Review: A return to classic country with Robbie fulks’ Wild! Wild! Wild!

Justin "Cech" Ridinger, Staff Reporter

The newest album from the two time Grammy nominated country singer/songwriter Robbie Fulks is a friendly reminder of the golden age of country music. With his newest release even being sold on vinyl shows how fond of the “old days” Fulks really is.  Fulks’ newest album Wild! Wild! Wild! was made in collaboration with Linda Gail Lewis (sister of Jerry Lee Lewis) who is featured on every track.

Fulks has been playing music for over thirty years and in that time he has released 13 solo albums. His latest, Upland Stories (2016) was nominated for two Grammys: Best Folk Album and Best American Roots Song for “Alabama at Night”.

Linda Gail Lewis, who is 71 and 16 years Fulks’ senior is still touring and playing lively concerts where she sings many songs from Wild! Wild! Wild! while also covering some of her brother Jerry Lee Lewis’ songs like “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin”.

The second song on the album plays tribute to the classic country seen throughout the record. Titled “I Just Lived a Country Song” tells a story of a washed up country singer remembering his life through country songs. The song even shares lyrics with other famous country songs with Fulks singing the lines “Whiskey river take my mind” and “I’m so lonesome I could cry”.

“Wild Wild Wild”, sharing its name with the title of the album, is a lively, upbeat song which is sure to get you singing along.

“Foolmaker” is much slower than the rest of the album. This song is reminiscent of soul country to come out of Muscle Shoals then the typical classic country to come out of Nashville like the style of the other songs on this album.

The opening song, “Round To Long” starts the album off fast and wild, with Lewis setting the mood singing the quotable phrase “Of all the men that hurt me, Jack Daniels hurt the least.”

“Till Death” is a song on the album that Lewis is supposedly singing to her husband she found cheating and how their marriage is over because she is about to kill him. The sound isn’t sung in a somber tone but instead it is a faster song full of anger and heartache. The song ends with a gun firing and Lewis singing the line “Til death do us part and that’s now”

 With country music moving towards a new style of pop country, Fulks’ album is a fresh and new take on the classic country. It has familiar sounds like the weeping guitar that has become synonymous with country music, and you will hear the all to familiar theme of cheating lovers but with a new and slightly silly tones at times.

10/10 With the perfect mix between classic sounding music ranging genres from country to folk, but with a new twist only a few artists can master and Wild! Wild! Wild! showed Fulks has indeed mastered it.