Josh Turner has one of the finest bass-baritones in country music. Unfortunately, he doesn't always pair that voice up with material worthy of his voice, often settling for the middle of the road with decent but not great songs such as "Another Try" or "Everything Is Fine." Both of these had slight lyrical deficiencies that not even his voice could hide — and maybe such deficiencies are why those two singles seem to have killed off his chart momentum. This time around, however, he has a rock-solid song that should kick his career back into high gear.
"Why Don't We Just Dance" is a bouncy little up-tempo that's perfectly matched to its simple yet effective storyline: The world's in a mess, so let's forget our troubles, move the couch, and just dance. We may not be good at it, but by God, we're gonna have some fun. This theme has been done at least once before (does anyone else remember Turner Nichols' "She Loves to Hear Me Rock"?), but it's hard to resist a feel-good song like this, especially when it's got such an infectious, syncopated rhythm and a catchy melody that shows off the deeper end of Josh's range quite effectively. At times, he recalls the seductive swagger of Conway Twitty, which has also been channeled recently through songs such as "Just Got Started Lovin' You" and "Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)."
While Josh Turner's career of late has been a case of one step forward, two steps back, "Why Don't We Just Dance" is definitely a step in the right direction. The last time around, he sent the equally fun "Firecracker" to #2, so leading off his next album with an up-tempo may be a wise decision. If he can string together a few more songs of this caliber, he should be able to regain his lost momentum quite easily.
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