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Robbie Fulks
Georgia Hard
(Yep Roc)
First Appeared in The Music Box, May 2005, Volume 12, #5
Written by T.J. Simon
On Georgia Hard, Chicago’s Robbie Fulks has made his most
straightforward country album of original material to date. While the disc isn’t
exactly mainstream — Fulks is still too good for that — it’s an outing that
won’t ruffle the feathers of Top-40 country radio enthusiasts, nor will it turn
away his alternative-leaning base. Throughout the collection, Fulks adopts a
homespun, storytelling style similar to that of Johnny Rivers or Roger Miller.
The title track is the disc’s highlight, and it tells the tale of a guy who
follows a woman to Chicago from Dixie only to discover that being down-and-out
in the city is no day at the farm. If They Could Only See Me Now is a
gentle acoustic number about a man marrying into a dot.com fortune only to watch
it all fly away when he kills her in a fit of passionate rage. It’s classic
Fulks — an earnest story with a twisted ending. In fact, the dysfunctional
associations explored on this effort are infinitely more interesting than the
ones on Couples in Trouble, his overrated study of bizarre relationships
that was released in 2001.
Fulks’ lyrics have always gravitated to the clever and irreverent side, and
Georgia Hard is no exception. On All You Can Cheat, for example,
he tells the genuinely funny story of a motel that is used exclusively for
infidelity. Problems arise, however, when Fulks tries too hard to be humorous
and finds himself sinking into silly parody. I’m Gonna Take You Home (and
Make You Love Me) is a dumb, novelty song that finds him putting on an
inane, drunken hillbilly voice that wouldn’t have made the cut for Hee-Haw
30 years ago. Countrier than Thou might have been the disc’s best number,
but it flies off the tracks at its midpoint when Fulks’ own vocal performance
becomes ridiculous. Another demerit is achieved for the "wacky" spoken-word
intro tacked onto the otherwise fantastic album closer Goodbye Cruel Girl.
When it comes to zany country comedy, Fulks would be well-advised to leave the
humor to Jeff Foxworthy.
Given Georgia Hard is generously long — containing 15 songs, which
runs just shy of an hour in length — Fulks can be forgiven for occasionally
succumbing to his goofier demons. The instrumentation throughout the album is
top-notch thanks to weighty guitar contributions by Redd Volkaert and strong
performances from Fulks’ own backing band. In the grand scheme of things, his
missteps are small, and as a result, Georgia Hard very well may be
remembered as one of the strongest releases of Fulks’ career.  ½
Georgia Hard is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
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For UK orders, please
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2005 The Music Box
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