This one hits as hard as a pound shop hammer. Birmingham, and that would be Birmingham England of course, bluegrass and swing out sisters Hannah and Sophia (and daddy too) walk the really nice shoes walk all the way to Americana during the course of their album “Whiskey”.
With “Whiskey” being their fourth studio album, The Toy Hearts are, unsurprisingly, a well polished act in the Hot Club of Cowtown style with much in the way of super smooth musical eloquence and ear friendly cotton candy vocals evidenced here. Even on the first pass, you will easily spot that “Pass The Jack” and “The Lonesome Hearted Blues” are just the kind of songs that the well educated displaced cowboys amongst you will want to seek out in your search for that authentic western experience.
There’s even a rather polite cover of a Butch Hancock song – “Thunderstorms and Neon Signs” – just to add a point or two to the band’s credibility score but, sneaked in almost at the end, is something a little bit special and whole lot indicative of greater things. Yes, “Another Right Note” is the kind of song that is more Jackson Browne than Jackson, Tennessee and I am more than happy to state for the record that I am feeling the love for that one.
Nicely commercial, The Toy Hearts seem, on the surface at least, to have set out to charm with this album and have succeeded. However, lurking around in the shadows are hints of a band capable of moving off towards another, less heavily populated, destination.