Album Review: 10,000 Towns - Eli Young Band

Artist: Eli Young Band
Release Date: March 2014
Label: Republic Nashville
Producer: Eli Young Band, Frank Liddell & Justin Niebank

Kitch's Rating: 9/10 

I had the pleasure of seeing EYB in support of Toby Keith's Hammer Down Under tour back in March. It was a roaring show, complete with a great Lynryd Skynyrd cover. They'd come across to Australia for the CMC Rocks festival in the Hunter Valley hot on the heels of releasing 10,000 Towns, their third (and by far their most popular) major label release after years toiling in the Texas Red Dirt scene, which debuted at #1 on the Country Billboard Album charts, just as the lead single from the album, "Drunk Last Night" did, gaining top spot on the US Country Airplay charts (and #41 on the mainstream charts).

  

Not a bad start for an album that's chock-full of great songs, and will almost certainly catapult them into the stratosphere of Nashville super-stardom. Right from the top, the Texas-bred Eli Young Band roar into top form with 'Drunk Last Night' then the awesome title track and 'Dust', the three best songs on the album, in my opinion, leading off from the top. Halfway through '10,000 Towns' I was way hooked.

Country is at it's best when it's reminiscing about days gone by or memorialising life in that fabled Small Town USA, and '10,000 Towns' does that perfectly, with Mike Eli's soaring vocals and a great guitar solo. It's very easy on the ears, eloquently described, though perhaps a little cliched at times, but the key thing to remember here is - and the same goes for most country singers - this isn't just lip service, like it often can be in other genres. 

These guys have lived that life, coming from two-light towns in the middle of the south-western nowhere in the Lone Star state to Nashville, and all the fame that comes along with success. You really believe that they're singing about what they lived, their struggles, hopes and dreams. 
 
Honesty (and catchy tunes) is what makes this album great. There wasn't one track that I didn't love. 

The Eli Young Band are going places.