"Drive It Like You Stole It" kicks the album up with a dollop of those Southern rock attitudes, both in its theme (tl;dr: don't spend your whole life in park) and production. It's a perfect match for Kennon's voice, and unlike so many other songs cast in the manly image of Trace Adkins, it works surprisingly well. Next comes another distinctly masculine song, "The Man I Used to Be," co-written with onetime solo artist Rob Crosby. It's a fairly straightforward but surprisingly cliché-free look at how being the wild man he used to be has made him the better man he is now. Maybe the fact that Mama raised the hell out of him helped (see "Mama Raised the Hell Out of Me"). Continuing in that same theme is "Too Loud," which illustrates his (very easy to believe) desire to play his music as loud as he wants. Several other songs like "If I Was Any Kind of Man" ("...I'd have let that woman go"), "Ride with Me" (a solid "roll the windows down" kind of song) and "Then There Was You" (the second Rob Crosby cut on the album) explore familiar ground, but smartly dodge all the potential stale lyrics that could easily have bogged down this kind of song.
Ben Hayslip and Shenandoah lead singer Jimmy Yeary provide the unsubtly titled "Some People Piss Me Off," wherein he addresses those people who don't seem to care, like derelict fathers or robbers. Sure, he may wish to take manners into his own hands, but the song is more than just merely letting off steam, as he does address that there's still plenty of good in the world.
From the "Songs that deserved a second chance" department comes a take on "Cry Like Memphis," which actually manages to outshine Memarie's strong original version, packing more emotion and grit into what was already a knockout of a song. In fact, I would even say that it rivals "The Call" as the strongest song on the album.
I've already mentioned "The Call" twice, so I might as well say what makes it so strong. Another cut (co-written) with an "obscure" former solo artist (ex-Patriot Records artist Noah Gordon in this case), it's hung on a simple yet very effective hook, showing how one simple phone call can change anything in a person's life. The song treats its heavyweight topics of suicide and abortion about as unpretentiously and movingly as possible, not forcing its subtle pro-life message down your throat. Album closer "That's Love" finds another teenage girl who wants to keep her baby even if it won't have a father figure, but instead of using that to express the power that one call can have, it segues into two other vignettes — the woman with Alzheimer's in the second verse and Jesus dying on the cross — to illustrate the sacrifices of love.
Matt Kennon's debut is a surprisingly fresh sound, and a testament to the treasures that can be found on the smaller, independent labels. While at times it's more rock than country, the consistently potent lyrics and gritty vocals are a killer combination. Now that "The Call" has run its course on the charts, another strong single pick and the release of this album should boost Kennon's profile enough to make him an artist worth watching in the years to come.
You can support Matt Kennon by purchasing this album at Amazon CD | Amazon mp3 (works with iTunes).
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