Sunshine & Whiskey is the second album of Frankie Ballard, and he makes it pretty clear where he wants to position himself in the country industry. This album is enjoyable, fun, but there is also this underlying feeling that Frankie Ballard doesn't want to risk anything by experimenting, so he falls in the traditional country themes and sounds, which in my opinion fits him perfectly. If you are looking for a fun and enjoyable summer album, this is really the one to get. If you are looking for something that is artistically refined and researched, you might want to think again.
The first thing that stuck me on this album was its length; it's extremely short, at 37 minutes. More than that, one of the songs comes from his previous album, so taking that one out, we are at about 33-34 minutes. That's really short for an album, where the average usually goes to about 45 minutes. Most songs last for about 3 minutes, which isn't a bad thing since they would become repetitive at this point.
Frankie Ballard, from what I understood of this album, positions himself right next to Billy Currington He has really the fun factor of Billy (without the musical maturity though), and he brings some slow songs along the way. I kind of like those kinds of artist, you know you aren't going to be surprised by the album, but you don't want that either. You want an album that you can simply listen once in a while and have a good time. It's a safe bet. Everyone loves safe bets.
Like Billy Currington, Frankie Ballard doesn't write his songs. Sadly, most songs fall in the traditional country themes, which makes the album kind of boring in that respect. Musically, there are few songs that are really sophisticated and strike us by how different they are from the rest of the pack. This fits into the "safe bet" aspect of that album. That being said, I'd want him to push the boundaries a bit further on his next album, as we already getting bored with the subjects he's talking about in his songs.
Overall, if you are looking for something fun to listen to, go ahead and get this album. If you love the kind of music Billy Currington or Kenny Chesney make, get this album, you'll probably like it.
8/10
PS: big props to Frankie for posting videos of each song. This is really appreciated by me, and most probably by you guys as well!
Young & Crazy
This is the first song of the album, and it's just a fun song, nothing too particular about it. It sounds great, but it doesn't stick in your head. Lyrically, it's not the most sophisticated song out there, basically the title says it all, it's the "We are young and happy" kind of deal.
7.5/10
Sunshine & Whiskey
Similarly to Young & Crazy, this song is just a fun song, nothing much special about it. I'd say that it's better written than the first song, but to be frank, there's nothing to fall on your back, it's the good ol' "We are young and in love" kind of song. Good summer song overall.
8/10
It Don't Take Much
This is the only song of the album that Frankie Ballard has written himself, and the song-writing is good. Again, another traditional country theme is the focus of the song, drinking. This is another pretty fun song, the music is good, entertaining, but nothing really complex.
8/10
Helluva Life
This was the first single of the album, and it charted really well, topping in third position. I really enjoyed this song when it was on the radio, and even though it was played a lot, I still enjoy it quite a bit. It fits in the whole mentality of the album, being purely entertaining. It gets the job done in that matter. I'd say that the guitar in this song is a tad more sophisticated than for the previous songs.
8.5/10
Drinky Drink
Again, we are in a song about drinking, obviously. This song is the less enjoyable of the first bunch of "fun" songs, and I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the rest, perhaps because it is a lot more rock than the rest of the pack. I prefered when he stayed in the traditional country sounds, it fits his voice better in my opinion.
6.5/10
Tell Me You Get Lonely
This is perhaps my favourite song of the album, if I can say that, since it was also on his first introduction album. This is similar to how Zac Brown Band put Chicken Fried on their first and second album. It strikes a lot with the rest because of the tone of it, and the rhythm. His singing is also pretty good, and emotional. Musically, the song isn't much more sophisticated than the rest of the pack, but the slower rhythm and the rock guitar and drum in it are in perfect harmony.
9/10
Sober Me Up
Again, alcohol is the main focus of this song. The pretty repetitive lyrics, mixed with the lack of emotion of this song make it pretty boring. While there are some changes in tempo here and there, there is really nothing fantastic about it. Feels like a filler song.
6/10
I'm Thinking Country
This looks more to what we got in the first half of the album, being fun and entertaining summer songs. While the lyrics are pretty unoriginal and lack any meaningful story, the happy-going singing and music gets us going and enjoy the song.
7.5/10
Tip Jar
This is perhaps the most well-written song of the album, and it reminded me a lot of the type of song Dustin Lynch would do. The song is slower, the music lacks complexity, but overall it's enjoyable and adds diversity to the album.
7.5/10
Don't You Wanna Fall
This is also one of my favourite song like Tell Me You Get Lonely, because I got the feeling that it was more emotional than some other songs. It's a slow song, but like other songs, it adds diversity to an album featuring mostly fun summer songs.
8/10
Don't Tell Mama I Was Drinking
Like on a lot of albums, the last song is really not the best one. This song is emotionless mostly, and musically unoriginal. This is also another song about drinking, which I'm starting to get tired of by now.
6.5/10
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