Laura Bell Bundy made a distinctly memorable impression when she blew into Nashville fresh off Broadway four years ago. Of all the major label country albums released in 2009, few were more polarizing than Bundy’s genre-bending Mercury Nashville release Achin’ and Shakin’. Maybe you thought it was brilliant. Maybe you thought it was atrocious. But there was one thing that it definitely wasn’t – boring.
“Two Step” is boring.
It’s dull, repetitive, tasteless, and utterly forgettable.
The problem isn’t that it’s a pop song masquerading as a country song. The problem is that nothing about the lyrics, construction, melody, or production feels clever or interesting in any way. The song leans far too heavily on mundane repetitions of its unremarkable title, and with “Two Step” already floundering, a Colt Ford hick-rap bridge is not going to be the thing to save it.
I know she can do better than this because she has before. Let’s just hope that Bundy’s future releases on her new Big Machine label home will focus a little less on choreography and a little more on content.
Written by Laura Bell Bundy, Andy Davis, Lance Kotara, Adam McInnis, and Bryan Ray
Grade: D+