You'd have to do really, really well to get two places on my personal list of "best songs of the year." But wonder of wonders, Sunny Sweeney has done just that. First, with the cheatin' song "From a Table Away," and again with "Staying's Worse Than Leaving," a song about the end of a relationship that isn't working out. Both of those are rather typical country song topics, but executed in fine form: observant lyrics, pleasant vocals and minimal production. Maybe the latter was just too sonically similar to the former, though. 

That's where "Drink Myself Single" comes in, to add some tempo to the mix. With a bouncy honky-tonk rhythm and the most steel you've heard on radio since "River of Love" (hey, I finally found something nice to say about that song), it could easily have come off a Tanya Tucker album from any of her multiple primes. Sunny sings about going out to "stir somethin' up" and just have a good time with the boys. Her reason? Well, as she sings in the verse, it's just to "find out what it's like / To stagger in the house like you do every night." Nice twist there, Sunny. 

In an era where drinkin' and cheatin' is long since passé — heck, it was passé when I was growing up! — Sunny is a delightful throwback. Her song choices and topics are authentic, not a calculated attempt at reliving the past. So far, her methods are doing well enough commercially, but even moreso artistically. I could see her making herself out to having a career similar to Eric Church: mid-level hits at best, but across-the-board critical acclaim and a rapidly-growing fanbase. And hey, as long as radio isn't ignoring her outright, I can live with that.

Buy: Amazon mp3

Listen: http://mog.com/m/track/57232877 (Listen for Free at our partner MOG.com)