There is nothing little about Little Big Town’s new album “The Reason Why.” Country fans, you may breathe a long held sigh of relief as real country music makes its way back into the mainstream. No more Rascal Flatts, whose lead singer’s voice is girlier than Taylor Swift’s, and no more Taylor Swift, for that matter. Finally, Little Big Town has gotten the country music scene back on track.

This band knows what kind of sounds work. When you think you have figured them out, they surprise you. Right when you get settled into a song like “All The Way Down,” with harmonies and steel guitar, they catch you off guard with pitchy acoustics that sound like something from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Their most famous track, “Little White Church,” really hits it home. Contrary to the fashion of today’s American woman, singer Karen Fairchild goes old school and demands her man “take her down to that little white church,” or else she would take her mamma’s advice and hit the road. This song has an attitude, and to not snap, tap your toes or even drum your fingers is almost painful.

Runaway Train comes in second on the album and in rank. It harnesses the dusty country rock of Lynyrd Skynyrd in a way that has been shamefully forgotten.