Search - Robbie Fulks :: Country Love Songs

Robbie Fulks is the greatest country cynic since Mark Twain.

Miles D. Moore | Alexandria, VA USA | 02/19/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Two friends of mine--one a Chicago native, the other a country singer/songwriter--turned me on to Robbie Fulks, and I've been grateful ever since. Fulks's tunes and pure, nasal High Lonesome tenor are rock-solid country, yet the lyrics to songs like "The Scrapple Song" and "She Took a Lot of Pills and Died," besides being cruelly, laugh-out-loud funny, come from a sensibility much closer to Elvis Costello's than Garth Brooks's. "Let's Live Together" thumbs its nose delightfully at the Christian Coalition, while "We'll Burn Together" is as gloriously excessive a honky-tonk weeper as you'd ever hope to find. There are very few geniuses in popular music, but in my opinion Robbie Fulks comes very close to that status."

Wholly unique

M. Swinney | Flower Mound, TX | 06/29/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I would have to say there aren't too many artist out there like Robbie Fulks and there aren't too many disc like his "Country Love Songs."You will find yourself asking pondering questions like, "Is this country?," "What exactly is Fulks talking about in Nickels and Dimes?," and the ever popular and probing, "What were Fulks musical influences and what chemicals influenced Fulks music?" The answer my friend may be blowing in the wind, but I would posit that Fulks music (though he is based out of Chicago God forbid) reflects true Country roots more so than the majority of popular drivel churned out by Nashville these days.You will find unique songs like "The Scrapple Song," that espouses the culinary delights hailing from Pennsylvania of all sorts of pig parts fried in a big baking pan. Granted it's not pork chops served off a front porch in Appalachia or Texas hill country, but it is a story to be told nonetheless. Curiously enough "The Scrapple Song," and other fare on Fulks "Country Love Songs," comes off as this curious bastard child of Bob Wills and AC/DC. Country with a kick of "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," if you can imagine such a hell spawn amalgam.There are songs on this disc that immediately get into your mind and will find you singing along to that high lonesome wail upon second plays. Where Fulks truly makes his mark though are on the songs that are country through and through like "The Buck Stops Here," "Barely Human," and "Papa was a Steel Headed Man." Speaking of the album's closer, "Papa," it's Fulks answer to Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach." There is a wonderfully apocalyptic moment when the song reduces itself to church pipe organ and Fulks rants rails and raves end of times, tent revival, hail and brimstone, gospel preacher style deconstructing the simple obstinateness of a father that was stubborn to the point of de-humanization. He could either be regarded as the meanest man on earth or a genius. It is a musical moment that is difficult to live down and luckily we don't have to since we have Fulks, "Country Love Songs," to listen to again and again.Just short of a must listen, don't miss out on Fulks original and back to basics music.
--MMW"

Even persons who dislike country music will like this.

M. Swinney | 01/15/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After having seen Mr. Fulks on Austin City Limits I immediately purchased his latest CD (the only one in stock), Let's Kill Saturday Night. It's an infectious recording blending country, folk, pop, and rock and roll. I liked it so much that I ordered his two other recordings, South Mouth (Bloodshot Records 1997) and Country Love Songs (Bloodshot Records 1996). Country Love Songs is the kind or recording you just can't get out of your head. The music is pleasant, simple country instrumentation with really sharp, storytelling lyrics. Though some of the songs are depressing (hey it is country), you want to hear and sing them over and over. I limited my exposure to country music to the classics like Hank and Johnny, until now. Check it out. South Mouth is also exceptional. Mr. Fulks has decidely moved a little further away from the traditional country sound on each recording, but remains a tour de force songwriter. I look forward to future releases and would love to see him perform live."