Sugarland, 'Love on the Inside'

Country-pop’s dynamic duo turns out more big-hearted, sing-along tunes

By Andy Hermann

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Backstory: This Atlanta-based group became one of the decade’s biggest breakout country acts when their song “Baby Girl” blew up in 2005, spending nearly a year on the Billboard country charts. A hit follow-up album (“Enjoy the Ride”) and a duet with, of all people, Bon Jovi (“Who Says You Can’t Go Home”) further solidified Sugarland’s status as one of the genre’s hottest crossover acts, right up there with Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts.

Why you should care: Country is the new pop, with everyone from Jewel to Jessica Simpson donning cowboy boots and putting a little twang in their giddy-up. And Sugarland’s brand of country is more unabashedly pop than most, thanks to Kristian Bush’s anthemic guitars and Jennifer Nettles’ penchant for rousing, sing-along choruses.

Verdict: Sugarland has a winning formula, and they aren’t about to mess with it: front load your record with big, glossy pop songs and save the quieter, more countrified stuff for the second half. Calculated? Maybe, but it works; “All I Want to Do” and “We Run” are undeniable, big-hearted songs with hopelessly romantic lyrics and lots “woo-hoos” and “nah-nahs” to sing along to. Those quieter songs that bring up the rear are less immediately rewarding, and a few, like “Love,” squander Nettles’ down-to-earth charms on some overwrought U2-meets-Shania melodrama. But the duo still has a gift for stripped-down, heartfelt ballads like “Very Last Country Song,” which is just as good or better than all than their radio-friendly pop anthems.

X-Factor: It’s not your average platinum-selling country duo that writes a tongue-in-cheek mash note to a semi-obscure alt-country singer, but that’s what Nettles and Bush do on the hilarious “Steve Earle.” “We’ll have a really small wedding,” Nettles promises the cantankerous—and married—outlaw country icon. “Only about 300 people. Did I tell you I have kids? You’re gonna love ‘em.”