Bobby Bare Jr.
Young Criminals Starvation League

(Bloodshot)

Needless to say, acoustic ditties with creeping pedal
steel and sincere lyrics are hardly what one has come
to expect from Nashville songwriter Bobby Bare, Jr.
His regular gig, fronting rock band Bare Jr, relied on
heavy riffs and frat guy stories to succeed. On
Boo-Tay, Bare Jr toyed with flaky women in “You Blew
Me Off”, lamented the absence of a lover in
“Love-less”, and, yeah, moaned some more about women
in “Why Won’t You Love Me”. It’s not that it wasn’t
likeable, as it certainly was, bathed in
testosterone-heavy guitar riffage and pounding skins,
it’s just that it wasn’t very serious.

However, it appears Bare, Jr. learned something while
growing up the son of Nashville icon Bobby Bare.
Being raised in that creative environment (in fact,
Bare, Jr. appeared on several of his father’s records)
clearly had its effect on Bobby Jr., as his
songwriting here has improved ten-fold. He had a
wonderful mentor in father Bobby, whose substantial
output in the 60s and 70s, including collaborations
with Shel Silverstein, left their mark, and drew
critical raves.

Thus, it’s really not entirely surprising that Bare,
Jr. pulls it off without coming across as an ersatz
inheritor of pop’s throne. While Bare retains his
clever use of song titles (e.g. “Flat Chested Girl
From Maynardsville” and “The Monk at the Disco”), he’s
swallowed the tongue that used to occupy his cheek.

Joined by members of Lambchop (including Paul Niehaus
on steel), the themes on Young Criminals continue to
revolve around relationships and doubt, but benefit
from inspired arrangements and thoughtful wordplay.
“Dig Down”, which contains the couplet “Chuck Berry,
Chuck Berry, sing to us one more time/ Before Fred
Bizkit freezes everybody’s mind” is particularly
effective, as Bare, Jr. seems to admit he’s out of
ideas, and unable to ever match what Townsend, Hendrix
and Black Francis brought to the table. Meanwhile,
“The Monk at the Disco” is a somewhat nonsensical gem;
just try getting that pedal steel heavy chorus out of
your head. And “The Ending”, probably the high point
of the album rides a horn-driven bridge into the
payoff lines: “All this I miss/ And would not change/
These are the things I’d leave the same/ The only
thing I’d change would be the ending”. Seems he loved
everything about this relationship; too bad it didn’t
last.

Elsewhere on the record, Bare, Jr. tackles a
Silverstein song with “Painting Her Fingernails”, and
reinvigorates the Smiths’ song, “What Difference Does
It Make”, transforming it into a spooky mid-tempo
ballad. Overall, it’s more in the territory of
labelmate Alejandro Escovedo, hardly a bad place to
be.

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