When the words “country sweetheart” and the description of a southern blonde are in the same sentence, most people automatically jump to one person: Taylor Swift. But now that the country-gone-pop star has drifted from her roots, two Texas and Oklahoma natives are quickly filling that hole in the country genre.

Maddie & Tae’s new album consists of eleven songs, most of which have topics that fit the stereotypical girl country songwriter mold in which relationships and friend drama is the center. With songs ranging from the naivety of boys in “Shut Up and Fish” to the struggles of fighting and supporting friends in “After the Storm Blows Through,” it seemed the album would be yet another vent outlet about the problems in various relationships.

Shockingly, this was not the case. One of the biggest surprises on the album is the song “Girl in a Country Song,” which is a blend of hick-pop with sassy attitude towards the popular male country music, according to Billboard.com.

The song uses catchy and accusatory lyrics in order to address girls being objectified in the current country music scene. The lyrics along with pop influences such as a quicker beat and guitar solos have people turning their heads and putting Maddie & Tae under the spotlight, according to maddieandtae.com.

While “Girl in a Country Song” was the duo’s breakthrough, Maddie & Tae used the same sassy attitude in the song “Sierra”, which sheds light on bullying. The partnership’s versatility is shown off when they manage to contrast the opinionated song with slow and meaningful ballads such as their single “Fly.”

Overall, Maddie & Tae manage to catch the attention of teenagers who are interested in the cookie cutter girl country music, but also go slightly deeper with content than the previous teenage country queen.

While Start Here may be their first album, it seems as though the duo is ready to step up to the challenge of being the new reigning country girls on the charts. This is surely only the beginning of a long line of success for the two.