I think midterm season might have rendered me a little grumpy. But I'm gonna ignore that and just focus on Dallas Smith's failings in this song. To do that, let's look at his last song I reviewed, and really liked: "A Girl Like You".
This song bounced. This song had a great energy and flow. "Wastin' Gas", on the other hand, sounds like it's wastin' instruments.
It just slogs along without ever amounting to anything. The same kind of boring flow throughout the chorus and the verses. It tries to compensate with some hard-poundin' guitar, but that just makes the song seem more desperate to amount to something.
Okay, enough of that. How about the lyrics?
Well, I guess the lyrics are fine. Again, they're not your typical "girl beer truck" method of writing, even though it is about a girl. It actually tries to write a piece of poetry, what with all the similes... much like "A Girl Like You", actually. Remember this gem?
You like a cherry on top a red striped straw in a Coca Cola classic
I'm gonna guarantee that lyric will never show up in any sort of song again. And "Wastin' Gas" admittedly attempts for originality, too!
Every once in a while it'll backfire like a gun
I see that needle creeping down like a setting sun
That's something! The speedometer needle setting like a sun because they're running out of gas... that's cool! Well, it's really not cool. It's a pretty big problem, especially if they're out in the country with no gas station for miles. ...say, wasting gas seems like a pretty stupid idea, actually.
Oh, well. It still has some interesting ideas with the lyrics, so I can't fault it for that. I just wish it went somewhere musically, because it really doesn't. Maybe at some points with Dallas Smith's vocals, but those interesting moments are few and far between. Perhaps it's not as bad as I prefaced, but really, I expect a little more from Canadian country music! Especially since a little while back I didn't really know that was a thing, outside of Shania Twain!
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