Mr. Saturday Night

Maybe it shouldnt come as a surprise that Mr. Saturday Night plays a bit like Heartache Medication, Vol. 2. Its not simply because Jon Pardi retains the same team behind that 2019 album -- hes rejoined behind the boards by co-producers Bart Butler and Ryan Gore -- its that the California country singer has found his groove and sees no reason to switch up his tempo. Where Heartache Medication had a few flourishes that moved it beyond the confines of a honky tonk, Mr. Saturday Night has precisely one: the goofy ramble "Smokin a Doobie," which rhymes with "on the Guadalupe," one of a few nods to Texas country here. Pardi also harmonizes with throwback trio Midland on "Longneck Way to Go," a song designed to conjure neon-lit ghosts of the 1980s, which is a style thats just a bit slicker than Pardis usual fare. He nevertheless sounds not just comfortable, but right on "Longneck Way to Go" because, in a sense, Pardi wasnt made for his times: hes an old-fashioned troubadour who treats arenas as if they were beer joints. What makes Mr. Saturday Night work is that Pardi isnt a stuffy revivalist fussing over his arrangements. He keeps things clean and efficient, staying focused on songs designed to sound equally good as a soundtrack to good times or whiling away your sorrows. Maybe that sounds ordinary, but its a special thing to get straight-ahead country executed as well as this is. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine