SOUND CHECK.

Bubba Sparxxx/``Dark Days, Bright Nights'' (Beat Club/Interscope)

Frat-rap is the latest cash cow in the trough. Every label has its answer to Eminem, which means more foul-mouthed white rappers parents will immediately detest and legions of kids will instantly love.

Currently hovering at the top of the charts is future music trivia fodder Bubba Sparxxx, so generic only his Southern accent lifts him slightly above the fray. Raised on the outskirts of Atlanta where he apparently spent much quality time with records by Oakland ``pimp-rapper'' Too Short and the far-superior Outkast, 24-year-old Bubba (real name Warren Mathis) rarely deviates from a deviant formula.

``Dark Days, Bright Nights,'' the first release from Missy Elliott producer Timbaland's vanity label, is a tractor-pull through rap's lowest common denominator. Along with familiar boasts of hip-hop superiority (``The 1st Whutchacallit'') and lame skits (``Take Off''), subject matter includes strippers (``Betty Betty''), street slang (``Bubba Talk'') and the loneliness of the rural rapper (``Well Water'').

Yet, there is a track that has some vitality - the Missy E-sampled novelty item ``Ugly,'' in which Bubba manages to rhyme: ``Go ahead throw dem bones, break a bottle/Let's be honest, none of us will ever date a model.''

Comedy or not, this type of product has a shelf life around the length of your standard kegger. But not nearly as nutritious. One star

- Fred Shuster

Leonard Cohen/``Ten New Songs'' (Columbia)

Some things never change: At 68, Cohen faces heartbreak with a tired shrug. In his first album of new songs in nearly 10 years, he remains the droll sophisticate, whistling past romance's graveyard.

Cohen may never have had much range, but he was once expressive. Here, his weary croak seems merely resigned. Female vocals harmonize sweetly, but the instrumentation and pacing is colorless.

Still, Cohen remains an incisive lyricist and there are standouts. Among them: ``A Thousand Kisses Deep,'' an anthem for love's survivors; ``Here It Is,'' a typically haunting state of disunion address; ``Alexandra Leaving,'' an appreciation of a brief affair; and ``The Land of Plenty,'' a most ambivalent hymn. Three stars

- David Kronke

Wylie & the Wild West/``Paradise'' (Rounder)

Real-life cattleman Wylie Gustafson offers a pleasant combination of authentically rendered trail tales and slicker stuff that sounds more suitable for an old Gene Autry show.

The group deserves credit for sweetening the hokum with lacings of honky tonk and Western swing. But be advised, there is yodeling; and since Wylie's the voice of Yahoo.com, there's just no stopping that.

Incidentally, Wylie and company appear tonight at the Autry Museum. Three stars

- Bob Strauss

Dr. John/``Creole Moon'' (Blue Note)

The great New Orleans piano master here celebrates Louisiana music tradition - Caribbean, Afro-Cuban, funk, jazz and blues.

And it is all that, a big ol' jambalaya (emphasis on the jam) of high-stepping shuffles, voodoo vamping, animal antics and that incomparable Mac Rebbenack voice, which sounds like he's eating crawfish and pralines at the same time.

But the flavorings range farther up the big river, where Southern soul, Memphis horns and funky r&b reside. Call it a Louisiana Purchase party. Three and one half stars

- B.S.

The Strokes/``Is This It?'' (RCA)

This is one connected group of elegantly wasted rich kids. One Strokes dad heads the world's top modeling agency while another is among the most successful soft-rock tunesmiths of the '70s.

Naturally, the band members are treated like superstars in London, where Strokes dates are packed with celebs and this heavily hyped debut is big news.

So when you first put the thing on, you're primed for the second coming of the Velvet Underground. You don't expect Alvin & the Chipmunks doing Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

But ``Is This It?'' is practically a parody of cutting-edge '70s acts like Television, the Velvets and the New York Dolls. Led by a singer who sounds like a parrot on Red Bull and boasting musicianship that redefines mediocrity with tunes to match, it's hard to imagine Strokes isn't part of some grand study of the powers of modern marketing.

Great haircuts, though. One star

- F.S.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1) no caption (BUBBA SPARKXXX)

(2 -- 5) no caption (cd covers)