By: David Schultz

Finding strength in numbers, The Villebillies travel down the road of mixed genres paved by Kid Rock. With five lead singers/rappers, the ten-strong band delves into their roots creating a mélange of hillbilly bluegrass, pop and hip-hop. Their admirably ambitious attempt to merge styles doesn't quite work at the same level as Detroit's Native Son; while they've failed to create a modern masterpiece, The Villebillies have created a delightfully guilty pleasure.

The themes of The Villebillies tunes are pretty basic: they sing about drinking, the joys of home and how they got panache. The instrumental half of the band plays simple backing tracks, throwing a repetitive guitar riff, string trill or banjo riff over tinny drums. Like many hip-hop tracks, the melodies are borrowed/adapted from other songs and the vocals range from street braggadocio to homespun sentimentality. Despite its shortcomings, The Villebillies' debut zips along at a nice pace. The songs may not be classics but they are fun. On "Ol' Faithful," the vocals replicate Eminem, on "Rolling Stone," they create their best groove and on "Talkin Stupid," in which they do just that, they find their most effective rapping style.

Tone down your expectations, remove your hipster hat and you'll find yourself getting a kick out of The Villebillies.

Labels: The Villebillies