In the world of country gone mainstream, Texas native Pat Green is the kind of artist who can stray from his roots and still produce worthwhile country music. In his latest album, Cannonball, Green seems to be battling against himself, vacillating between his traditional good ol' Texas rock and the drooly, Backstreet Boys-esque garbage that is high on the country music charts these days (Rascal Flatts, anyone?).
Green started to move away from pro-Texas partyin', free-roamin' fare in his previous album, Lucky Ones. In Cannonball, he directs this move even more towards a new subgenre of country: easy listening. The current radio hit, "Feels Just Like It Should," comes across as mellow, despite Green's attempts to create a foot-stompin', windows-down-in-the-pickup-truck kind of feel. For an artist who used to count himself part of the outlaw tradition of Waylon and Merle, there's no track worthy of collaboration with Willie. He does have a duet with pop-country star Sara Evans in "Finder's Keepers," and it's probably the most maudlin track on the album (although "Dixie Lullaby" runs a close second). While she does have a lovely voice, her dulcet tones don't quite mesh with Green's distinctive roughness.
Fans of the old Pat Green won't be totally disappointed, however. The instrumentation in the title track is excellent, and his vocals are very reminiscent of Wave on Wave-era Green; his rhythm is out of the ordinary, speeding up, then slowing down, then speeding up again. And he has, of course, had "too much to drink." "Way Back Texas" and "Cannonball" will also satisfy longtime fans with familiar Green elements.
"Love Like That" is one of the strongest tracks on the album, both lyrically and musically. It has the windows-down quality Green aimed for and fell short of in "Feels Just Like It Should." Green's voice evokes the scene that any small town-raised country boy and girl are familiar with: "Check out those kids over there in that parking lot / they're probably drinking beer and smoking a lot... / ain't that ole man Fredrick's daughter / breaking every rule that her daddy ever taught her / with a wild-eyed boy on the hood of that pickup truck."
"Lost Without You" blurs the lines between country and rock, lines Green has disregarded before with success. This song is no exception and is one of the stand-outs on the album. Green's simple lyrics continue to make his music hard-hitting -- "That's the thing about you and me / sometimes we just disagree."
Bottom line: Cannonball brings something to the table for everyone. Fans of real Texas country can still count on Pat Green -- they'll want to buy the whole album, but get it used.
If you're new to Pat Green, this is not the album to start with, but those looking for "lite" Texas rock or kids-with-cancer pop country will also be satisfied with Cannonball.
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