In his 14-track album titled "Mescalito," Bingham displays a narrow range of not only vocal talent, but poetic innovation, and overall musical ability.
The CD begins with a "Southside of Heaven," a song blending together a nice, consistent guitar strumming, a smooth harmonica, and a hint of tambourine. Not a bad introduction. A minute into the song, we hear for the first time Bingham's voice.
Now, if you were expecting a typical twangy, yet soothing voice, prepare yourself for a rude awakening. In contrast to the regular smooth, even if somewhat annoying, country voices found in today's singers, Bingham's voice strongly seems to evidence signs of one too many cigars in his lifetime.
The thing is, he's only twenty-five.
Now, I acknowledge that for some people this kind of voice might be appealing. However, even if Bingham's overly scratchy voice doesn't turn you away from "Mescalito," there are plenty of other reasons that may.
Throughout all the tracks, there seems to be no deviation from this initial husky, "life has been hard for me" sound. Each song offers little variation in melody and notes and repeats three or four chords accompanied by his scratchy voice.
The songs seem never to reach climactic moment either, and it is hard to pinpoint a bridge, if one is existent. This album is definitely not the kind you find yourself singing along to; there are no catchy tunes or lyrics.
On the subject of lyrics, it is hard to tell what most of them mean. Usually, this might imply that they are deep, introspective phrases and words that take some mulling over to figure out. However, these lyrics are simply lacking. Take a look at these lines:
"Singin, Oh, my my
See them girls shake their ass underneath
the sunrise
Oh, my, my, taste the sugar on their lips
underneath that moonlight."
See them girls shake their ass underneath
the sunrise
Oh, my, my, taste the sugar on their lips
underneath that moonlight."
Not the most insightful lyrics. There are definitely bad lyrics in many country songs, but these top a good number of them.
If you're looking for a very mellow, yet somewhat distracting, album to set as background music, this CD might work for you. However, if you hope to actually get some enjoyment out of your music, I would recommend looking elsewhere.
If you're looking for a very mellow, yet somewhat distracting, album to set as background music, this CD might work for you. However, if you hope to actually get some enjoyment out of your music, I would recommend looking elsewhere.
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