Country-rock band LANCO – short for Lancaster & Company – has finally gotten a taste of country success. In late 2017, the group had fans swooning over their first country hit, “Greatest Love Story.” The song, which is a story about how a small-town high school relationship ends and restarts after college, unsurprisingly reached #1 on the charts for two weeks straight, which was a first victory for the band.
The group of five, lead vocalist Brandon Lancaster, drummer Tripp Howell, guitarist Eric Steedly, keyboardist Jared Hampton, and bassist Chandler Baldwin, released their long-awaited debut album, Hallelujah Nights, this past January. The album opens with the bands newest single, “Born to Love You,” which has a high-energy pop-country tone, with a slight rock twist that sets the upbeat mood for the rest of the album.
Unlike other pop-country albums, Hallelujah Nights provides a collection of authentic love and life stories with a new and transformative sound. Each song sounds different than the next, yet the album as a whole remains cohesive with coming of age stories about falling in and out of love, and small-town country living.
Hallelujah Nights entails the same pop-country vibe that we hear in “Greatest Love Story,” with some more fun and lively tracks, like “Singin’ at the Stars,” and “We Do.” While most tracks lean more towards country-pop, two tracks in particular, “Middle of the Night” and “Trouble Maker,” have a stronger vintage country influence than the others.
Although the members of the group are from Tennessee, Georgia, and Kentucky, their country sound has a classic rock influence that is hard to miss. Lancaster, who is the lead singer, also co-wrote all 11 tracks on the album. Lancaster’s attention to detail in lyrics is what separates LANCO from other country groups. A minor detail in “Greatest Love Story” actually plays a larger role than most people might realize. The line riding shotgun in my car instead of riding shotgun in my truck is a one word difference that puts LANCO’s music one step above typical, predictable country.
The eighth track, “Win You Over”, is a top contender as a fan favorite, with catchy lines like, I could be the one you call baby / you could be the woman I love like crazy. The song was also featured on a recent playlist created by Taylor Swift, which was an exciting milestone for the group.
The album ends with, “Hallelujah Nights,” which is perhaps the strongest track of the set. The song is purely about living life as a young adult, making mistakes, and being able to lead a carefree life.
LANCO is currently touring North America, and is set to perform in the United Kingdom this March.
LANCO, Hallelujah Nights Rating: 8/10
-Maria Awad
