Artist Detailed Info: Steve Owens

Mixing a somewhat twangy voice with infectious grooves, Stevie Steve concocts a peculiar new hybrid: cow-funk. Steve's sense of humor keeps $7 Haircut relentlessly entertaining, whether he's using the unusual phrase "monkey gall" in his tale of "Jealous Gorilla Love" or mocking his own drawn-out vocals by titling a tune "Time for Me to Dieeeeahoahah."

On "The Love Machine," a satirical R&B duet featuring Jen Wildung, Steve growls about loving up and slapping down, though he says in his liner notes that he does not actually "endorse, recommend, or promote" this practice. He does, however, endorse the use of the Vibro-Slap, the hissing, clicking instrument he uses to great effect on "Girl, You Better Learn to Listen."

Stevie Steve wrote the music for 10 of the 12 tracks on the album, and the two tunes penned by drummer Detox Simpson are equally catchy and amusing. Though much of $7 Haircut is built around slap-happy bass lines and danceable rhythms, Steve proves equally satisfying when he slows the pace, as on "Grandma Blues," when he moans, My mama does not love me/My daddy, he's pretty lame/Not even my grandma remembers my name. That's a bad situation, indeed, but Stevie Steve is able to laugh away his woes and help listeners do the same.

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