Quick Spins

On the evidence of "The Cure," you're safe to assume it's the latter.

-- Shannon Zimmerman

SEVENTY TWO & SUNNY

Uncle Kracker

From mulleted Detroit DJ to suburban-redneck rapper to classic-rockin' cowboy, Uncle Kracker has mimicked Motor City pal Kid Rock's city-to-country career path step for step. These days, both dirty white boys seem content indulging their inner Skynyrd, but while Bob Ritchie (that's Kid) keeps the kegger kicking with rowdy odes to tallboys and little ladies, Matt Shafer (that's Kracker) makes music for the bleary mornings after.

On the pleasantly dopey "Seventy Two & Sunny" (think the year, not the temp), Kracker ditches all traces of hip-hop beats in lieu of guitars, handclaps and tambourines. It's a gamble for an artist who got his start as Kid Rock's turntablist, but Kracker's voice -- marinated in Old Grand-Dad and then dragged through an ashtray -- is ideally suited for chronicling the regrets that nag a shaggy, hung-over head.

Although his influence-cluttered mind muddles the disc's middle -- for some reason, he honors Motown's Berry Gordy via the honky-tonk stinker "A Place at My Table" -- most of "Seventy Two" is as cozy as a fake-wood-paneled den. With its "ooh-oohs" and fuzzy guitar, "This Time" is southern-fried Steve Miller Band. "Rescue" plays like a doo-wop number recorded in the Hotel California. And "Freebird"-wannabe "Further Down the Road" -- "Half a mile outside Biloxi / Did I come or did I go?" -- will have truckers drivin' and cryin' all night.

Earlier this year, Kracker lent his warble to Kenny Chesney's beach-bum hit "When the Sun Goes Down." Chesney returns the favor on the pedal-steel-woozy "Last Night Again," a chummy last-call duet that should play big down by the ocean. With the two now headlining a tiki-themed summer tour that has already sold out its July 10 stop at Merriweather Post Pavilion, maybe Kracker's next move will be ditching the Kid Rock route and beelining for Margaritaville.

-- Sean Daly