Annie Up

Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angeleena Presley join forces as the Pistol Annies once again for a rootsy, hard-rocking and emotionally honest sophomore album. With Lambert’s solo career going strong and Monroe emerging as a solo artist, it might’ve seemed unlikely that these three singer/songwriters would collaborate on a second project together. As it turns out, Annie Up is a ringing affirmation of female comradeship, with all three Annies sharing in the writing credits and blending voices in harmony. From the sultry finger-snapping intro to “I Feel a Sin Comin’ On” to the plaintive folk strains of “I Hope You’re the End of My Story,” the album taps into classic country themes with biting wit and a feel for down-home grooves. Tracks like “Hush Hush” (a glimpse at one family’s dirty laundry), “Dear Sobriety” (a drinker’s lament) and “Girls Like Us” (a tribute to hard-working women everywhere) bring the honky tonk populism of Loretta Lynn to mind. The Annies get rowdy on “Girls Like Us,” reflective on “Being Pretty Ain’t Pretty” and sensitive on “Loved By a Workin’ Man.”