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Midland

ToY

By ToY
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Hate

Hate 20,146

Posted
Posted

There was a thread about them on TOS.  They are a breath of fresh air in the country world compared to all of this shitty bro country being put out these days. They may be the first country act of the last 20+ years that I could listen to and take seriously.

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oSuJeff97

oSuJeff97 3,435

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, Hate said:

There was a thread about them on TOS.  They are a breath of fresh air in the country world compared to all of this shitty bro country being put out these days. They may be the first country act of the last 20+ years that I could listen to and take seriously.

Have you listened to Sturgill Simpson or Turnpike Troubadours?  

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justinjc7

justinjc7 153

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, oSuJeff97 said:

Have you listened to Sturgill Simpson or Turnpike Troubadours?  

Yeah, there's a lot more out there that haven't quite hit as much main stream success, you just have to know where to look.  These two in particular are awesome, Turnpike is my favorite country act out there right now

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Ollie Slatt

Ollie Slatt 289

Posted
Posted

I like some of Midland's songs, but they are not in the same league as Sturgill, Margo Price, or a lot of the other indie country acts out there now.  

In fact, these guys are more of a creation of the Nashville machine reacting to the fact that country audiences were suddenly interested in more authentic music (e.g., Chris Stapleton).  The front man is a former model, they are signed on Big Machine (Taylor Swift label), and the songs were written by Shane McAnally (same guy writing hits for the Sam Hunts and Luke Bryans of the world).  There are also articles out there calling bullshit on the entire backstory about them being a hard-working Austin band:  https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/despite-the-quality-of-on-the-rocks-midland-are-still-bullshitters/

All that said, the songs are catchy and not bad.  

 

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Al_4_ISU

Al_4_ISU 12,500

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Ollie Slatt said:

I like some of Midland's songs, but they are not in the same league as Sturgill, Margo Price, or a lot of the other indie country acts out there now.  

In fact, these guys are more of a creation of the Nashville machine reacting to the fact that country audiences were suddenly interested in more authentic music (e.g., Chris Stapleton).  The front man is a former model, they are signed on Big Machine (Taylor Swift label), and the songs were written by Shane McAnally (same guy writing hits for the Sam Hunts and Luke Bryans of the world).  There are also articles out there calling bullshit on the entire backstory about them being a hard-working Austin band:  https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/despite-the-quality-of-on-the-rocks-midland-are-still-bullshitters/

All that said, the songs are catchy and not bad.  

 

This guy is in my head on this subject.

They played our local county fair last summer, and stopped by the bicycle shop in town.  The owners are buddies of mine, and said they couldn't have been any nicer, more low key guys.  They didn't even realize that it was the guys playing the main stage that night until they checked out.

So, yeah, they're totally manufactured, but the songs are solid and they aren't douche bags so I'm good with them (even though I don't really go out of my way to listen).

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46,222

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Posted (edited)

Musically, they're not my particular cup of tea, but they're good enough I suppose.  Regarding their back story -- it's OK to be "manufactured", but running with a fake back story is just bullshit.  It would be like Backstreet Boys claiming they got their start singing doo wop over trash barrel fires in the Bronx.

 

 

 

 

Edited by jimmyjazz
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UTCzech III

UTCzech III 2,907

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Ollie Slatt said:

I like some of Midland's songs, but they are not in the same league as Sturgill, Margo Price, or a lot of the other indie country acts out there now.  

In fact, these guys are more of a creation of the Nashville machine reacting to the fact that country audiences were suddenly interested in more authentic music (e.g., Chris Stapleton).  The front man is a former model, they are signed on Big Machine (Taylor Swift label), and the songs were written by Shane McAnally (same guy writing hits for the Sam Hunts and Luke Bryans of the world).  There are also articles out there calling bullshit on the entire backstory about them being a hard-working Austin band:  https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/despite-the-quality-of-on-the-rocks-midland-are-still-bullshitters/

All that said, the songs are catchy and not bad.  

 

I read that a while back before I had even heard of the band, never listened to a note just based off of that article until the video above.  It's a'ight, but yeah, can't get past the whole poser thing.  I'll stick to Dale Watson and the Derailers, relatively new guy named Weldon Henson, plays the Spoke a lot, is pretty darn good too.  (Went to the Luckenbach Mud Dobber fest a few years ago, Weldon Henson, John Evans, Dale Watson, and Chuck Mead (ex-BR549), that was a damn good day of music.)

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TXLNGHRN10

TXLNGHRN10 341

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Posted

They're songs are catchy, sound traditional, but after seeing them at ACL in 17 and then seeing them on TV, it seems they are more of a mockery.
They're whole look and fake twang really turn me off. It's traditional country for the new country fans who don't know what traditional country is.

 

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  • 2 years later...
BurdineBandit

BurdineBandit 815

Posted
Posted

Holy shit, had a hunch about these dudes moving from Cali to Dripping Springs and calling themselves "Midland" (obviously I originally thought they might be from that area). This thread really delivered. Didn't know who to discuss this with. Just found them a couple months ago.

Anyway, like a few of their songs, they're definitely catchy, but some of their lines and sounds just kinda make me laugh. I love "drinkin problems" as a song, but can't get over how shitty of a song it is at the same time. The over-the-top twangs and WOWWW-WOWWWWWWWWWWs, the lazy as hell lyrical repeats, but it's so damn catchy and sounds just like something I might have two-stepped slowly to in the 80s. But I guess that's what it's designed to do right? Even a few of the melodies and lyrics sound like they were snippets lifted directly off other country songs I've heard before. 


Not sure if I'll continue listening to them. I'm a bit of a music hipster and hate the thought of unoriginal shit, whatever. I grew up on about as much late 80s/early 90s George Strait, Clint Black, Mark Chesnutt as my Tejano dad would play me, but don't really claim to be a country fan at all these days. I try to give it a go once in a while. Not sure I'll stick with these dudes. 

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billfromlaketravis

billfromlaketravis 11,533

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Posted

Maybe, just maybe Midland will get young people into classic country music. But what is classic country music? You could ask 10 experts and get 10 different answers. Ken Burns spent 16 hours trying to explain it. 

Midland's music videos seem to aspire to be a scene at Gilley's, but they never quite get there. 

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Rip76

Rip76 4,963

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Posted
On 1/15/2021 at 7:06 PM, CooterBrown said:

Until just now I thought this thread was about the psychedelic folk band Midlake and was disappointed that they sold out. Glad to see it’s just another lame ass country band.

I saw Midlake open for Pearl Jam in '13.  They were great.

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