Cold Beer & Country Music

In 2023, Zach Top traded the high lonesome sound of bluegrass for straight-up country, landing a Top 40 hit with his uber-melodic 90s-throwback "Sounds Like the Radio." The newly mustachioed singer/songwriter leaned heavily on neotraditionalist influences like Randy Travis and Alan Jackson to create a catchy, boot scootin sound that made reference to era tropes like mullets and jukeboxes. He even namedrops Jacksons 1993 hit "Chattahoochee" in the lyrics. "Sounds Like the Radio" serves as the lead cut from Tops similarly nostalgic debut full-length, Cold Beer & Country Music. Tracks like "The Kinda Woman I Like" and "Aint That a Heartbreak" land in the same vein as its breakout single, while the entire album makes good use of Tops sweet tenor vocals which lend an amiable tone to the more earnest fare. Coming from an acoustic instrumentalist background, Top wisely employs a band of hotshot players who help breathe life into the otherwise slick production. ~ Timothy Monger