Rank: 3/5
Brothers Osborne are the latest among country acts taking the mainstream by storm.
Like artists Chris Stapleton and Whitey Morgan before them, the Osbornes’ debut “Pawn Shop” creates rock-tinged country music separate from Nashville’s EDM and hip-hop-influenced output.
Unlike some of their more left-field contemporaries, however, the Osborne duo, brothers T.J and John, sound more than willing to make some concessions to mainstream country, mainly to the detriment of the album.
“Pawn Shop” is a hard-rocking, bluesy piece of country music that, at parts, sounds like it draws more from stadium-sized rock and metal than straight country music. The album shines best when those influences are front-and-center, like during guitar solos ripped from ‘80s hair metal or the album’s crunchier, grungier moments.
However, despite the album’s well-appreciated bite, “Pawn Shop” lacks a lot of real substance.
Though the music never devolves into Bro-Country idiocy or straight EDM elements, it does fall into some of the pitfalls of pop country.
With lame wordplay that sounds like it’s meant to be more clever than it actually is, overwrought production that takes the edge off the harder moments and make the quieter moments just sound mostly saccharine, and other elements here and there that would have been better left on the cutting-room floor, the album is frustrating at times for obscuring the promising elements with mediocrity.
However, the album has its good moments amid the fluff. Though the songwriting varies throughout the album, the Osbornes show a somewhat competent pen that gives the album a bit of authenticity sandwiched between the weaker, less-sincere moments.
Overall, “Pawn Shop” is a solid debut. It’s more rock than country and shines when it rocks the hardest but is dragged down by less-than-stellar songwriting compared to their peers and Nashville fluff that drains a lot of the album’s kick.
It’s not a bad album by any degree, and those with a taste for pop-inflected country rock will find a lot to like here, but aside from that, “Pawn Shop” falls short of accomplishing anything truly special.