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Cowboy Mouth - Voodoo Shoppe
by whitemilesdavis

It was the early 90's in Wilmington, NC. While most other college kids were studying or catching up on sleep, I was doing what I did every Wednesday night: Visiting The Mad Monk on 3 bands - 3 Bucks night. Most Wednesday nights I realized I was paying $3 to socialize with drunken college girls, as the actual music played was generally worth much less than my 3 one dollar bills. On rare occasion you'd find a diamond in the rough, but depending on the female population on that night, you might be too preoccupied to notice. This particular Wednesday night was pretty much the usual; go to the bar with my older friends, laugh at them getting sloppy drunk, and then try out my pick-up lines on girls who would have rather been anywhere than talking to me. The second band of the night was getting set-up on stage, but the conversations were going so well that most people didn't even notice when they started their set. I was seated on a bar stool in a group of 3 or 4 other bar stools. Being 19 at the time, I was the only one in our group not holding the little white plastic cup that The Monk served their beer in. I also seemed to be the only person in the entire bar who was paying any attention to the band on-stage, whose distinguishing feature was this big, wild looking drummer who was also the lead singer. The wild man seemed to notice the apathy too, and he wasn't gonna just sit there and take it.

He first started out with some mild swearing directed towards the audience members. When that was only met with slight groans, he got up from behind the drum set, grabbed the mic and hopped off the stage. "This could get interesting.", I thought to myself as the the big crazy guy made his way barefooted across the filthy, bear-soaked floor. As he entered the bar area, he went from patron to patron, leaning down into their face and screaming into the microphone. Finally, some people were beginning to take notice, and for some reason I found this odd brand of entertainment quite enjoyable...that is, until he made his way around to me and started the screaming bit into my face. It was quite intimidating, but didn't last long before he headed for his next victim. My pal Jay tried to play it cool while this beast verbally assaulted him, but the more Jay pretended he wasn't there, the more gusto the drummer put into his performance. Just when I thought he would move on to the next person, he realized the one thing that would capture my friends attention for sure: He reached up and slapped the cup out of Jay's hand causing the cup to empty all of it's contents onto Jay himself. I would estimate that 13 of the 16 ounces went directly into Jay's face with the other 3 ounces landing harmlessly in the surrounding area. Jay's anger was only intensified by my hysterical laughter. When I gained control again, I realized that the crazy guy had abandoned his first method of torture, instead going directly for his new much more efficient technique. For the next 20 minutes or so, he stomped barefooted around the club thrusting beer into the face of anyone foolish enough to still be sitting there. This was my introduction to a band called Cowboy Mouth. Fast-forward 13 years and Cowboy Mouth has released their eigth studio album entitled "Voodoo Shoppe".

The album was intended, at least partially, as a tribute to the band's home town of New Orleans in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. Fred Leblanc still comes accross as the monster who splashed beer on everyone thirteen years earlier on this high-energy collection of rootsy rock-n-roll tunes.

1. Joe Strummer -
The album starts off in an interesting manner with this poppy punk tune about a girl who put forth a punk image at all times, yet when her boyfriend discovered that she didn't know who Joe Strummer was, he questioned whether he could be in a relationship with her. It's a novel concept, and on the first few times I heard it, I really enjoyed it. However, this seems to be one of those songs that would drive you crazy after you heard it several times. This track is way more punk influenced than I remember Cowboy Mouth being, but unfortunately, this is more Blink 182 than Clash, which is odd considering the title.
MY GRADE: c

2. Misty Falls -
This is a very good emotionally charged rock song. Leblanc's vocal is strong and passionate throughout this track, while actually managing to reveal a slight vulnerability. The guitar work during the verses is simple yet well thought out, and captures the mood of the song perfectly. After a slight disappointment from the first track, Misty Falls was the perfect way to recapture my interest.
MY GRADE: A

3. Winds Me Up -
One of the more intense rockers on the disc, Winds Me Up features more strong guitar work and a "4 to the floor" drum track that relentlessly pounds out the rhythm. This is what I've always referred to as driving music. You know, the type of song that makes you forget you are in an automobile until you notice the horrified look from the little old lady at the stop light as you scream along with the lyrics and pound the dash like a set of Ludwigs.
MY GRADE: B

4. Hole In My Heart -
Sappy title, don't you think? Well, the song fits it perfectly. While the chorus is extremely catchy, I think this song would be better served on an Eddie Money comeback record, or anything else that I never have to listen to. OK, it's not quite that painful to sit through, but it does come off as complete filler material.
MY GRADE: D

5. Voodoo Shoppe -
It's the title track to the album, and for good reason: This is one great song. This is more like I remembered Cowboy Mouth, being R&B inspired and a little bit funky. The riff to the song is once again very simple, but incredibly effective. The song just grooves, and gets better with each listen.
MY GRADE: A+

6. Slow Down -
This medium tempo tune features more well-crafted guitar work, which leads me to the conclusion that Cowboy Mouth is no longer just a vehicle for Fred Leblanc's psychotic fits. The song itself is OK, but a little bland, and really not very original.
MY GRADE: C+

7. This Much Fun -
I missed something in the last dozen years. Somewhere along the way Cowboy Mouth began listening to a lot of Green Day and Sum 41. Yes, this is another pop-punk offering, and the vocal on the chorus is completely obnoxious. The chorus is very predictable with the big power chords and anthemic vocals. I really don't like it at all.
MY GRADE: D-

8. Supersonic -
Thank God. Someone fired the MTV2 house band and brought back Cowboy Mouth. This is similar in form to Winds Me Up and is like cool water to a man dying of thirst after that last track. The style of the music is somewhat reminiscent of an AC/DC groove, without the weird vocals. Good tune.
MY GRADE: A

9. I Told Ya -
The vocal parts and arrangement of this song are pretty corny. Sort of like a frat party sing-a-long, but the band members are much more emphatic about singing along than the party goers. However, This is the best guitar work on the disc with a sophisticated duel lead that I wasn't sure Cowboy Mouth was capable of. The song is worth listening to for the guitar track alone.
MY GRADE: C

10. Home -
A bluesy tribute to New Orleans, with a keyboard part that reminds me of Rock the Casbah. Like this song or not, it is completely original while still not so far out that you can't relate to it.
MY GRADE: B

11. Glad to Be Alive -
While this is the probably the best of the punky songs on the disc, at this point it's like "Haven't I heard this already?". For a review of this song, read my reviews for tracks 1 and 7, except make them slightly more positive. I really think this suffers from placement on the disc, as it would probably be more enjoyable if I heard it earlier.
MY GRADE: B-

12. Avenue -
A piano driven ballad, and honestly touching tribute to New Orleans. This is the perfect way to end the disc. Even though the song reminds me a little bit of Meat Loaf, it is very clear that it is delivered with full sincerity. Another very nice vocal helps close the disc on a positive note.
MY GRADE: A+

My overall opinion of this disc is that it really is a mixed bag. You have a couple of stellar tracks, with a couple of really low points. Still, all being said and done, it's a very easy listen so I'd recomend it for the two or three best tracks alone. This far into their career, it's good to see that Cowboy Mouth hasn't lost their passion, but it also seems that they may have peaked years ago with Jenny Says. Hopefully, their present touring will provide them with some inspiration for a better total product next time.
OVERALL GRADE: C+

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