Very Best Of Robbie Fulks, The

Spin (2/00, p.108) - 8 out of 10 - "...America's most unjustly unsung singer/songwriter....In the best country tradition, his songs use simple language to tell complex stories, but Fulks can't resist freaking the form..." Magnet (4-5/00, p.75) - "...The next chapter in [his] love/hate relationship with American music, genre exercises ranging from bluegrass and girl pop to indie rock and swing....Some so straight-faced they can almost pass for serious..." CMJ (2/00, p.59) - "...Fulks is back to his old irreverant tricks...returning to the hokey jokey tone of his first 2 raucous Bloodshot discs...finding him bringing his wicked wit to bear on the twisted'n'twangy country love song: 'Sleepin On The Job Of Love,' 'Parallel Bars' and 'Love Ain't Nothin'..." Dirty Linen (4-5/00, pp.64-5) - "...The disc offers ample evidence of Fulks' mastery of the 50s-60s style country play-on-words song....This wide-ranging collection is an apt introduction to the weird, wonderful country world of Robbie Fulks..."

Indicative of Robbie Fulks' sly sense of humor, The Very Best of Robbie Fulks is nothing of the sort, but a collection of tracks culled from EPs, promos, limited-release 45s, soundtracks, and various obscure compilations. While much of the material is probably meant to be a little more fun than serious, with Fulks adding humorous self-effacing humor in the liner notes, there is some truly first-rate material here. The very strong country ballad "I Just Want to Meet the Man" and the frantic mock rockabilly of "Roots Rock Weirdoes" make for very entertaining listening. "Parallel Bars," a nice duet with Kelly Willis, and the catchy straightforward rock of "Wedding of the Bugs" also should not be missed. "That Bangle Girl," which Fulks mentions as being a personal favorite, is an absolutely essential piece of sharp country-rock bliss that ranks well with anything he's ever written. While everything here may not always be in the best taste (the rather low-brow "White Man's Bourbon" comes to mind), the material is generally consistent enough for it to be possible that a few first-time listeners could mistake this for an actual greatest-hits collection. ~ Matt Fink