Vintage Review: Bare Jr's Boo-Tay (1998)

The son of country star Bobby Bare, Junior’s music bears only a passing resemblance to that of his father. Sure, there’s plenty of country influence here – how could you grow up in Nashville in the 1970s and ‘80s with artists like Johnny Cash, George Jones, Willie Nelson and the like hanging around town and not soak some of it up? For Bobby Bare, Jr. however, country is not a means to an end, but rather a flavor to add to his energetic stew of Southern rock and punkish attitude.

The material on Boo-Tay blows away 99% of the alt-country poseurs trying to ride a rising trend to fame and fortune. As a band, Bare Jr. kick out the motherfucking jams with a vigor that surely has Hank spinning in his grave. Boo-Tay’s guitar-driven songs burn with a fervor I’ve only heard matched by Jason & the Scorchers and, more recently, Slobberbone, with the young Bare’s wonderfully imperfect vocals often spiraling out of control like a drunken dervish while guitarist Michael Grimes tears off razor-sharp riffs like some sort of bloodthirsty predator.
 
Bare’s songs tread familiar lyrical ground, albeit with his own peculiar individual twist, the subject matter ranging from self-loathing and lost innocence to betrayal and unrequited love. Cuts like “The Most,” “Faker,” “Why Don’t You Love Me” and the wickedly dark “I Hate Myself” (written with Shel Silverstein) are overflowing with brilliant imagery, not-so-subtle wordplay and hard-rocking instrumentation. One of the more engaging debut discs this year, Boo-Tay is a welcome introduction to the talents of Bare Jr. (Immortal/Epic Records, released 1998)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™