Review: Jason Aldean’s ‘They Don’t Know’ Is a So-So Party

Jason Aldean can party as hard as his buddies in Florida Georgia Line, who wrote his seventh album's lead single, "Lights Come On," about the thrill of a blue-collar work week ending and a country music show starting. But where those bros can be frisky and footloose, Aldean's drawl is unrelentingly gruff and determined. That delivery generates some sexual urgency when he's making a move on songs like "Comin' in Hot" and "Bad," and adds a little emotional heft to the title track's defense of small towns. But with not much left of the hick-hop swagger and EDM effects that once livened his muscular arena-rock, Aldean thumps along too often with mere dutiful competence.