3 of Hearts

It's easy to be reductive and think of 3 of Hearts as teen pop goes to Nashville because — well, that's what it is. Three cute teens sing catchy, radio-ready pop tunes that are country only in the sense that they have fiddles along with those big drums that mainstream country favors. Since this is country, they're not tarts, they're wholesome, often sounding like a female Rascal Flatts, which is quite welcome considering that they arrived in the same month as the vulgar Willa Ford. There's not much spark to 3 of Hearts' eponymous record, but it's well crafted, professionally delivered, and engaging enough on its own terms. There are certainly moments that sag over the course of the 11 tracks and some of it sounds startlingly dated ("Over the Edge" could have been released during the early years of the first Bush administration), but it all sounds pleasant and there are several songs — particularly the opening trilogy of "Love Is Enough," "It Happened to Me," and the ballad "6, 8, 12," plus the bouncy "Sugar and Daisies" — that should be big singles. And that's what this record really needs: a big push on the radio so it becomes a hit, because this is the kind of album that sounds better when three of its singles become permanently ingrained in the memory after repeated plays on the radio.