Brooks & Dunn - "Cowboy Town"

[StevePulaski]

Cowboy Town (2007)
By: Brooks & Dunn

Rating: ★★

For Brooks & Dunn to kick off their career with an album as good as Brand New Man, it's only more upsetting to see them conclude it with an album as mediocre as Cowboy Town. There's a period in this album's roughneck, forty-three minute burst that becomes somewhat enjoyable, as it offers a ballad that tips its hat to Jerry Jeff Walker and gives love to the mysterious beverage known as Tequila on a self-titled track. These two tracks express what Brooks & Dunn have long been about, but are unfortunately surrounded by a litany of tracks that capture a slightly political, even racier edge that Brooks & Dunn were never really about, making this conclusion to a long, prosperous duo only land with a deafening thud.

Consider the preachy, saccharine "God Must Be Busy," which bears a needlessly political line like, "There's a single mom, just got laid off; went and lost her job to foreign hands." A line like this wouldn't be so jarring if it weren't coming from the mouths of two self-proclaimed simple country musicians who wanted nothing more than to play good, wholesome music for a rollicking crowd. Or consider the manufactured insincerity that seems to plague the opening tracks like "Proud of the House We Built," a melody for the proud and fabled American homeowners and "Johnny Cash Junkie (Buck Owens Freak)," which proves that Brooks & Dunn are capable of shameless pandering when it comes to nostalgia after boldly defying the convention with their 2003 hit album Red Dirt Road.

The momentary pick-up in tone and in personality comes about halfway through the album, and it's during this time that we are optimistic we'll get some subversion of style with the duo's last rendezvous. "Drop in the Bucket" is a different crossover of country and rock principles, making a song where the vocals of both men can be heard in a surprisingly deeper tone while put to a country beat that packs a greater punch than the ones the two normally work with. However, after that, in a cycle that has went from manufactured openers to memorable efforts of subversion, we get sentiment laid on thick with throwaway tracks like "American Dream" and "God Must Be Busy." And don't get me started on the downright silliness of "Put a Girl In It," a song Brooks & Dunn are too talented to have ever even considered.

Cowboy Town is the final studio album for a duo that has won numerous awards, performed before a variety of sold out crowds, had several chart-topping hits, in addition to top ten hits in general, platinum and gold albums, and intense domestic success. Brooks & Dunn, even in the field of musical duos, rank fairly high in terms of talent and energy, but a record this poor almost demands they come back for at least one more to solidify their legacy rather than frantically wrap it up.

Recommended tracks (in order): "Tequila," "Drop in the Bucket," and "Ballad of Jerry Jeff Walker."