it straight here. After plumbing a dark night of the soul on 2011's
Last of the Country Gentlemen,
Pearson decided it was time to throw a curve ball by writing songs that were "to the point." So he tightened up his songcraft, then revved up a backing band, getting them to tear up a hardwood honky tonk floor on the cowpunky "Straight to the Top!" and "Give It to Me Straight."
Pearson also ratchets up his voice so much that it's hard to tell whether he's possessed by a spirit or sending up his chosen style...or perhaps the songs he wrote. Things settle down on the second half, when the tunes (and performances) are relatively subdued, recalling just a little bit of the atmosphere of
Last of the Country Gentlemen, but by the time the six-minute epic "A Love Song (Set Me Straight)" rolls around,
Pearson's point has been made: he's upended the high expectations of his 2011 album, no longer seeming like a soul-baring troubadour. Whether that was worth a seven-year wait, only fans can decide. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
