Hell on Heels
-- the debut from
Pistol Annies
, the trio of
Miranda Lambert
,
Ashley Monroe
, and
Angaleena Presley
-- arrived in the waning days the summer of 2011, just months before the release of
Four the Record
Lambert
's fourth album.
garnered the attention and airplay, but
had longer legs, helping to shape the sound and direction of country music in the 2010s. That's a lot of baggage to put on a record as modest as
, but its sense of sisterhood was its strength and ultimately the key to its endurance. Upon its release, only
was a solo star --
Presley
had yet to release an album and
Monroe
's career was off to a shaky start -- but
Miranda
didn't dominate the trio.
celebrated the common ground shared by three distinct voices, voices that shared a sensibility but were complementary.
's swagger is offset by
's sweetness and
lends an underpinning of grit, the three combining to write songs rich in empathy and humor. While
don't kick up a lot of dust on
-- "Takin' Pills" bounces to a snapping twang, "The Hunter's Wife" swings to a Texas two-step -- its controlled quietness feels defiant, drawing attention to the sturdiness of the songs and the flintiness of the performances. At their core, the trio is a songwriter's collective, alternating and collaborating on new songs, but
is also a band, gaining power by how their singing and tunes harmonize. Subsequent albums sharpened the trio's collective and individual voices, but
has its own earthy elegance, a spirit and sound that echoed throughout the 2010s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine