Country & Cold Cans

There are countless country singers musing on carefree summer days with a sepia-toned Mayberry-esque nostalgia, but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who does it better than Dierks Bentley. Aside from the bookending, libation-praising number “Tip It on Back”—which was taken from Bentley’s 2012 album *Home*—the other four songs here are previously unreleased. “Country & Cold Cans” opens with old-timey instrumentation ushering in a twang-rocking tune that list-checks all the accouterments needed to make the most of a hot summer day: Merle Haggard songs, girlfriends in cutoff jeans, whiskey, cheap shades, a trucker hat, the family dog, flip-flops, an acoustic guitar, and, of course, a cooler in the back of the truck stocked with ice-cold beer. Sticking with a similar theme, the slightly bluesy (and totally catchy) “Grab a Beer” plays a little like a halftime commercial—not for any one beer, but for each and every beer. “Back Porch” eschews a trip to the river for a staycation-based festivity where cold drinks fuel the fire of a backyard jam session.