Country music from a fan's point of view since 2008
The third single from Sunny Sweeney’s excellent Concrete album is the unashamed honky tonker ‘Drink Myself Single’.
Currently just outside the top 40, let’s hope it matches the top 10 status of last year’s ‘From A Table Away’ after ‘Staying’s Worse Than Leaving’ failed to do so. Radio seems more inclined to play up-tempo numbers these days, so that may be a good sign for this vibrant number. It sounds like her most commercial release to date without sacrificing her country roots, mixing in loud but not excessive electric guitars with the fiddle and steel. The lively tune and the winsome charm of Sunny’s delivery give this a singalong feel.
Fed up of her boyfriend’s drinking ways, Sunny goes out on the town determined to beat him at his own game (and declare her new single status at the same time) by drinking a couple of bottles of wine (although as she’s apparently not a regular drinker this may mean she ends up not so much staggering home to bed like her ex, as under the table in the bar). She wrote the song with Monty Holmes, although it clearly isn’t autobiographical, as Sunny recently married her longterm boyfriend.
This level of excessive drinking may not be the best way to get over a man in real life, but it makes for a great country song. And with the help of producer Brett Beavers, Sunny is the kind of singer who knows how to satisfy the demands of both modern radio listeners and more traditional country fans.
Grade: B+
My Kind of Country 
Good review and song. I think you’re right when you say that Radio seems more inclined to play up-tempo numbers these days so this could do well. Maybe they should have made this the second single, followed by “Staying…” and then “The Old Me”. While I like “Concrete”, the Sunny songs I’ve been playing most frequently are “Slow Swinging Western Tune” and “Mama’s Opry” from her first album.
I certainly had high hopes when “From a Table Away” went Top 10 last year, but it’s been quite frustrating to see Sweeney struggling to maintain traction with her subsequent releases. Hopefully this one will just turn out to be a slow blomer, but either way, this is one heck of a good country song.