Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys "Forever Always Ends" (Bloodshot, 1999)
I have been known to get excited from time to time by a new country album, but it's always a happy day when I get *this* excited. Now, I'll admit that this Hobart fellow might not be for everyone, but he sure did get my attention... The simple, bright production and Hobart's adenoidal voice bring to mind numerous freewheeling, laissez faire hippie-billy bands from the '70s, particularly folks who were well off the radar, such as Greezy Wheels, Robb Strandlund, or Deadly Earnest. However, Hobart's output is far more consistent than any of those one-hit wonders -- if the truth be told, there isn't a bad song on this album. Thematically it's a little repetitive (one big, toungue-in-cheek, overstated "I can't win, and boy do I know it..." country self-parody, sort of like Dwight Yoakam's last album...), but don't let that stop you... the music is solid and so are his normal-guy, nebbish vocals, and the lyrics are uniformly hilarious and witty. If you're among the ranks of those disappointed by Robbie Fulks' last album, give this guy a try -- he's not as bluesy, but he's just as brash.

Rex Hobart "The Spectacular Sadness Of Rex Hobart And The Misery Boys" (Bloodshot, 2000)
On his previous album, Hobart's wry, tounge-in-cheek overstatements of traditional country "hard luck" themes -- going to your ex-lover's wedding, etc. -- were handled about as skillfully as on Dwight Yoakam's A Long Way Home, and with nearly as much musical panache. He doesn't disappoint on this follow-up, although he does come a bit closer to overplaying his hand lyrically; the balancing act is made more precarious by his embrace of Glen Campbell-derived folk-countrypolitan stylings, as opposed to the bottle-busting, galloping honkytonk of the last album. By slowing the music down, he gives the listener more time to weigh the relative merits of sincerity vs. wit in lyrics like "I'm Not Drunk Enough To Say I Love You" and "The One And Lonely You"... Plus, these Misery Boys take their picking and plunking very seriously, and just the sound of that fine pedal steel alone is worth the price of admission.

Rex Hobart "Your Favorite Fool" (Bloodshot, 2002)
On his previous album, Hobart's wry, tounge-in-cheek overstatements of traditional country "hard luck" themes -- going to your ex-lover's wedding, etc. -- were handled about as skillfully as on Dwight Yoakam's A Long Way Home, and with nearly as much musical panache. He doesn't disappoint on this follow-up, although he does come a bit closer to overplaying his hand lyrically; the balancing act is made more precarious by his embrace of Glen Campbell-derived folk-countrypolitan stylings, as opposed to the bottle-busting, galloping honkytonk of the last album. By slowing the music down, he gives the listener more time to weigh the relative merits of sincerity vs. wit in lyrics like "I'm Not Drunk Enough To Say I Love You" and "The One And Lonely You"... Plus, these Misery Boys take their picking and plunking very seriously, and just the sound of that fine pedal steel alone is worth the price of admission.

Hick Music Index