Role Model 8/7/26

Role Model - Chuck Timely & The Hourglass (Album).

This is Role Model's third album, and it's built around this idea of a fictional guy named Chuck Timely, basically a time traveler dealing with love, loneliness, and trying to figure his life out. His last album, Kansas Anymore, was mostly about heartbreak, but this one moves into more of an up and down single life phase, less "my heart is broken" and more "dating in your late twenties is a lot." The sound is also way more country rock and barroom leaning than what he's done before, lots of Rolling Stones style guitar, boogie woogie piano, singalong choruses. It's probably his most fun sounding album so far, even when the lyrics get pretty sad underneath it.

It opens with "Chuck's Mantra," which is gospel tinged right away, with these choir-like backing vocals, and it basically sets up the whole album's theme of being scared that time is running out before he actually figures things out. It's a good opener because it tells you exactly what mindset you're about to be in for the rest of the record.

"High Hopes 3000" was the lead single, so a lot of people already know it. It's his first real dip into this conceptual storytelling he's doing with the album. It's still catchy and poppy, but you can tell he's building a bigger world around it instead of just writing a random single.

"Song Is All You Get" has actually been one of the more talked about tracks since the album came out, with fans ranking it near the top. It feels like it's about him being kind of guarded, like the song itself is the most vulnerable thing you're getting from him and you shouldn't expect much more than that.

"Love I You" was the one everyone was talking about before the album even dropped, because Dakota Johnson shows up on the bridge, which was surprising considering they had barely been photographed together before this. The song itself is more laid back and kind of deadpan, almost has an old school crooner feel to it, with conversational lyrics that make it feel like he's talking to you instead of performing at you.

"Chasing Midnight" leans into that same freewheeling single life fantasy the album is built around, even though if you listen closely, the lyrics kind of admit that lifestyle is a little hollow underneath all the fun. It's one of the tracks some fans ranked lower after a first listen, so it might be more of a grower.

"Good Thing" keeps that same energy going and ended up being one of the tracks fans will like instantly. It has that same chasing a good time vibe as the last track, but with more of a hook to hold onto.

"Joy" came out before the album as a single too, and it's pretty much what the title suggests: him actively trying to find joy and lean into it instead of sitting in the sad stuff, even though the album makes it clear that joy feels kind of fragile and temporary for him right now.

"Service Receipt" apparently has what Tucker himself called some of the most pathetic lines on the record, and it's about feeling so desperate to feel anything at all that he's still stuck yearning for a past relationship instead of moving on. It comes across as a rawer, more honest moment tucked into the middle of the album.

"Honeydew" feels like reading a diary entry you weren't supposed to see. It softens into a real melancholy that actually lands instead of feeling forced, making it one of the more emotionally quiet moments on the record.

"Stain" has some of the best instrumentation on the whole album, honestly. It buries some pretty ugly heartache metaphors under a smooth, almost muzak like sound, and there's even a bit of jazzy, Masayoshi Takanaka style guitar in there, which is such a small but perfect touch.

"The Wedding" is such an interesting title to see on a breakup adjacent album, and it's pretty much exactly what it sounds like, him at a friend's wedding dealing with all the complicated feelings that come with watching someone else commit to forever while his own love life is a mess.

It closes with "Harmony," which is honestly the perfect way to end things. It drifts into a warm, almost Doobie Brothers kind of sound and feels sincere instead of ironic, which is a nice change from some of the earlier tracks. It's got compelling instrumentation, that same country lean the whole album has, and it wraps everything up on a genuinely hopeful note.

Overall, I just don't think this one holds up as well as I wanted it to on repeat listens. The country rock and barroom sound is fun for a stretch, but once you get past the first half it starts to blend, and a lot of the mid-album tracks lean on that same freewheeling single life vibe without adding much new to it. The Chuck Timely concept doesn't really help either, since it's pretty thin to begin with and doesn't end up shaping the songs in any way that actually matters, so it just feels tacked on rather than something that pulls the record together. There are a few genuinely strong moments, but they're surrounded by songs that stay surface level and start to feel interchangeable, which makes the whole thing a lot less rewarding to sit through front to back than I was hoping for.

Verdict: One and Done

Personal Favorites: "Love I You," "Stain," and "Harmony."