New Country Releases Rankdown Thread

[.indulgecountry]

We last saw Annie Bosko in the October rankdown last fall with her radio debut single "Neon Baby" that landed at #7. This time around she places similarly, with a #9 finish for "Honky Tonk Highway." This chick knows how to make a honky tonk romp tune, and this one fared well with only three ranks outside the top half, none of which were in the bottom 5, even. Definitely one of the least-polarizing tunes in the January set.

[.indulgecountry]

8. "Sounds Like the Radio" - Zach Top

Total: 147

nuggie99 : 1
George Strait Junkie : 1
kw9461 : 2
SHOOTER : 3
zaclord 🌈 : 6
.indulgecountry : 6
LBTrocks : 7
kluen : 9
castleoblivion26 : 10
bboat11 : 11
zack97 : 12
Darkest Hour : 13
tim : 20
Kris Kringle : 23
🌺CountryLineDancer : 23

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
Coulda Been Love
Desperate
Don't Leave Me Loving You
I Tried a Ring On
Miss Thang
No Caller ID
Roulette on the Heart
Sound of Missing You
Sounds Like the Radio

[.indulgecountry]

Zach Top has made waves with his launch at radio as the flagship act with the newfound label Leo33, making top 40 in a hurry with "Sounds Like the Radio." Sounding like a time machine straight back to the 1990s of country music era, this ditty has racked up fanfare with another pair of #1 ranks courtesy of nuggie99 and George Strait Junkie, along with an additional seven top 10s. A pair of bottom 5s from Kris Kringle and 🌺CountryLineDancer helped keep this one from settling any higher.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

I enjoy the neotraditional sound, but not sold on Zach Top yet. If he can get radio plays, I would want Randall King or Drake Milligan!

[.indulgecountry]

7. "I Tried a Ring On" - Tigirlily Gold

Total: 141

kluen : 2
zaclord 🌈 : 2
SHOOTER : 2
Darkest Hour : 3
Kris Kringle : 5
zack97 : 6
.indulgecountry : 8
nuggie99 : 8
tim : 10
kw9461 : 11
🌺CountryLineDancer : 11
LBTrocks : 14
bboat11 : 17
castleoblivion26 : 21
George Strait Junkie : 21

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
Coulda Been Love
Desperate
Don't Leave Me Loving You
Miss Thang
No Caller ID
Roulette on the Heart
Sound of Missing You
Sounds Like the Radio

[.indulgecountry]

Country female duo Tigirlily Gold made a blip on the radar with "Shoot Tequila" last year and wasted no time in putting forth a follow-up single with "I Tried a Ring On," which offers a much softer more lyrically-pensive side to the girls. They put up an impressive string of nine top 10s, spearheaded by trio of #2 ranks courtesy of kluen, SHOOTER, and zaclord 🌈. OTOH, they still managed to land in the bottom 5 for two posters.

[.indulgecountry]

6. "Don't Leave Me Loving You" - Drake Milligan

Total: 140

kw9461 : 1
LBTrocks : 1
🌺CountryLineDancer : 2
castleoblivion26 : 3
George Strait Junkie : 4
bboat11 : 4
zack97 : 5
Darkest Hour : 6
Kris Kringle : 10
tim : 12
zaclord 🌈 : 12
nuggie99 : 13
.indulgecountry : 21
kluen : 22
SHOOTER : 24

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
Coulda Been Love
Desperate
Miss Thang
No Caller ID
Roulette on the Heart
Sound of Missing You
Sounds Like the Radio

[.indulgecountry]

Another young neo-traditionalist who sounds like he stepped out of a time machine from the 1990s, Drake Milligan lands at #6 with the slow burning "Don't Leave Me Loving You," coming up less than 10 points shy of a top 5 finish, and edging out "Ring" by a mere 1 point in the end. kw9461 and LBTrocks are the next to lose their #1 ranks. All but four had this in their top half, though three of those outlier ranks were bottom 5s.

[.indulgecountry]

The top 5:

Coulda Been Love - Randall King
Desperate - Brittney Spencer
No Caller ID - Megan Moroney
Roulette on the Heart - Conner Smith, Hailey Whitters
Sound of Missing You - Catie Offerman

Any predictions for how this plays out? 👀

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Darkest Hour :
George Strait Junkie :
tim :
zaclord 🌈 :
kw9461 :
nuggie99 :
kluen :
🌺CountryLineDancer :
castleoblivion26 :
Kris Kringle :
SHOOTER :
zack97 :
bboat11 :
LBTrocks :
.indulgecountry :

[Darkest Hour]

My guess:
5. Desperate - Brittney Spencer
4. Sound of Missing You - Catie Offerman
3. Coulda Been Love - Randall King
2. Roulette on the Heart - Conner Smith, Hailey Whitters
1. No Caller ID - Megan Moroney

[LBTrocks]

Just wow @ “Don’t Leave Me Loving You” missing out on the top 5. That is one of Drake Milligan’s best and I pretty much ADORE everything he does. His voice is just heaven! I thought this would be a lock for top 3, and maybe even a #1 contender. Guess I’m just blinded by my love for him lol.

[SHOOTER]

I expect Megan to win but pleasantly surprised to see Brittany make the top-5!

[LBTrocks]

I like all the songs left; but again, Megan is the weak link for me. I’m sure it will win tho

[nuggie99]

All I have to say is come Festivus, you will all be listed on my airing of grievances.

Oh, but seriously:

Can't Pass the Bar-- 90's style way uptempo song in the vein of Ain't Goin' Down, Sold and Dog on a Toolbox. Love the bar pun. Right up my alley.

Honky Tonk Highway-- This was all right. Liked Neon Baby a lot better, though.

Sounds Like the Radio-- More 90s greatness. I saw Zach last summer and he comment "You can hear these songs everywhere but the radio" Glad he finally caught on a bit and hope it leads to a long career and it's not just a gimmick.

I Tried a Ring On-- Very nice but also very sad. Nice.

Don't Leave Me Loving You-- This was ok but I prefer the uptempo stuff from Drake.

[kw9461]

Apr 18, 2024 19:41:38 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

Just wow @ “Don’t Leave Me Loving You” missing out on the top 5. That is one of Drake Milligan’s best and I pretty much ADORE everything he does. His voice is just heaven! I thought this would be a lock for top 3, and maybe even a #1 contender. Guess I’m just blinded by my love for him lol.

It's not just you. I did a legit double take when I saw him at #6. Thought he was a lock for top 5 at least. I've liked most everything I've heard from Drake thus far, but this is by far my favorite of his. Great vocal performance, strong lyrics, and a killer throwback sound. This was one of the best month's we've had, but it still got robbed.

[zack97]

10: I definitely agree it's an odd/awkward fit for Scotty, but I think that's why it clicked with me - never really heard him do a '90s, Brooks & Dunn-inspired barnburner like this. Conventional, but fun.

9: Same deal as "Can't Pass the Bar," really. Just a fun little neotraditional barnburner!

8: I found this corny my first time hearing it, but it's really grown on me as an endearing origin story set to song. Zach's newest album is one of my favorites of the year so far, and this is a strong opener to it.

7: A classic sad country song.

6: I didn't find Drake's EP from earlier this year to be quite as immediate as his 2022 album, but it had its highlights and this is for sure one of them. For some reason, his material gives me 2000s-era Dierks Bentley vibes - especially here.

So yeah, given that most of the top ten thus far houses a lot of neotraditional cuts, I have to say I'm surprised that Randall King fared the best out of all of them. With that said, my prediction for the top 5 goes as follows:

5. Coulda Been Love
4. Desperate
3. Sound of Missing You
2. Roulette On the Heart
1. No Caller ID

[.indulgecountry]

5. "Desperate" - Brittney Spencer

Total: 131

zack97 : 2
Kris Kringle : 3
kluen : 4
castleoblivion26 : 4
SHOOTER : 4
tim : 4
bboat11 : 7
Darkest Hour : 8
LBTrocks : 9
.indulgecountry : 9
zaclord 🌈 : 10
kw9461 : 12
🌺CountryLineDancer : 17
George Strait Junkie : 18
nuggie99 : 19

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
Coulda Been Love
No Caller ID
Roulette on the Heart
Sound of Missing You

[.indulgecountry]

Brittney Spencer made a strong top 5 showing here with "Desperate," a cut from her latest LP, My Stupid Life. All but four posters found a spot for her in their top 10, many of which were top 5s. She also has the distinction of being only the second reveal thus far (following Annie Bosko) without a single bottom 5 placement!

[.indulgecountry]

4. "Roulette on the Heart" - Conner Smith, Hailey Whitters

Total: 126

zack97 : 1
zaclord 🌈 : 1
.indulgecountry : 4
kluen : 5
🌺CountryLineDancer : 5
kw9461 : 7
nuggie99 : 7
Darkest Hour : 7
George Strait Junkie : 8
tim : 9
LBTrocks : 10
Kris Kringle : 14
bboat11 : 15
SHOOTER : 16
castleoblivion26 : 17

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
Coulda Been Love
No Caller ID
Sound of Missing You

[.indulgecountry]

The follow-up single to his breakthrough hit, Conner Smith's latest is the Hailey Whitters-aided "Roulette on the Heart," a neotraditional-leaning country duet. It managed a pair of #1 ranks from the two "zacks" (zaclord 🌈 and zack97), and a whole slew of top 10s. Four posters slotted it outside that threshold, but none of them were bottom 5s.

[.indulgecountry]

3. "Coulda Been Love" - Randall King

Total: 121

Kris Kringle : 1
George Strait Junkie : 2
tim : 3
kw9461 : 3
nuggie99 : 3
castleoblivion26 : 5
bboat11 : 5
LBTrocks : 6
🌺CountryLineDancer : 8
.indulgecountry : 10
SHOOTER : 11
zack97 : 11
Darkest Hour : 12
zaclord 🌈 : 17
kluen : 24

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
No Caller ID
Sound of Missing You

[.indulgecountry]

Texas country star Randall King lands in the bronze position for the January set with a cut from his latest record, Into the Neon. The last man standing, King is frequently favored in the Pulse circle, and this uptempo ditty with its throwback country sound was no slouch in this rankdown, picking up top-half ranks from everyone but zaclord 🌈 and kluen, the latter of which loses the final bottom 5 rank standing in the RD. OTOH, Kris Kringle loses their #1 rank this time around.

[.indulgecountry]

1. "No Caller ID" - Megan Moroney

Total: 87

.indulgecountry : 1
SHOOTER : 1
kluen : 1
bboat11 : 2
zack97 : 3
Darkest Hour : 5
tim : 5
🌺CountryLineDancer : 4
nuggie99 : 6
zaclord 🌈 : 7
castleoblivion26 : 7
Kris Kringle : 9
kw9461 : 10
George Strait Junkie : 10
LBTrocks : 16

2. "Sound of Missing You" - Catie Offerman

Total: 98

tim : 2
Darkest Hour : 2
George Strait Junkie : 3
kluen : 3
zaclord 🌈 : 4
Kris Kringle : 4
nuggie99 : 5
kw9461 : 8
🌺CountryLineDancer : 9
castleoblivion26 : 8
SHOOTER : 8
LBTrocks : 8
zack97 : 9
bboat11 : 10
.indulgecountry : 15

[.indulgecountry]

The January set comes to an end with a "No Caller ID" victory as Megan Moroney secures the crown with her latest emo cowgirl number about a late night call that sends her into a spiral. It's textbook Megan in all the best ways, and while she's had some close calls in the past in the rankdown series, I don't recall if she's ever actually managed a win yet (I could be wrong though, but I don't have a way to easily look that up since bboat11 hosted this for years before I recently took the reins, lol). Catie Offerman actually bagged an underdog win, by sneaking ahead of Reba McEntire in the October set last fall with "OK Cowboy," so she's definitely emerging as one of the Pulse fave new girlies. "Sound of Missing You" was a solid competitor for "ID" and finished only 11 points behind it. Both songs were ranked top 10 by everyone except for a lone poster on each (myself on Catie's, and LBTrocks on Megan's). For me, I chalk it up to a strong month because I do really enjoy Catie's song. A trio of us -- myself, SHOOTER, and kluen -- get a perfect rank with "ID" as our #1, while "Sound" had a pair of #2 ranks courtesy of tim and Darkest Hour as its highest representation.

[zaclord 🌈]

I’m surprised I ranked Megan so low - going into the top 5 (and not remembering my rankings at all), I assumed it was my #1. It must’ve grown on me a lot!

[LBTrocks]

"no caller ID" is really good, but this was a strong month so there was no way this was making it any higher on my list. I still think Megan Moroney is highly overrated....

Glad to see Catie Offerman so well liked on Pulse! Love her.

It KILLED me seeing Randall King ranked outside of my top 5, but this month was just so good lol. Probably the best we've ever had. One of em anyway.

[.indulgecountry]

Reminder to get March done asap! February reveals will begin soon. I'm only (knowingly) waiting on bboat11 at this point to submit a list for that month.

March 2024:

The Playlist: (Runtime 1 hr. 38 min.)

1. 28th of June - Megan Moroney
2. The Architect - Kacey Musgraves
3. Barely a Two Lane Road - Catie Offerman
4. Bodyguard - Beyoncé
5. Called Crazy - Kassi Ashton
6. Cardinal - Kacey Musgraves
7. Color up My World - Ben Rector, Hailey Whitters
8. Country Gold - Anne Wilson, Jordan Davis
9. Darlin' - Jenna Paulette
10. Fiddle in the Band - Kane Brown
11. Funny Girl - RaeLynn
12. The Georgia in Me - Cyndi Thomson
13. Highway Towns - Sykamore
14. If I Could Call - David Nail
15. If I Had a Lover - Dylan Gossett
16. I Like Trains - Ashley Monroe
17. I Went to College / I Went to Jail - ERNEST, Jelly Roll
18. Jolene - Beyoncé
19. Kiss My Boots - Brian Kelley
20. Locked Up - Sam Hunt
21. Messed up as Me - Keith Urban
22. Nicotine - Ella Langley
23. Pride - Sara Evans
24. Slow Dance - Scotty McCreery
25. Straight to My Heart - Graham Barham, Lauren Watkins
26. The Sun Don't Shine Anymore in Acapulco - William Michael Morgan
27. Tie Up - Zac Brown Band
28. What He'll Never Have - Dylan Scott
29. What She Sees in Me - Chris Young
30. Woman - Mickey Guyton

Due: April 28

---

Previous Participants:
BB🌕 SHOOTER fearlessarrow DistrictTwelve lady𝓐fan someguy ClevelandRox .indulgecountry HeyHeyHey d3vin44 kw9461 Darkest Hour LBTrocks castleoblivion26 tim austin taylor is terrified George Strait Junkie Kanenrá:ke bboat11 gardyfan  Sambalada BackwoodsBarbie superdave3556  🌺CountryLineDancer bigfan101 Kris Kringle razorshark nuggie99  zaclord 🌈 kluen

Country Rankdowns Tag List:
Adrian C. 🍓 austin BB🌕 bboat11 bigfan101 taylor is terrified castleoblivion26 cedric HeyHeyHey ClevelandRox g8erboi tim LBTrocks Crimsonio Fancy fearlessarrow hydraflare .indulgecountry Leo ✔ born Kanenrá:ke The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 lady𝓐fan Mylo13 💜 RobbyFlorida someguy SwiftlySheeran Au$tin toomuchboy   Darkest Hour sabre14 kw9461 BackwoodsBarbie  George Strait Junkie smissy13

[kluen]

I was bored with sounds like the radio so fast..

Actually I thought I Tried a Ring On would be higher..

Desperate was a surprised finding because of the list ,I originally don't have much interest in this album but this song is great

I like Conner and love Hailey so there seems to be no reason for me to not love their collaboration

absolutely love Catie Offerman,her lately output is just consistent and great..

As for NO CALLER ID, Megan has been my favorite new female artist ever since Kelsea..What she released was just one wow after wow..

[.indulgecountry]

Thanks to everyone who submitted for February!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}George Strait Junkie :
zaclord 🌈 :
zack97 :
taylor is terrified :
nuggie99 :
tim :
🌺CountryLineDancer :
castleoblivion26 :
Darkest Hour :
SHOOTER :
wavey. :
kw9461 :
LBTrocks :
bboat11 :
.indulgecountry :

[.indulgecountry]

25. "Bulletproof" - Nate Smith

Total: 275

zaclord 🌈 : 6
nuggie99 : 7
zack97 : 12
LBTrocks : 15
🌺CountryLineDancer : 17
bboat11 : 18
kw9461 : 18
Darkest Hour : 20
SHOOTER : 22
wavey. : 22
George Strait Junkie : 22
taylor is terrified : 23
tim : 23
castleoblivion26 : 25
.indulgecountry : 25

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Songs Remaining}
16 Carriages
American Girl
As You Are
Bless Your Heart
Blue Over You
Country's Cool Again
Deeper Well
God & Country
Had It All
Hard to Read
Heaven, Are You Listening?
Hits Home
Holy Smokes
A Little Goes a Long Way
Matchmaker
Next Best Thing
Out Here in It
Perfectly Lonely
Purple Irises
Texas Hold 'Em
This Truck Still Misses You
Two Night Stands
Use Me
What I Couldn't Forget