Joe Buck

Joe Buck Yourself Motherfucker
by Ari M. Joffe

Anyone who’s seen Joe Buck perform either with his former group, Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, or as a member of Hank Williams III’s Damn Band/Assjack knows this dude has a huge chip on his shoulder. He’s always stage left, mohawk flopping from one side of his head to the other, mad dogging the audience, and mouthing out hexes through the gap in his teeth while pounding on his guitar or bass. So it’s no surprise to hear him sing lines like “are you my enemy?/Die! Motherfucker, die!” or “I hurt till I hate/it’s killin’ me/makes me an evil motherfucker from Tennessee” on this, his debut solo EP (yeah, he sure does like the word “motherfucker”). Buck performed and recorded the five tracks all by his lonesome, overdubbing the guitar, vocals, and “drum” tracks (Joe beating away on an old suitcase and some tom-toms, Moe Tucker style). It’s definitely not too slick on the production end – it’s basically a living room demo of sorts – but the overall tone of the album is ominous as hell. Think Clint Eastwood’s ghost-in-search-of-revenge character in High Plains Drifter with a guitar and a four-track. Joe Buck Yourself… is currently only available at Hank III shows and Joe’s solo shows, so, like Hank’s Assjack bootlegs, it’s already become a collector’s item among the “hell-billies.” These grungy, psychobilly tunes are really tight, but they beg to be performed and recorded with a full band in order to realize their full potential. Don’t know if Buck’s got the people skills to pull something like that off, and keep it going, but here’s hoping he does.
(www.joebuckyourself.com)