Cocky

When Kid Rock started dating Pamela Anderson, for most of us it made perfect sense. With his classic rock star antics and persona, what else was the Kid except a David Lee Roth/Ted Nugent figure for the nu-metal generation; all blond hair, flashy moves and cowboy pimp style?

On the surface, his second album proper (after debut Devil Without A Cause and independent round up The History Of Rock) offers more of the same, from it’s very title, cover and assorted inner photos of the cigar smoking, gun toting singer. Yet for every macho posture, there are two images of Rock strumming an acoustic or blowing on a harmonica. Flip through the album credits and there are also indicators that there is more to Cocky than meets the eye. Across the album’s fourteen tracks, Rock contributes guitar, bass, scratches, slide guitar, lap steel and even banjo. The obligatory band shout outs include old metal (Sabbath), nu-metal (System Of A Down), hip-hop (Xzibit), country (Hank Williams Jnr) and… er… Stevie Nicks.

Not that Cocky is lacking in its share of dumb ass, and indeed smart-ass, moments – just that it has a hell of a lot more to offer along the way. Opening gambits ‘Trucker Anthem’ and ‘Forever’ are both high-energy numbers, the latter proclaiming Kid’s mix of ‘punk rock, hip-hop & southern rock’.

While the former may be somewhat debatable, Cocky proves to be an engaging marriage of the latter two. ‘Lay On Me’ and the title track follow and start to widen the remit from the expected somewhat, Rock combining his less than perfect but still fluid style with a decidedly old school rock sound – more than a little reminiscent of ‘Walk This Way’ – and a soulful vocal feel.

Rock’s band, the multi-racial Twisted Brown Trucker (featuring recent chart topper Uncle Kracker as DJ) are on fine form throughout, reducing the use of samples to virtually nothing and adding to the swamp sound.

From here on, Cocky heads deep into retro territory; revisiting the classic US rock of his heroes but displaying a awareness of self that the Kisses and Van Halens would never have even considered.

Blessed with a fine singing voice, he carries the emotive, country ballads ‘Lonely Road Of Faith’ and ‘Midnight Train To Memphis’ with no little style, searching for – and achieving to some degree – the effect that Lynard Skynard produced on their sublime ‘Tuesday’s Gone’.

The album reaches its most surreal moment with ‘Picture’, a duet with Sheryl Crow – particularly given the nature of the only other guest spot on the record, the crass, clumsy old skool hip-hop of ‘WSCR’, featuring Snoop Dogg. How the baggy trousered, wallet chain swinging brigade will take to Cocky remains to be seen for, even at its most modern, it still sounds positively archaic next to the Linkin Parks of this world.

But for those willing to dig a little deeper into the musical landscape of the United States, Kid Rock has provided a useful and enjoyable history lesson.