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Uncle Kracker is a rock artist who makes country music. This is notterribly uncommon, but there's something interesting about the wayMr. Kracker makes the rock-to-country transformation: None of thetracks on Seventy Two & Sunny remotely resemble "countryrock." They all sound like pop songs (there are no waltzes orfiddle reveries or twang-infused references to rodeo clowns), yetthey all feel like country songs. The result is abetter-than-decent album that will appeal to those who don't listento music with sociology in mind, which is probably 90 percent ofAmerica.

Part of what makes Kracker compelling is his maniacal obsessionwith hit making. It's too bad this dude wasn't born in the late19th century, because he would have loved working on Tin Pan Alley.Hit singles are the only songs he has any interest in creating.Even the boring songs on Seventy Two & Sunny couldreasonably exist on the radio, and most of the album follows theformula he perfected on the flawless 2001 chart-topper "Follow Me"(i.e., one sweeping hook, stupid yet charming lyrics, no dissonanceallowed). The songwriting is archetypal and casual, a Sublime-like,laid-back buskerism mixed with a less aggressive version of the"outlaw country" his benefactor Kid Rock aspires to record. Thebest example is "Songs About Me, Songs About You," where Krackerbrags that he's written about everything from money to booze, andthe only reason he hasn't had a Top 10 smash about regret is thathe hasn't gotten around to it.

Somehow, Uncle Kracker has come to the conclusion that fake countrymusic is the only authentic art remaining in America. "Last NightAgain"--a duet with shirtless country star Kenny Chesney--makes mewant to purchase Miller High Life even though it's not in a beercommercial (yet). You'd have to work pretty hard not to like thesesongs, though I'm sure some people will try. I like his Tone-Loc-esque voice, and I like most of these songs. You could do a lotworse.