Brent Cobb moved back to his home state of Georgia after the release of 2018's
Providence Canyon, and that's not the only change in his world. After working with his superstar cousin
Dave Cobb on his first two major-label albums,
Brent hired
Brad Cook, a producer better-known for indie rock, to helm
Keep 'Em on They Toes. Choosing
Cook seems to prove the proclamation of the title is no idle boast, since nobody could have guessed that
Cobb would have picked a producer of
Bon Iver and
Waxahatchee as his next collaborator, but
Keep 'Em on They Toes is hardly a moody indie rock move. Instead,
Cook and
Cobb keep things lean and funky here, adding bits of color along the way -- check out the smeary harmonica on "Shut Up and Sing" -- but concentrating on mellow grooves that oscillate between the funky and soulful.
Cobb's honeyed voice remains the low-key connecting thread between the casual backporch rockers and sunbleached soul, but that mellowness is deceptive.
Cobb is canny, knowing when to open up to accommodate his empathetic duet partner
Nikki Lane on "Soap Box," and touching lightly upon a broken heart on "When You Go" before settling into the soft denouement of "Little Stuff." It may be within the context of a subdued vibe, but it provides enough variety to demonstrate that
Brent Cobb does indeed keep his fans on their toes. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
