Bobby Bare, Jr.'s Young
Criminals' Starvation League

OK — I'm Sorry...

Written by T.J. Simon

As a follow up to its 2002 self-titled outing, Bobby Bare Jr.’s Young Criminals’ Starvation League has issued an eight-song EP titled Ok — I’m Sorry that includes a few previously unreleased tracks and reworks the best moments from its debut by capturing the songs within different settings. Two of its better tunes (Flat Chested Girl from Maynardville and I’ll Be Around) are given respectable live treatments. In fact, I’ll Be Around — a terrific alt-country number — appears on the EP disc three times: as a live version, a demo version, and an enhanced CD video track.

However, the highlight of the EP is the cover of I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing, the Hillside Singers’ song re-popularized as a 1970s Coke commercial. Bare and his band sell the hell out of the song, largely because of the back-up singers who were employed to dress up Bare’s wobbly voice. The on-air radio performance of the reggae-tinged original Mother Ucker is another high point, if you can forgive the KEXP-Seattle DJ for breaking into the performance to announce the station’s call letters. For the record, a handful of the EP’s cuts do fall flat, including Pinky and Bare’s adaptation of the Shel Silverstein poem True Story. Even so, there’s still plenty to enjoy on this little album, and since it’s an EP, the reduced price will make up for its foibles. ½

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