Jason McKee’s Australia-based ReeToxa has a curious position in the world of music. After 30 years of writing and trying to make music away from life distraction’s, McKee didn’t grow up in the musical scene, but had a whole life—marrying and joining the navy—before the pandemic gave him a chance to sit down and take music seriously again.
Neither a buoyant youth nor an industry-hardened older man, Jason McKee has a unique position and perspective in the musical scene, both of which inform and color the force behind his music. The band’s latest single, “Redneck Love” best showcases such a perspective.
Similar to the rest of the band’s releases so far, the strongest musical influence is the 90s distinct sounds, specifically in the realm of grunge. Musically, the song inhabits a mix of classical rock and 90s’ alternative rock. The most notable instrumental work comes from steady drums, making the song both paradoxically calming and a great companion to jogging. The most notable aspect about the song as a whole, however, is its subject matter.
“Redneck Love” is the only song out there so far that is clearly about the relationship between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift—that is, a song about them, not by Taylor herself. The song’s speaker is overly concerned with Taylor’s romantic and sexual life, calling it her taste for “redneck love” and who she has chosen as her “king”. Not quite another “Jolene”, due to the lack of any real intimacy, the song is not another “Every Breath You Take” either, that takes a creepier approach to the jealousy over a distant woman. Instead, it takes a more unique approach, that could have even more so if the song embraced more the inherent satirical, tongue-in-cheekness of parasocial jealousy and bitterness. As it is, “Redneck Love” is a reminder of the cheekier, more fun aspects of rock.