Sugarland

Once or twice a year, I divert from my typical indie snobbery to enjoy a pop country record. The last few I have picked up have been excellent: Vince Gill's These Days had enough brilliant songwriting to fill four discs and Miranda Lambert's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend managed to be angrier than any punk record that came out last year. I'm ready to admit that pop country radio has impressed me during the last few years.

Which leads us to Sugarland, a duo with two massive hit records under their belt. They have one of the best female singers in country music, but they also have power chords from a guitar player whose backup vocals wouldn't be out of place in Metallica. The beautiful contrast between these two vocalists is what separates Sugarland from an average country act.

"Take Me As I Am" starts with power chords and mixes 80s hair metal riff with a girl-power chorus; I imaging this will be a crossover hit used in more than a few teen movies. "It Happens" is acoustic country rock with some amazing fast wordplay and one of the catchiest choruses I've heard this year. Even the ballads stay exciting by always building to dynamic chorus; "Keep You" is a power ballad hit waiting to happen.

There isn't anything revelatory here, just fun pop music for the end of summer. Maybe I should divert to country radio more often.