Pat Green

Not counting the half-old-stuff/half-new-stuff transition album Three Days, the “Nashville stage” of Pat Green’s career to date has produced two records far better than anything he ever made during his rise as the biggest thing in Texas since sliced brisket (Wave on Wave and Cannonball), and one clunky dud in between (Lucky Ones). With What I’m For, he splits the difference, resulting in the first truly average album he’s ever released. At its worst — most notably on the sluggish first single, “Let Me,” and the no-cliché-left-unturned title track — What I’m For is dreadful. To Green’s credit, those are the only two songs on the album he didn’t write. But apart from the very fine, understated “In This World” and a remake of his proven crowd favorite “Carry On,” his own songs here aren’t particularly memorable, either. “Country Star” boasts a lively melody reminiscent of Fly-era Dixie Chicks, but the song’s attempt at poking self-aware fun at the notion of selling out rings hollow — a far cry from Jack Ingram’s sly, superior “Happy Happy (Country Country).” Throughout, Green’s saving grace is his voice, which retains a broken-in grittiness even beneath Dan Huff’s ultra-slick production sheen, but there’s little trace of the carpe-diem urgency of Wave on Wave or the playful risk-taking that propelled Cannonball. Contrary to the bitter rants of old-school fans who’ll never forgive him for “going Nashville,” Green does not need to get “back to his roots” of slinging songs about dancehalls and Texas. But in order to stand out in the big leagues, he definitely needs to try a lot harder than this.