For the better part of the past two years, Zach Top has been proving that the early success he found on TikTok is no fluke. The Sunnyside, Washington, country singer, songwriter, and guitarist first turned heads online with his bluegrass videos. Still, after moving to Nashville in 2021, he quickly became the flag bearer for trad-country in the style of George Strait and Alan Jackson. Some fans even theorized he was the latter’s son — he is not.
His new album, Ain’t in It for My Health, however, holds its own among those greats. Over 15 tracks, Top keeps on spinning, building on the honest country framework of his 2024 debut LP, Cold Beer & Country Music, and its breakthrough singles “Sounds Like the Radio” and “I Never Lie.” For Top, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Album opener “Guitar” is classic Nineties country, with a honky-tonk edge that suggests the 27-year-old isn’t messing around. Twangy guitars recall that decade’s signature sound, while Top’s vocals soar with the confidence of a seasoned storyteller.
On the LP’s bouncy, über-catchy first single, “Good Times & Tan Lines,” he channels the spirit of an idyllic late-summer afternoon, sitting on the front porch, nursing a beer, and celebrating all that fleeting youthful optimism. But Ain’t in It for My Health strives to balance the upbeat with the contemplative. Quieter, somber tunes like “When You See Me,” the piano-driven “Splitsville,” and “Livin’ a Lie” (“I’m dying one day at a time/Livin’ a lie/I don’t know how much more I can take,” Top sings in the latter) are tales of leaving past relationship failures behind to embrace personal growth boldly. Top may still like his vices — cold beer and lonesome smokes — but he’s looking at least a little bit into his future.
His mission statement arrives with “Honky Tonk Til It Hurts.” It’s a straight-ahead, driving slice of unapologetic country with the same earnest, relatable message that Top has been selling since he arrived in the mainstream last year: a throwback message of telling your boss where to stick it, and after, let’s grab a drink and have fun.
