Chief
Chief finds Eric Church working comfortably between country songwriting and harder rock arrangements. The subjects are familiar: work, drinking, lost relationships and memories that refuse to settle. What makes the record more interesting is the care around those subjects. Producer Jay Joyce gives the rhythms and guitars enough character to keep the songs from relying on attitude alone.
Creepin' opens with a loose, funk-influenced rhythm that immediately separates it from a straightforward country-rock stomp. Keep On finds another source of energy in Church's clipped vocal phrasing. The performances sound direct, but the small rhythmic decisions make the movement feel considered rather than accidental.
Drink In My Hand takes a simpler route. Ringing rock guitars and a sharp snare give its working-week release a strong setting, with the hook doing exactly what the song needs. It is not a new idea, but Church delivers it without making the arrangement feel like an empty outline around the chorus.
The slower material is useful, too. Hungover & Hard Up puts a firm drum pattern beneath a well-shaped melody, giving its breakup story more weight than the familiar subject might suggest. I'm Gettin' Stoned also turns the end of a relationship into a drinking song, with the humour in the writing helping the performance avoid becoming purely self-pitying.
Springsteen is the clearest example of memory driving the music. It uses the connection between a past relationship and the songs heard at the time, rather than simply celebrating a famous name. The sentiment can become a little sweet, but the melody and delivery make the feeling easy to understand.
Homeboy is more difficult. The heavy guitar and percussion give it an impressive sound, yet its contrast between two ways of living is too reductive. That gap between musical imagination and a simpler point of view is one of the record's limits. The repeated outlaw gestures can also become tiring.
Still, Chief offers more than a series of familiar poses. The acoustic details, firm rhythms and rougher guitars generally support strong, accessible songs. Church does not need to reinvent country-rock to make an impression here. His better writing and the inventive production give the familiar material enough purpose to make this a convincing, occasionally frustrating record.
