Florida Georgia Line fun on 2nd album

Florida Georgia Line
“Anything Goes”
(Republic Nashville)

Busting out with a record-breaking country single, as Florida Georgia Line did with its multiplatinum smash, “Cruise,” doesn’t always ensure long-term success. But “Anything Goes,” the duo’s second album, suggests they have enough talent and ideas to get past the backlash that comes with overexposure.

Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley keep the mood fun and grooving, with producer Joey Moi bringing plenty of fresh sonic surprises amid the beats and harmonies. For example, “Sun Daze” could be undermined by the silly pun of its title, on a song about spending a Sunday soaking in rays and indulging in at least two brand-name liquors. But Moi’s arrangement brings in whistling, hand claps and a banjo to create a bright groove that insists on making hips sway.

Similarly, new single “Bumpin’ the Night” works a predictable double-entendre about a couple moving in tandem while drinking (of course), cruising the town and sharing time alone. But the arrangement once again comes to the rescue.

Florida Georgia Line’s recent hit “Dirt” proved the band can deal with subjects beyond throwing down with friends. But they rarely bother on the rest of “Anything Goes.” And that’s OK, as long as Florida Georgia Line remains this consistently inventive and engaging. (AP)



Angaleena Presley in top form on solo CD

Angaleena Presley
“American Middle Class”
(Slate Creek)

Angaleena Presley was little-known outside of Nashville when she formed the Pistol Annies with Miranda Lambert and Ashley Monroe. Her solo debut, “American Middle Class” -- with its potent narratives about working-class Southerners -- shows off the gutsy songwriting that made the others so eager to collaborate with her.

Like revered country songwriters Matraca Berg, Dolly Parton and Gretchen Peters, Presley uses her facility for wordplay to probe life’s complexities rather than deliver catchy confections. She repeatedly downplays choruses in favor of stanzas packed with everyday truths.

A coal miner’s daughter from Kentucky, she sings in a wholly Southern twang set to soulful country rock that’s laid back rather than arena aggressive. But it’s her lyrics that matter: Presley may be the first mainstream country artist to sing about the rural epidemic of methamphetamine and Oxycontin abuse, as she does in “Dry County Blues” and “Pain Pills.” She deals in consequences instead of escapism, whether she’s singing about liquor (“Drunk”), unmarried pregnancy (“Knocked Up”) or defying the devil (“All I Ever Wanted”).

Like Lambert and Kacey Musgraves, Presley believes life’s gritty realities can be as entertaining as songs about partying on dirt roads. “American Middle Class” provides the proof. (AP)


Little Big Town top-notch on new album

“Pain Killer”
(Capitol Nashville)

How do the four vocalists of Little Big Town respond to the platinum success of the group’s most rewarded album, 2012’s “Tornado?” Certainly not by playing it safe.

On their sixth album, “Pain Killer,” Little Big Town -- Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook -- experiment endlessly with harmonies, arrangements, loops and sound effects. The whistles, odd beats and unconventional guitar work that woozily circle through the first single, “Day Drinking,” only hint at the shenanigans the singers and their producer Jay Joyce cram into these 13 new songs.

Most of it is for the sake of fun -- you can hear how gleeful the group is as they test outlandish ideas on such songs as “Quit Breaking Up With Me,” “Good People,” the Lorde-like “Things You Don’t Think About” and the title song. But they also show off the beauty of their blended voices on the hushed “Silver and Gold” and the stunning “Live Forever,” written by the group with Jeremy Spillman and Ryan Tyndell.

The Grammy-winning band only stumbles on “Faster Gun,” with its awkward cowboy similes. The rest of the album keeps raising the bar: Little Big Town, from early on, never followed country music formulas. With “Pain Killer,” their boldness continues to pay off. (AP)