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*** Cowboy Mouth
ARE YOU WITH ME?
(MCA)
With the Beat Farmers gone,
New Orleans rowdies Cowboy Mouth are the best bet to fill the boy-rock,
roots/frat void. Led by drummer/singer and celebrated nutcase Fred LeBlanc, the
band have a sound that falls somewhere between country twang and jangle pop
with some Jerry Lee wildness thrown in, though the latter comes out more on
stage than it does on disc. There are also a few punk-rock threads, courtesy of
lead guitarist John Thomas Griffith (formerly of one-time Boston band the Red
Rockers).
This major-label debut doesn't offer enough for longtime fans; half the 12
tracks are re-recordings from their three indie albums ("Jenny Says" was also
done by LeBlanc's former band, Dash Rip Rock). The new versions are only
marginally tighter and more fully produced. Songs like "How Can You Tell
Someone" -- a souped-up honky-tonk weeper -- still deserve the second shot. And
a pair of new numbers, "Love of My Life" and "Louisiana Lowdown," get closer to
their live drive than the indie albums did.
-- Brett Milano
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