Single Review: The Band Perry – ‘Comeback Kid’
2 min read
Sibling trio Kimberly, Reid, and Neil Perry – otherwise known as The Band Perry – have been making music together since childhood, and since releasing their self-titled debut album in 2010, their take on country music has been met with mixed responses. It has been three years since the release of Pioneer, the trio’s second album, and together with the 2015 single Live Forever, Comeback Kid is the second tease of a third album from The Band Perry.
After splitting from their label, Republic Nashville, and signing with Interscope early in 2015, rumours began circulating that The Band Perry were ditching their country roots and going pop; rumours the group has attempted to dispel. Despite leaning into country and folk instrumentation, Comeback Kid, is hardly a refutation of allegations of going pop. No matter what way you dress it up, Comeback Kid is pop through and through, from Kimberly’s breathy vocals, to the lyrical message of overcoming adversity, to its cookie cutter structure.
When broken down to its constituent parts, there is nothing wrong with Comeback Kid; Kimberly has a voice that isn’t displeasing, Neil and Reid provide tight musical backing, and the production quality is impeccable. But, putting those pieces together only manages to result in something that can, at best, be described as ‘meh’. In utilising ‘country and folk’ music instrumentation – through the use of fiddle, mandolin, and acoustic guitar – and applying it to the pop form, The Band Perry haven’t created something new and intriguing, rather they have produced an orphan of a song; a song that will neither find a home with the pop, nor country, music crowds.
