The Bottom Line
Pros
- "Coldwater, Tennessee"
- "Georgia Hard"
- "If They Could Only See Me Now"
Cons
- None.
Description
- Fifteen straight ahead, thumbed-nose, hell-for-leather real country songs that pull no punches.
- First disc of all-new material in several years from Fulks.
- Featuring Redd Volkaert on guitar.
Guide Review - Robbie Fulks - Georgia Hard
When a guy writes songs this smart a reviewer feels a little inadequate taking them on without sounding either condescending or gushing. Simple truth is, I liked the hell out of this disc. Fulks can plain write a song. Good news, he can sing 'em, too. You can draw all sort of comparisons to other great songwriters, from Yoakam to Ely to Keen, but Fulks has his own approach and rhythm. He's so laid-back it's hard to see his punches coming, but they hit. The twists and cuts in his songs are stark, wicked tongue-in-cheek humor barely hiding the bleeding, open wounds. But they have a beat and you can dance to 'em.Fulks takes pages from classic country tradition, with cheatin' songs and painful love songs, from the simple honky-tonk "All You Can Cheat" to the more intricate "Doin' Right (For All The Wrong Reasons)." I gladly take a blow as Fulks takes aim at and skewers pretentious alt-country fans with "Countrier Than Thou," and as an, um, "well-redneck," I take my lumps. My cowgirl credentials could use a little airing out. It's funnier than hell. He knows just where to poke.
There isn't a song on this disc that made me want to skip it. I kept it in the machine for a week just catching all the little details. Simple music, but woven with such complexity it stands up to a lot of listenings. The liner notes, likewise, simple. A quiet reminiscence about a song, and the hopes that these songs live up to that one. No fear they do. The guy can write. I'm in awe.
