Shane O’Dazier – “I Hate This Town”

CM Wilcox | January 27th, 2009 Email Share

Shane O Dazier - I Hate This Town Songwriters: Shane O’Dazier and Randy Barber.

The debut single from Robbins Nashville recording artist Shane O’Dazier has a bit of a twist to it.

It rolls along like a typical celebration of small-town life until the first chorus, when the singer reveals that all the town’s charm dissipated when his wife left him. Where he once dreamed of raising a family and growing old (as his parents likely did), the constant reminders of his past relationship now leave him feeling stifled and eager to escape.

In other words, the twist is that he hates this town, which doesn’t come as much of a surprise considering that it’s the title of the song. Since the lyric doesn’t develop much beyond that initial bait-and-switch, everything after the first minute or so is mostly about repeating the chorus and being catchy.

Still, the hook is serviceable and O’Dazier delivers a thoroughly likable, if somewhat nondescript, vocal performance. If there’s nothing here to suggest that O’Dazier is the next Garth Brooks (we really don’t need another anyhow), neither is there anything to suggest that he couldn’t easily slip into radio slots presently occupied by like-minded neotraditionalists Jason Michael Carroll or Jake Owen given the right promotional push.

The middle of the road has its appeal. While many recent singles seem hellbent on failing in the most spectacular manner possible, “I Hate This Town” takes modest aim and achieves a reasonable level of success. The end result is probably generic enough to sound right at home in a Chevy commercial, but it’s also free from the grander pretensions that mar so many similar efforts.

The confidence and unassuming charm exhibited by O’Dazier make this a solid debut, albeit one that likely doesn’t show enough personality to win him many ardent supporters at this early stage of his career. As a starting place, though, this isn’t bad at all.

Thumbs Up

Listen: Shane O’Dazier – “I Hate This Town”

  1. Jim Malec
    January 27, 2009 at 8:32 am Permalink

    A good review. Although I don’t agree with your classification of JMC as a neotraditionalist.

  2. JD
    January 27, 2009 at 10:53 am Permalink

    I dunno….kinda of a yawner for me. I don’t get the feeling he “hates” this town based on the golly-gee delivery and lack of real emotion in his voice or from the lyrics.

    Kinda reminds me of Strait’s acting in “Pure Country” when he told the roadie to “get your a$$ outta here”…. gotta show me you mean it, not just say it.

  3. Rick
    January 27, 2009 at 12:37 pm Permalink

    As Top 40 country radio continues to feel the effects of industry and financial turmoil new artists like Shane will find it even harder to break in. It also seems to me that Top 40 country radio’s song turn-over pace keeps slowing to the point where it’s become almost stagnate from week to week. When the same songs populate the Top 40 chart positions for extended periods it doesn’t leave room for new artists as coveted openings will go to established artists. Truly killer debut singles from artists like Jason Michael Carroll, Lady Antebellum, James Otto, Darius Rucker, and James Otto can still break through, but “I Hate This Town” is nowhere in that league. Good luck Shane, ’cause your gonna need it.

  4. RL
    January 29, 2009 at 7:38 am Permalink

    I think this song is great!!! I can totally relate! Seems to be somewhere between Craig Morgan and older Kenny Chesney(before he took a permanent vacation to the beach).

    I don’t know what previous guy was thinking describing Hootie’s (Darius Rucker) or Jason Michael Carroll’s songs as killer debuts. In my book both of those songs, (“Don’t Think I don’t think about it” and “Allyssa Lies”), were pure garbage even though they got played on the radio. James Otto, I will give you that was a good song but this is his second record and already been out to radio a few times. (“If I hadn’t dropped the ball” and “Days of our lives”)

    I love the song, love the voice and think that this might be something great!

    Way to go Shane!

  5. Bobby
    February 2, 2009 at 10:03 pm Permalink

    Wow, one of my local stations has been playing this since December. I hope it charts at least.

    For the record, I thought “Alyssa Lies” was a great debut for JMC, and “Don’t Think…” solid for Darius.

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