What should I do with my hair?

I've tried a couple variations of this hairstyles. The first image in the album is what I've tried, and I've also done it with a little longer on the top.

Album: http://m.imgur.com/a/eDqoe

My issue is that I have 2 cow licks on the left front and right front of my hair, so it's hard to style the front without a new haircut every 2 weeks to cut down the cow licks. Even with stronger palmade, it's still a pain. I don't mind styling my hair, but the cow licks make it too annoying to do

The next three pictures are of my hair now, so I'm curious what you all think I should try next. I don't think having it super short on the sides and slicking it on the top will look good. (At least not as good as Brad Pitt 😆 https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/da/8f/df/da8fdf226ba5e96a1e39b5f5cf1a6de4.jpg )

Thanks for the help!