Kevin Cahoon and Ghetto Cowboy – Doll

First of all, I want to state the following: For as long as I run this site or do anything within the music community, I sincerely hope that I never, ever, ever, have to see another press pic like the one glued to the front of Kevin Cahoon and Ghetto Cowboy‘s bio package. It is easily one of the most disturbing pictures I’ve seen in a long time, with Cahoon reaching out towards the camera in a perfect rendition of that one Backstreet Boys guy who always grabbed towards the camera. Add in the computerized effects of a blue grid and pink highlights, and I was scared shitless. The rest of the album artwork didn’t help put the album any higher on my charts either, but still, I’ve seen shitty artwork before plastered on a phenomenal CD, so I had hope.

This hope jumped forward as the title track started playing after the eighteen second opener. Doll was the perfect nerd rock anthem for anyone who was ever picked on in high school. Cahoon‘s vocals fit perfectly on the heavily produced flitter rock song that most Killers fans would find amusing, and you couldn’t help but smile and sing along with the chorus where he proudly shouts “I am the freak, I am the fag, I am the weirdo, one you couldn’t stand. I am the geek, I am the nerd, you beat me up when I was ten. So what, I played with dolls, I played with dolls.” This song, with the right push could become an instant classic and takeover the airwaves.

Sadly, the rest of Doll pretty much just sucks, and the broadway star becomes irritating. His vocals, which were a nice little gimmick on the title track, soon become very grating and annoying. You find yourself wanting to skip over it and for the song to be over with as soon as possible so you don’t need to hear it anymore. The flitter/glamour rock just becomes obnoxious, and the overly produced songs likeFashionista, Bitch and Mr. Curious slowly become painful to listen to. There are a few songs, like Star Ballad and Could I Have This Dance which aren’t half bad, but still fall sort of a replay – and the CD falls even shorter of replay value.

So yes, there’s one song on this album that is good. It’s very entertaining and enjoyable, but other than the title track, Doll fails to entertain. Instead, it just irritates.